Post by Raphael Oladokun (@Oladokun)

🎓 I am excited to share that I have successfully defended my dissertation at West Virginia University! As a first-generation student from Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria, this milestone means so much to me and my family, and to everyone who believes they can overcome any limitation regardless of their background.

I want to thank my advisor, Dr. Soumya Srivastava, my examining committee, collaborators, partners, colleagues in MESA Lab, and everyone who supported me along the way.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆:
🏆 • Finished my PhD on a strong note, with 25 awards, recognitions, and prestigious nominations.
🎤 • Delivered 33 technical presentations at international, national, state, regional, and university symposia
📄 • Authored four first-author publications, with more manuscripts currently in progress.
🤝 • 180+ volunteer service hours, all recorded on my iServe account
👥 • Leadership experience: 2026 AIChE - American Institute of Chemical Engineers MAC Programming Chair | Founder, WVU NOBCChE Chapter
🙏 • During this journey, I also self-petitioned my 𝗘𝗕-𝟭𝗔 (𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆) application and received my green card in 2024.

🎓I am grateful for the prestigious fellowships that funded my PhD program, like the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Bridges in Digital Health (BridgesDH) Program. I am also thankful to the WVU Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department and the Statler College of Engineering for supporting some of my conference presentations, both within and outside the State of West Virginia.

✈️🎓 I also appreciate the travel awards and grants I received from other sources to deliver my presentations at various conferences. Some of these include ACS Division of Biochemistry and Chemical Biology, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, AES Electrophoresis Society, SciX, NOBCChE, and NSBE Professionals | National Society of Black Engineers.

🙌 Thank you all for being part of this journey!

💡 I hope to give back by sharing what I have learned as a first-gen student and offering guidance to current and future graduate students.

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