Dr. Joel Olufowote

As the Academy’s academic principal and chief academic officer, Dr. Olufowote is charged with overseeing the school curriculum, classroom instruction, and evaluation of the 30+ FTE faculty, administrative staff and support coordinators housed in the Office of Academic Affairs.

With a background in higher education, Olufowote spent almost two decades teaching as a university instructor, a postdoctoral fellow, professor of political science, and most recently as an executive director for inclusive excellence and international education. He earned a B.S. in Economics and Finance from the University of Indianapolis and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University. His scholarly work, which falls at the intersection of intercultural proficiency, cultural competence, and the workplace has been featured in outlets such as USA Today, the Association of Equipment Distributors Foundation and Komatsu, to name a few.

As a scholar-practitioner, Olufowote has been an invited speaker for the Forbes School of Business and Technology at the University of Arizona Global Campus, consulted for Indianapolis-based firms Meyer Najem Construction, Hirons Advertising, Purple Inc., among others, and is a past winner of Governor Holcomb’s State of Indiana Excellence in Education Award. Olufowote resides in Shamrock Lakes, Indiana, with fellow academic administrator wife, Rachael, and their two young daughters, Abigail and Elizabeth.