Taking Flight

Dr. Uchenna Baker currently serves as the Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. She earned her M.Ed. in counseling psychology and a B.A. in English and sociology from Rutgers University. She completed her Ph.D. in educational policy with a focus on urban education through a joint program of Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the role of ontological inquiry in examining how deeply-rooted, unexamined assumptions about ourselves and others inform how we show up in the world. Her award-winning dissertation earned her the 2016 Illinois Qualitative Dissertation Award presented by the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Dr. Baker's publications chronicle her own ontological journey in claiming her agency as a woman of color. Dr. Baker remains committed to helping others discover their fullest potential and show up authentically in the world.