Visiting Researchers

Hannah Cooper
Hannah Cooper

Visiting Researcher

hannah@coopersmith.org

Hannah Cooper Klein is the co-founder and CEO of Cooper/Smith, a global organization focused on using hard data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of development programs
worldwide. Over the past 20 years, Hannah has advised governments on using data and technology to improve their citizens’ lives. Hannah has worked at the World Bank, the United Nations, served as a policy advisor to several Canadian Cabinet Ministers, and led the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Quality team at the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), U.S. Department of State. Hannah is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Austin’s Center for Innovations in Peace and Development and an affiliate of Georgetown University’s Center for Innovation in Global Health. She is fluent in English, French, and Italian and lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their three children, dog, and cat.

Dr. Osezua Ehiyamen
Dr. Osezua Ehiyamen

IPD Resident Researcher

Associate Professor of Public Administration and Conflict Management
ehiyamen.osezua@austin.utexas.edu
(512) 569-6260

Ehiyamen Osezua is a resident researcher and associate professor of Public Administration from Nigeria. In 2018-2022 he was appointed as a distinguished visiting research scholar at the Department of History and a visiting researcher at IPD respectively, University of Texas at Austin. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor, Austin Christian University and Member. He serves on the Austin Independent School District (AISD) District Advisory Council (DAC). Dr. Osezua previously served as a University Chair, Department of Political Science and Department of Public Administration in Nigeria. He was the First Elected Nigerian President of the Postgraduate Students Association (2005). He is a laurel of the 2023 Texas PTA Emerging Leaders Academy and a one-time elected Member of the Nigeria University Senate and as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Administration. He previously served as undergraduate and graduate advisor for the B.sc, MPA and Ph.D. programs. Osezua got his B.sc in Political Science, M.Sc. Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Benin and Public Administration Ph.D.in Public Administration, Conflict Management and Higher Education from the highly prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria (2007), and Diploma in Leadership, Austin Christian University, USA (2023). He was awarded the best Ph.D. thesis writing in Africa (2006) by The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Senegal. A Fellow of Brown International Advanced Research Institutes (BIARI), Brown University (2017).

Dr. Osezua’s research focuses on institutional conflict management strategies against the backdrop of perennial conflicts between management and unions. It examines the management leadership styles, with specific interest in higher education. His work has made significant contributions in the areas of public policy reforms, taking into consideration the need for vibrant public service and the effective management of organizations. In addition, his research drew needed attention to the issues of gender sensitivity and probity in organizational management, which have been traditionally ignored in literature, with a view to bringing to the fore in academic discourse, the need for institutions, policy process and public sector reforms in Public Services. He specializes in Public Policy and Development Studies, Africa Studies, Conflict Management, Strategic Leadership and Higher Education. He is a co-editor of Contemporary Issues in the Management of Higher Education in Nigeria- Toyin Falola (Ilorin University Press (2017) He was the Editor in Chief of Journal of Administration and Development (2015-2018). Dr. Osezua has authored and co-authored over fifty-five researched articles and book chapters that cut across both national and international publication outlets, such as a book on The Management of Higher Education in Africa (awaiting publication), Elsevier Rochester (2021), Romania Journal of Public Affairs (2020), Dynamics of Public Administration (2019), Journal of Social Sciences, Kampala (2018), Journal of Administration and Development Studies, Nigeria (2018),  Journal of Politics and Society (2017), Book Chapters In Water, Land and People in Climate Change, Sri-Lanka (2016), Journal of Administration and Development (2015) among other journals.Dr. Osezua enjoys spending his spare time with the elderly.

Dr. Oghoadena Clementina Osezua, Ph.D.
Dr. Oghoadena Clementina Osezua, Ph.D.

IPD Visiting Researcher

Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology.
Oghoadena.osezua@asutin.utexas.edu
(737) 207-2877 

Dr. Oghoadena Clementina Osezua is a distinguished academic who has dedicated over two decades of her career to the rigorous exploration of post-colonial changing African social structure, human trafficking, and gender-based violence, particularly in West Africa. An alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, she holds a B.Sc., MSc. and Ph.D. in Sociology and Anthropology. In 2023, she augmented her academic prowess with a Diploma in Leadership from Austin Christian University, Austin, Texas, May 23rd, 2023.  Her journey in academia has seen her evolve from a Graduate Assistant to an Associate Professor at Obafemi Awolowo University in  2016. She further extended her pedagogical expertise to the University of Texas at Austin as a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, creating a pioneering curriculum on the Gendered Dimension of Human Trafficking in West Africa shortly before the COVID pandemic. Her stellar career has been punctuated by numerous academic publications, such as “Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Africa: Patriarchy and Policy” (2021) in The Palgrave Handbook of African Women’s Studies, “Patriarchy, Cultural Prejudices and Spousal Violence in the ancient city of Benin of Southern Nigeria” in Journal of International Women’s Studies (2019); and Poverty and Sex Trade among Bini People of Southern Nigeria” in African Development: Handbook of Africa and Society, (2017), amongst others. She is fellow of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, (CODESRIA); a Fellow of Brown University International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI), Brown University, Rhodes Island, USA and the Center of Gender and Social Policy Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.   Presently, Dr Tina, as she is fondly called by friends and colleagues is expanding her horizons. She is exploring research entitled Digital Labyrinths; Exploring the role of the dark web in facilitating human trafficking in West Africa. Beyond her teaching and research, Dr. Osezua is an active participant in academic circles, having attended and presented at several learned conferences both in the United States and beyond. She is married to Dr. Ehis Osezua, and they are blessed with two sons.