Duplin chooses new school superintendent
On May 20, the Duplin County Board of Education voted to hire Dr. Austin N. Obasohan as the next Superintendent of the Duplin County Schools.
Dr. Obasohan is currently serving as the superintendent of schools in Selma, Alabama. Dr. Obasohan has over 28 years of experience in public education in various roles, including teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, director and superintendent of schools.
In conducting its search, the Duplin County Board of Education read and considered the community and staff survey responses, reviewed a large number of applications, conducted extensive interviews and background and reference checks of the candidates and met to review and discuss all of the information collected. The Board has been very deliberate in its search and greatly appreciated the interest of the community and the staff in this process.
The board, the school system and the community are very fortunate to be able to attract someone with Dr. Obasohan’s credentials, skills, and abilities. He has a proven track record of creating “cultures of academic excellence.”
Dr. Obasohan has been serving as the superintendent of schools in Selma, Alabama since September 2008, a school system with 4,100 students. Prior to his tenure in Selma, he served as Director of E-Learning High/principal at the Ralph Glenn Center in the Cabarrus County School system.
While leading the Ralph Glenn Center, Dr. Obasohan demonstrated he is a gifted instructional leader as he oversaw the development of a school leadership and school improvement team, an E-learning program and credit recovery program and many other innovative programs that earned him a cover story in Cabarrus magazine and the appreciation of numerous students and their families.
Dr. Obasohan was born in Nigeria. He worked as a teacher in his native country prior to moving to Sussex, England where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Marketing in 1981. Afterwards, he moved to New York, where he worked at the Career Development Institute for nearly five years before accepting a high school teaching position in Richmond, VA. While in Virginia, Dr. O, as he is affectionately called, attended Virginia State University and earned a Masters in Education and an Educational Specialist degree. After completing his studies in Virginia, he moved to North Carolina. In 1997, Dr. Obasohan received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a Cognate in Curriculum/Instruction and Special Education from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.
Also while in North Carolina, Dr. O served on the North Carolina Department of Instruction High School Advisory Board and was on the boards of both the North Carolina Alternative Learning Program and the North Carolina Association of Alternative Educators. Dr. Obasohan is the author of several articles including “Dropping Out of School: Comparing the Perceptions of Teachers and Dropouts,” in The Journal of At-Risk Issues, (1999).
Dr. O is a man who knows about overcoming adversity. From leaving his native country to travel around the world to having been homeless in his early 30s, he personifies the American dream of hard work and success and taking advantage of the opportunities presented each day.
Chuck Farrior, the Board’s Vice Chair, called Dr. O “transparent, truthful, honest and tenacious.” These traits and Dr. Obasohan’s breadth of experience in the world make it easy for many different types of people to relate to him; they can trust him because he has nothing to hide and is proud of the man he has become and the good he has done for children in every school system in which he has worked.
A self-professed “servant-leader”, Dr. Obasohan is a member of the Boy Scouts of America and a Rotarian. He has been married to his wife Uyiosa for almost 15 years and they have two sons, Justice, 13, and Trust, 4, and one daughter, Modesty, 11. Dr. Obasohan has a passion for the welfare of all children and sums up his educational philosophy as follows: “All children can learn and succeed; the best way to teach a child is to understand and accept the child unconditionally.”
The Duplin County Board of Education looks forward to Dr. Obasohan bringing his enthusiasm, excitement and energy to his new role as the Superintendent of Duplin County Schools.
The board trusts in his ability to galvanize the healing process and bridge gaps throughout the community and staff. According to Willie Gillespie, “His sincerity is unmistakable.” By hiring Dr. O, the board believes it is providing a great opportunity to move the school system and its students forward and upward.”
The board asks that the staff, parents, students and entire community commit to supporting Dr. O as he works to help our children strive for and achieve excellence. Please join the Board of Education in welcoming Dr. Austin Obasohan to our Duplin County community. (Submitted by Duplin County Board of Education)
