Holly Okonkwo

Dr. Okonkwo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies and core faculty in the Critical Gender Studies program. In her work, Dr. Okonkwo investigates how knowledge production and technical practices are culturally constructed and conditioned by the politics of race, gender, class and coloniality in the United States, Ghana and Nigeria. This research centers the experiential knowledge of women computer scientists and technologists from the African Diaspora and directly engages with dominant narratives about technology. A highly rated instructor, Dr. Okonkwo teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on technology and culture and specialty courses on feminist science studies. Prior to joining the faculty at UC San Diego, was an American Association of University Women fellow at Claremont Graduate University, a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and a postdoctoral fellow in the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality at the University of Denver. In 2024, she was awarded the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award, which is the foundation’s most prestigious award in support of early career faculty.