Christopher I. Chalokwu

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Christopher Iloba Chalokwu (born December 30, 1952) is a United States citizen born in Nigeria. An academic with entrepreneurial vision, Chalokwu has an abiding interest in education reform and the educational achievement of under-represented groups. Chalokwu holds a PhD. in geology and geochemistry. Chalokwu is a respected contributor to geological societies based in North America and Africa, such as the Geological Society of America and the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society. Chalokwu was the first full tenured black professor of Auburn University, as well as the founding Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Benedict College. Chalokwu currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Geochemistry and Physical Science at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. Chalokwu founded Medical Assay Laboratory, Inc and serves as the Laboratory Director, as well as founding its subsidiary, Medical Assay Phlebotomy.

Early life and education[]

Chalokwu is an Igbo^[1] from Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Nigeria. He was born in Jos, Plateau State, where his father, Francis N. Chalokwu, was an accountant with the United African Company (UAC). He attended Saint Theresa's primary school in Jos before the family moved to Yola in Adamawa State. It was in Yola that his father was killed during the Nigerian civil war. Chalokwu returned to Ogwashi-Uku, and completed his secondary education at Saint Paul's Grammar School in 1971. Chalokwu graduated from Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida with an A.S. degree in 1976. He obtained a B.S (with honors) in geology in 1978 and a M.S. (geology) in 1980 both from Northeastern Illinois University(Chicago). He earned a PhD. in geology and geochemistry from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1984.

Educational and professional career[]

After a brief post-doctoral fellowship at Miami University, Chalokwu landed a tenure-tract faculty position at Auburn University, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become the first African American tenured full professor in the history of that university. From 1990–1991, Chalokwu was a U.S .Senior Fulbright Scholar and a Distinguished Professor of Geochemistry at the University of Ghana, Legon. Chalokwu served as an external examiner for the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa) and was a visiting professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. An expert on Soviet science, Chalokwu served on committees that developed guidelines for funding scientists after the break up of the former Soviet Union under the auspices of the International Science Foundation.

Chalokwu is active in many scientific societies and organizations. He served the Geological Society of America as Chair of its Committee on Women and Minorities in the Geosciences, as Founder and Chair of the Pan African Geology Working Group, and as Associate Editor of the Geological Society of America Bulletin. In 1996, the Geological Society elected him a Fellow for his contributions to the discipline ^[2] Chalokwu also served the American Geophysical Union and various committees and review panels of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Science Foundation, and NATO post-doctoral fellowship.

Chalokwu was the founding Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Benedict College (Columbia, South Carolina) from 1996 to 1999, and was credited with eliminating remedial education in an open admissions institution. He served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment at The University of Tennessee-Martin. He was hired to help transform the institution at a time of decreased state funding for higher education. His role as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs was succeeded by Dr. Frank S Black Jr., when Chalokwu requested to be reassigned to Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research.^[3]

In 2001, Chalokwu was appointed Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Geochemistry and Physical Science at Saint Xavier University (Chicago).^[4] As Chief Academic Officer for Saint Xavier University, he also served as the Vice President of the University Corporation. In 2005, Dr. Chalokwu founded Medical Assay Laboratory, Inc, a clinical diagnostic reference laboratory in Westmont, Illinois and currently serves as the Laboratory Director.^[5] In 2007 he founded Medical Assay Phlebotomy as a subsidiary of Medical Assay Laboratory to train technicians for the healthcare industry. Chalokwu also co-founded Three Rivers Academic Consulting and Assessment Group, a search and academic services firm dedicated to working with universities in Africa.

The author of over 100 referred publications and presentations in his field, and a recipient of over $10 million in competitive research and institutional capacity building grants, Chalokwu has also published on issues affecting Higher Education including assessment, performance funding, student engagement, and the use of technology. He was a consultant-evaluator for two regional accreditation agencies, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, where he dealt extensively with issues of assessment of student learning and governing boards.^[6]

Chalokwu was the American Editor for the international journal Africa Geoscience Review and is currently on the Editorial Board for the Journal of African Earth Sciences.^[7]

Chalokwu has received a Geoscience Medal from Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society for his contributions to "the general area of Mining and the Geology of the African Continent."^[8]

Selected works[]

• C I. Chalokwu, N K. Grant, A. A. Ariskin and G. Barmina, 1993. Simulation of primary phase relations and mineral compositions in the Partridge River intrusion, Duluth Complex, Minnesota: implications for the parent magma composition. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 114, p. 539-549.
• C. I. Chalokwu and N. K. Grant, 1990. Petrology of the Partridge River Intrusion, Duluth Complex, Minnesota: Part 1. Relationships between Mineral Compositions, Density and Trapped Liquid Abundance. Journal of Petrology, v. 31, p. 265-293.
• C. I. Chalokwu, E. M. Ripley and Y-R Park, 1999. Oxygen isotopic systematics of an open-system magma chamber:: An example from the Freetown Layered Complex of Sierra Leone. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 63, p. 675-685.
• C. I. Chalokwu, A. A. Ariskin, K. Koptev-Dvornikov, 1996. Magma dynamics at the base of an evolving mafic magma chamber: Incompatible element evidence from the Partridge River intrusion, Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 60, p. 4997-5001.^[9]
• Y. Zendong, C. Nensong, and C. I. Chalokwu, 1995. The Metamorphism of Deeper Crust in the Dabie Mountains,as Evidenced by the Study of Granulites near Huilanshan, Luotian, China. Acta Petrologica Senica,v112, p. 588-590.
• C. I. Chalokwu and M. Kuehner, 1992. Mineral chemistry and thermobarometry of a southern Appalachian amphibolite with epidote + quartz symplectite. American Mineralogist, v. 77, p. 617-630.^[10]
• N.K. Grant and C. I. Chalokwu, 1992. Petrology of the Partridge River Intrusion, Duluth Complex, Minnesota: Part 2. Geochemistry and Strontium Isotope Systematics. Journal of Petrology, V.33, p. 1007-1038.^[11]
• T.B. Hanley, C. I. Chalokwu, and M.G. Steltenpohl, 1997. Constraints on the location of the Carolina/Avalon terrane boundary in the southernmost exposed Appalachians, western Georgia and eastern Alabama. Geological Society of America Special Paper 314.^[12]
• N. K. Grant and C. I. Chalokwu, 1998. The Cumulate Paradigm Affirmed. The Journal of Geology, v. 106, p. 641-644.^[13]
• C I. Chalokwu, P. Seney, A.C. Wurie and M. Bersch, 1995. Petrology of the Freetown Layered Complex, Sierra Leone: Part 1. Stratigraphy and Mineral-Chemical Evidence for Multiple Magma Injection. International Geology Review, v. 37, p. 230-253.
• C. I. Chalokwu, 2001. Petrology of the Freetown Layered Complex, Sierra Leone: Part II. Magma Evolution and Crystallisation Conditions. Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 32, p. 519-540.
• C. I. Chalokwu. A Rationale for Increasing Funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Last Word: Black Issues in Higher Education (January 1, 2004)(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_23_20/ai_112409422/?tag=mantle_skin;content)
• K. Carlson, C. I. Chalokwu, and S. Murphy, 2003. Engaging in Measures of Student Engagement: Using NSSE Data to Build a Shared Understanding of Assessment and Institutional Priorities. Proceedings of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (2003). Chapter 2, pp: 59–62.
• C. I. Chalokwu and N. Achebo, 2003. Improving Student Engagement Through Technology. Proceedings of the Association of Small Computer Users in Education. p. 108-112. https://web.archive.org/web/20120405194652/http://fits.depauw.edu/ascue/Proceedings/2003/p23.pdf

References[]

External links[]

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