Editor's Note: This is the ninth in a series of profiles of winter 2023 graduates.
Growing up in in Liberia, John Trarso Wulu Jr. loved learning. Not long after earning a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and secondary education in 1981 from the University of Liberia, he received a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Now, more than 40 years later—and following an amazing career as an adviser and consultant to universities and technology corporations—Wulu received his fifth university degree.
When he participated in the University of Maryland Global Campus' (UMGC) commencement ceremony on Dec. 16, Wulu walked alongside his son. Both Wulu and Prince John Trarso Wulu III graduated from the Master of Business Administration program.
Wulu’s connection to UMGC goes beyond his new MBA. For more than two decades he has taught at the university as an adjunct professor of mathematics, statistics and data science.
Sadly, absent from the graduation ceremony was Wulu’s wife Josephine, a senior biologist at the Food and Drug Administration who died in 2020. She was a UMGC double alumna with two master’s degrees.
Wulu’s return to the classroom as a student came in 2022 after he heard that his pastor planned to return to college. When Wulu’s daughter pushed her father to follow suit by saying, ‘You could do more, Dad,’ he decided it was time to deepen his business knowledge. He also hoped that the degree program would help nudge him out of his grief.
“Having a mindset of being a lifelong scholar provided me the motivation to achieve academic excellence,” Wulu said. Driven by encouragement from his four children, the memory of his wife, and a desire to excel, he completed his MBA in September.
He acknowledged that it was a reversal to be in the virtual classroom as a student, rather than a professor.
“I wanted nothing less than excellence in what I was doing because I was also fostering quality education for my students at UMGC,” Wulu explained.
He said he enjoyed all his MBA courses, but he was particularly impressed with the MBA 640 9044 Innovation Through Marketing and Technology course taught by Dr. John Martin and the MBA 670 9041 Strategic Decision-Making capstone taught by Dr. Robert Tipple.
“I enjoyed Dr. Martin’s presentations—especially the capstone materials—from working on various projects, and he was a very inspirational mentor faculty member,” Wulu explained. “Dr. Tipple’s class was enlightening, and he pushed forward to draw more creatively out of his MBA-bound students.”
Wulu’s professional career has been stamped by a passion for education and a particular interest in math and data science. Since 2000, he has worked for the U.S. government. He is currently in a leadership position as a senior analyst for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He also has held positions with the Department of Human Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. In addition to serving on the faculty at UMGC, Wulu has taught at middle school, high schools, community colleges, and universities in Michigan, Ohio and Maryland.
He received a Master of Arts in Mathematics from Western Michigan University in 1984 and a Master of Science in Statistics from Michigan State University in 1989. In 1999, Wulu received a Doctor of Philosophy in Biostatistics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He said his new MBA will be useful in his current job and in seeking future leadership and senior executive positions.
Wulu plans to continue to teach for UMGC, aspiring to flip the tables one day by teaching in the same school where he studied: the UMGC School of Business.
“I appreciate the University of Maryland Global Campus and know that it is a great university for folks to study, learn and share experiences,” Wulu added.
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