Dr. Gabriel Kengni
[1]Dr. Gabriel Kengni (born June 1, 1962) is a Cameroonian American National Board Certifed Educator (NBCT), engineer and author. Dr. Kengni is a proud Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) educator in Maryland and a professor of Mathematics at the University of Phoenix (UOP).
He earned a Ph.D. in computer science and information technology from Nova Southeastern Universty in Florida (NSU). On December 7, 2011, Dr. Kengni was the first African to be invited to the White House for his Academic Achievement. The Event at the White House is illustrated here.
Recognition[edit]
Invitation to the White House : Dr. Kengni was the first African invited to the White House because of his academic achievement. Dr. Kengni’s work has been praised by President Obama's White House.
In December 2011, Dr. Kengni was invited to the White House, where he was congratulated on two fronts. First, his success at achieving National Board Certification was celebrated: “You not only represent the best of the teaching profession, you are defining what the profession is.[2]
”Second, the White House celebrated Dr. Kengni with a very special Certification Day. At the White House, Dr. Kengni participated in the annual forum of the National Commission for Vocational Standards, organized by the Domestic Policy Council of the White House.[3]
Invitation to the United States Department of Education by the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: In December 2011, in collaboration with the White House, Dr. Kengni was invited to the U.S. Department of Education by the United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, to celebrate the importance of the teaching profession in the construction of a new nation and to honor highly accomplished teachers.[4]
Maryland Department of Education (MSDE) – Reception and Pinning Ceremony : Taking teaching to the 21th century: To strengthen teaching practice and to help students succeed, Dr. Kengni made the commitment to accomplish teaching by becoming a National Board-Certified Educator.
Conference Organizer: On May, 2016, Dr. Kengni organized the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Technology Summit called MCPS-MCEA Technology Summit for Middle and High School. The purpose of the summit was for teachers to: learn more about technology education across MCPS, network with others with an interest in technology, exchange strategies with other Tech ed. teachers, share ideas about “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)”; strategize about middle schools versus high schools technology articulation, and plan with others to help expand students’ interest and increase the number and diversity of students studying technology as well as STEM.
Speaking Engagement and Presentations:
Dr. Kengni was the guest speaker at the 2011 National Board-Certified Teacher Pinning Ceremony. The event was covered by National and Foreign Press.
Dr. Kengni was the Guest speaker at the MA-90 class, Blended Learning in Mathematics. The invitations stated that “As a successful past participant of the course and as someone who is using the blended learning model in class on a regular basis, It is important that your colleagues taking the class hear about your experiences with using blended learning, both your successes and things you’ve learned along the way. Please join us on November 7, 2019 from 4:30-5:30”. He was also a guest author at Wheaton for Public Library Showcase
“Dr. Kengni, thank you so much for agreeing to being a guest author at Wheaton for our PBL Showcase. We are very excited to welcome you back to Wheaton to talk to our students and community about your new book. Our showcase is March 19, 2020. I will be in touch with you about additional details about this wonderful interactive event.”
Presenter at the School Library Media Programs (SLMP) Professional Learning Conference, August 2021.
Early life[edit]
Dr. Kengni was born on June 1, 1962, in Fotouni, [5]West Cameroon, to a polygamous family. Cameroon is located in Central Africa. Fotouni is a chieftaincy of the second degree and has nine chiefdoms of the third degree. His village, Bano, is one of the chiefdoms of the third degree. Fotouni is ruled by a king. At the age of four, he started being passed over from one family member to another. He started working when he was seven years old.
Education
Dr. Kengni attended public elementary school in Melong. His schooling seemed destined to end in elementary school because there was no money to pay the tuition to continue. He took night courses for two years to complete sixth and seventh grade. His life changed when he took and passed the exam to go to eighth grade in a public high school (Lycée). He graduated from high school and attended college in the neighboring African country of Gabon, where he studied Computer Science. He graduated after four years and earned a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science.
He moved to the United States of America to further his education. As an International student, he could neither apply for student loans nor scholarships, so he had to work while schooling. In the U.S., Dr. Kengni attended the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in Washington D.C., where he graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems.
He attended Graduate school at Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland, where he earned a Masters of Art in Management Information Systems in 1992. In April 1992, Dr. Kengni was admitted to a Doctoral program at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL. In April 2000, he earned a Ph.D. in in Computer and Information Systems. For his Ph.D. research, Dr. Kengni designed and implemented a ‘’Routing Protocol” called “Fast Convergence Algorithm."
He defended his thesis in 2000 and the title of his dissertation was “Structural Design of a Fast Convergence Algorithm: A Semi-Universal Routing Protocol”. This dissertation was published by Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Kengni attended the University of Maryland in College Park Maryland, where he completed graduate studies in Administration and Supervision, and earned the Administrator I Certification in 2006.
Family Life[edit]
Dr. Kengni is married. The family lives in the state of Maryland, in the United States of America.
Career[edit]
ENTREPRENEURIAL CAREER[edit]
After graduating from college in 1990, Dr. Kengni interned without pay with the Tech Services of Montgomery County in Rockville Maryland for three months. Then, he decided to create his first company called Computer Consulting and Design (CCD). CCD was specialized in computer repair and building computers from scratch for sales.
In 2002, Dr. Kengni added training to the existing company CCD and called the merged company CCD-Telecom. CCD-Telecom was specialized in training and finding employment for successful graduates. Students at CCD-Telecom had hands-on learning. They learned how to install, configure and troubleshoot routers and switches. The training center prepared students for CCNA and CCNP certifications.
In 1997, Dr. Kengni earned the Cisco Certified InterNetwork Expert (CCIE) Certification. This credential opened the doors to higher paying jobs in telecommunication companies.
Bano-Com LLC
Dr. Kengni is the Owner and CEO of Bano-Com LLC. In 2019, he created a new company called Bano-Com LLC. This organization is specialized in selling books.
TECHNOLOGY CAREER[edit]
In 1993, Dr. Kengni was hired by the World Bank, a global organization with headquarters located in Washington D.C. He worked as an Information Technology Specialist. During this time, the World Bank was updating its existing technology system to a new one. The process called system migration, involved updating the entire World Bank Network and Personal Computer (PC) Operating Systems and applications from Microsoft Disk Operating Systems (MS-DOS) to Microsoft Windows.
After the migration, Dr. Kengni’s duties changed from migration engineer to Information Technology Trainer, which included providing training to employees on how to use desktop applications, mainly Microsoft Suite. MS-Suites included MS-Windows, MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-PowerPoint and all other applications on the desktop computers and laptops.
On December, 1995, Dr. Kengni left the world Bank to join a private company called Pulsar Data Systems, as a System Network Engineer. His responsibilities included remote installation, design and configuration of Cisco routers and switches. After six moths in the company, he was promoted to Project manager in charge of government affairs.
Dr. Kengni was highly in demand after earning the CCIE Certification, the highest certification in Global Network routing and switching.
In January 1997, Dr. Kengni accepted an offer from TimeBridge Technology as the Information Technology (IT) Project Manager. At this position, he was responsible for the deployment and management of Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructure, recruitment of Network engineers, project management, and dealing with customers, among others.
After just one year with TimeBridge Technology, in June 1998, Dr. Kengni moved to UUNET. It was founded in 1987, and it was one of the largest Internet service providers and one of the early Tier 1 networks. It was an ideal company for all WAN engineers to work. As the System Network Engineer, Dr. Kengni’s responsibility was to build Network backbone of companies around the world.
Dr. Kengni was in charge of Cisco routers and switches for Remote Global installations, configuration, and implementation. At this early age of the Global Network, Dr. Kengni had installed routers in almost all the 50 United States including Canada and Europe. UUNET was acquired by WorldCom and MCI acquired WorldCom to form MCI-WorldCom.
EDUCATION CAREER[edit]
From Private Sector to Civil Service: Like President Barack Obama, Dr. Kengni did not have that same “I am going to Private Corporation to make a ton of money” mindset. He wanted to do something that makes a difference to the life of children.
Dr. Kengni believed that every child deserves an accomplished teacher — one who is qualified to equip students with the skills to succeed in the 21st century global community. That is why in 2003, Dr. Kengni decided to become an educator.
University Professor: Dr. Kengni was hired as a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at the University of Phoenix Online in 2003. He has grown to like that institution of higher education from 2003 to present.
High Schools Educator: While already teaching at the University, Dr. Kengni’s passion led him to pursue a teaching certification. In 2005, he earned a Maryland Advanced Professional Certificate (APC) for Computer Science K7-12. Because Computer Science does not go well without Mathematics, Dr. Kengni felt the need of being certified in this field as well.
As a result, in 2008, he earned both Maryland Advanced Professional Certificate (APC) in Mathematics K7-12 for Secondary education and a Maryland Advanced Professional Certificate (APC) for Middle School Mathematics K4-9. Dr. Kengni taught Computer Science in Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland from 2003-2006. Courses thought included Programing, Web Development and Design. In 2006, he was hired by Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland. Dr. Kengni is still working with this school district to present.
Education Responsibilities[edit]
From 2003 to present, Dr. Kengni has assumed multiple leadership responsibilities Serving students inside and outside the classroom, including Computer Science and Mathematics professor and teacher, he is an Administrator I, Director of the Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) a chapter of National Science Foundation (NSF), Department Chair, Lead Teacher, School Webmaster, Cross Country Running Coach and Regional Intervention Programs coordinator.
Teacher Union Activities : Dr. Kengni is a member of the Local, State and National Education unions.
Local Union: Dr. Kengni is very active in the Local Teachers’ Union. As a proud Montgomery County Public Schools educator, he became active in the Montgomery County Teacher Association (MCEA) in 2011. Since joining the Union, Dr. Kengni has taken several leadership responsibilities including Building Representative, Elected Faculty Representative (EFR), Committee member and Councils on Teaching and Learning (CTL) representing High School Mathematics teachers in the school district.
State and National Union: Dr. Kengni is a delegate who represents his local union (MCEA) to the State (MSEA) and National (NEA) Conventions each year. Live from the NEA Resident Assembly (RA) 2012 in Washington DC with over 10,000 educators from around the country, Dr. Kengni addressed an important message to politicians about school size.
Community Involvement[edit]
Dr. Kengni is a founding member of the Haut-Nkam Community of the Washington DC Metro area, whose vision is to support and inspire the Haut Nkam community youth towards good education and academic success by bringing the community together to support them. Its mission is to plan and coordinate events intended to help motivate the Haut Nkam community youth of the Washington metropolitan area to be good students, to seek academic excellence, and to make their families and community proud. We create an environment where our youth are recognized and rewarded for their hard work. Dr. Kengni has been the Treasurer, Vice president and Notable of that community since 1993. President Homeowner Association: Dr. Kengni was the President of the Kemp Mill Civic Association (KMCA) from 2007 to 2009. During his tenure, he advocated for the renovation of the Wheaton Library and revitalization of the Wheaton Downtown.
Also, Dr. Kengni wrote letters to County Executive: ‘‘I am writing to let you know that the membership of the Kemp Mill Civic Association (KMCA), which represents about 1600 households, recently discussed the issue of the Wheaton Regional Library and overwhelmingly voted in favor of supporting the renovation of the library in its current location and opposed relocating it to the Central Business District (CBD). The KMCA would like to be actively involved in developing ideas for the library’s renovation. This was done and this the new Wheaton Library."
The KMCA also supported the revitalization of the Wheaton central business district (CBD). ‘‘Creating a vibrant downtown Wheaton will benefit nearby neighborhoods such as Kemp Mill as well as the entire County. At a recent KMCA meeting, residents engaged in a productive discussion about the redevelopment process with Rob Klein from the Wheaton Redevelopment Office. We believe that downtown Wheaton can be revitalized without moving the library there. Other options exist for stimulating development, such as an arts and cultural center, major book store, or technology center.’’
Books[edit]
· Kengni, G. (2019). From Nothing to Everything : My Pathway Toward Excellence. Lulu Publishing Services rev. Date : 09,09/2018. ISBN 978-1-68470-335-7
· Gabriel, G. (2020). De Rien A Tout : Mon Parcours vers l’Excellence. Bano-store Publishing Services rev. Date : 18/7/2020. ISBN 978-0-578-70776-1
· Kengni, G. (2000). Structural Design of a Fast Convergence Algorithm: A Semi-Universal Routing Protocol. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences. (629).
References[edit]
Cameroon – USA USA – Cameroon : Un Camerounais parmi les 100 meilleurs enseignants aux Etats-Unis. Archived from original on 10 February, 2012.
- ↑ Dr. Kengni advocated for the renovation of the Wheaton Library
- ↑ First African to be invited to the White House. Archived from original on March 09, 2013.
- ↑ From Nothing to Everything : My Pathway Toward Excellence. Archived from original on 1 December, 2011.
- ↑ Dr. Kengni speaking at the National Board Certified Educator in 2011
- ↑ Fotouni. Archive from original.
External Links[edit]
- 100 meilleurs ensignants aux Etats-Unis - International News
- Kemp Mill Community News – Local news
- Your Thoughts on African Americans moving Back to Africa - International News
- Educational Youtube Channel
- Diasporama: Dr. Kengni Book Launch
