Januarius Jingwa Asongu

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Januarius Jingwa (JJ) Asongu is an American philosopher, scholar,^[1] journalist, author, entrepreneuriat and activist.^[2]

After settling in the United States, Asongu became active in human rights and political advocacy.^[3] In 2012, he founded Saint Monica University (SMU),^[4] an American-style international university based in Cameroon. Headquartered in the United States, SMU currently has campuses in Cameroon, with additional campuses planned in Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria.

Asongu was born in 1970 in West Cameroon (formerly British Cameroons) as the eldest of seven children, with four sisters and two brothers. His parents, Nicholas Jingwa and Monique Nkengbeza, were devout Catholic Christians.^[5] During his secondary and high school years, Asongu served as a leader of the Young Christian Students (YCS) in Kumbo Diocese. He moved to the United States in the mid-1990s and became a naturalized citizen.

Asongu attended Government High School Kumbo (now Government Bilingual High School Kumbo) for his secondary and high school education from 1982 to 1989. He then began his priestly formation at Bishop Rogan College,^[6] in Soppo, Buea, and continued his university studies at St. Thomas Aqunias Major Seminary in Bambui, an affiliated institute of the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome,^[7] where he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree.

Following his time at the seminary, Asongu pursued an academic career abroad, inspired by his mentor, the late Professor Bernard Fonlon, an ex-seminarian and the first Cameroonian to earn a PhD. In 1995, Asongu received a certificate in journalism from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and in 1998 he completed a PhD in journalism in the United States. He became the first person from the Cameroons to be awarded the prestigious Press Fellowship^[8] from the Nuffield Foundation at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.^[9]

Asongu earned a Master of Science degree in Management of Information Technology from the University of Maryland University College in 2012 and a PhD in Business Administration from Charisma University in 2011.

Asongu's first job was teaching English literature, history, and commerce at Bishop Rogan College, Buea (1989/90). In 1993/94, he worked as a seminarian on internship at St. John's Catholic Parish, Kumba, and St. Luke's Parish, Nyandong. After his journalism training, he worked as a reporter in the Cameroons, where he wrote for various newspapers and co-hosted Catholic programs on CRTV. His writings brought him into conflict with the administration, and in 1997, he left for the United States. His first occupation in the US was journalism, where he worked at The Houston Chronicle^[10] as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow.^[11]

He was the first person from the Cameroons to earn a fellowship from the Alfred Friendly Foundation. He was awarded the Press Fellowship^[12] at Wolfson College, Cambridge. Upon his return to the US from the UK, he worked as a reporter and editor for various newspapers and magazines and taught briefly at several high schools. In 1999, he transitioned into public relations where he worked for various agencies and international companies. Asongu has taught at several universities in the United States, including Rockford University, Rockford, IL; Herzing University, Milwaukee, WI; Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Rockford Campus; Franklin University, Columbus, OH.^{[citation needed]} He has also started a number of small businesses in the United States and Cameroons.

Asongu has spoken on controversial issues on many radio and TV stations in the Cameroons and has written op-eds for American newspapers.^{[citation needed]} He conducted a detailed study of the Anglophone problem (Cameroon), and wrote a thesis in 1993 on "The Problem of National Unity in Cameroon: A Politico-Philosophical Analysis." He was also a champion of Southern Cameroon's independence for years before resigning from the leadership of the struggle in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

He has written on corporate social responsibility including "Innovation as an Argument for Corporate Social Responsibility,^[13] " and "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice.^[14]

Asongu founded Saint Monica University (SMU),^[15] first as a Professional Training Center (PTC), in 2009. PTC is now called Saint Monica Vocational Training Center and is located in Buea.

In 2012, he incorporated SMU in the United States, but most of SMU's operations are in the Cameroons, where it operates ground campuses in the college town of Buea (Saint Monica University Institute) as well as the commercial hub of Kumba (Institute of Professional Studies).

He has served on the boards of the National Association of African American Studies (NAAAS) and Affiliates,^[16] and the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERUDEF).^[17]