Doctoral Student Marries Love For Communication and Linguistics to Study Public Relations

By Lenore Devore, B.S. Journalism, 1984

The son of a linguistics professor, Francis Akanbi knew from a young age that he would study languages in college in his native Nigeria. He never anticipated that path would lead him to the U.S. and eventually to the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, where he’s a doctoral student focused on research in public relations ethics, corporate purpose and corporate social responsibility.

“Children always tend to follow in their parents’ footsteps,” Akanbi said. “Dad was always studying, writing papers, preparing for class. I used to see these books on his shelves. I loved to read. I would take one of the books, and even though I didn’t understand it, they looked very fancy and I really liked it. We always discussed languages.”

His love of reading turned into a passion for learning and teaching.

Akanbi, who recently was honored with a Certificate of Outstanding Merit by the UF International Center, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in linguistics from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria before accepting a yearlong fellowship in 2017 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE).

“I wasn’t even thinking of coming to the U.S. Then I got this opportunity to apply for a Fulbright Foreign Language Fellowship, a fully funded scholarship program with the greatest language teachers from all around the world, and also teach language to undergrad students.”

When the fellowship ended, he returned to Nigeria, where he married his girlfriend, Lola, who he met in grad school in 2012. They have two young sons that Lola takes care of while writing children’s books.

The couple returned to SIUE so Akanbi could continue his studies. When he took classes during his fellowship, he realized education is different in the U.S., where students complete multiple assignments and take many tests in every class. In Nigeria, students pass or fail based on a mid-term test and final exam.

“When I was exposed to the educational culture of the U.S., I saw myself not being up to the standard,” he said. “I knew I wanted to get my Ph.D., but I knew I would not be ready if I applied to a Ph.D. program straight up. So I decided to get another master’s and asked myself: What’s the next best discipline that I could go into that relates to where I’m coming from in sociolinguistics – the study of society, language, culture and people.”

In 2018, he received his master’s in Applied Communication from SIUE, then looked for a discipline that would combine that with his knowledge of linguistics. He found public relations. “We communicate with people, and that’s what PR is all about.”

He developed an interest in public relations ethics and corporate social responsibility and decided on UF, which had a top 5 public relations program and weather akin to Nigeria’s. He’s now taking classes, working as a research assistant and teaching public relations research to undergraduates.

Akanbi, his adviser Associate Dean for Research Marcia DiStaso, and doctoral student Eve Heffron meet weekly to talk about research, something he’s passionate about. In 2022, the trio and two other doctoral students who have since graduated presented their corporate purpose research at the International Public Relations Research Conference in Orlando.

“People have to know you – as an organization – for what’s important to you. What is your essence of existence? Is it diversity, inclusion and equity? Are you passionate about the environment? Do you champion social causes? That’s what corporate purpose is all about,” Akanbi said.

With that in mind, he and his research team examined social media posts of Fortune 500 companies based in Texas to see how they responded to the state’s new law making abortion illegal.

“Out of the 95 Fortune 500 companies we analyzed, not one posted about the abortion law on social media or replied to stakeholder comments. We coined this act ‘corporate social silence’ – the phenomenon in which companies choose to remain silent rather than speak out,” he said.

The goal of the research is to help corporate communication professionals understand the implications of taking stances on social/political issues, Akanbi said. “We understand that there were some companies that took a stand, but companies that were headquartered in Texas like American Airlines did not.”

He and others are now working on a study that further explicates the “corporate social silence” concept in the aftermath of the Texas abortion ban. They will present their findings at the Institute for Public Relations Bridge Conference in Washington, D.C., in March.

He also studies the intersection between language and strategic communication, often thinking that TV and radio ads would resonate with a target audience if the advertiser included specific language. He’s interested in doing research to learn more.

After college, he would like to work in the industry, possibly with an adjunct professor position on the side. Then, he wants to return to Nigeria to use what he’s learned – and teach.

“I still have a lot to learn in the U.S. When I return to Nigeria, I want to talk to communicators in the industry on how things should be done and how they should communicate some of these things. I’d like to use my communication skills and give back to my society.”

He’s especially interested in the corporate social responsibility of oil companies in Nigeria, which is one of the highest-producing oil countries in the world. “The place where it’s being produced is in shambles. Some oil companies are conniving with the federal government and giving them kickbacks so the government does not check on them and what’s going on in that community, like oil spills. There is nothing that big oil companies are doing to alleviate poverty. They are making lots of money. My research is focused on that and trying to come up with practical public relations strategies that will encourage these companies to do better.”

When teaching, he tells students about the careers that are open to them.

“I tell them that every organization has a communications department. Facebook, Google, they all have communications departments, so they employ communicators. You can do PR with a big franchise or big conglomerates or tech companies. It’s the uniqueness of studying communications. Your discipline is all-encompassing; you just don’t know it.”

He advises students to live for today. “If you think too much about the future, your present will suffer. You won’t be able to do everything you want to do to get the future going. Get the best of today and that future will work itself out.”

Akanbi said this students are asking for compassion from professors. “I’m able to see that because I’m a student too. I know what I would expect from my professors.”

Posted: January 13, 2023
Category: College News, Profiles
Tagged as: Francis Akanbi