Rev. Dr. Vanessa Wynder Quainoo earned a BA in speech communication from Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois), an MA in oral performance from Western Illinois University, and a PhD in classical rhetoric from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst, Massachusetts). Currently, Dr. Quainoo serves as Chief Intercultural Engagement Officer and Associate Professor of Communication at Wheaton College, IL. Her research includes the rhetoric of African American sermons and cultural experience. She is the 2021 recipient of the Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award in Diversity from the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Quainoo and her husband, Bishop Joseph Quainoo, have several adult sons and daughters-in-law, and several grandchildren.