Paducah School Board Members Sworn In

Dr. Felix Akojie and Mary Hunter Hancock, newly elected members of the Paducah Board of Education, were sworn in prior to the board meeting on Monday.

Dr. Akojie is beginning his 16th year on the board. Hancock was elected to her first term.

Originally from Madison, Mississippi, Hancock graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Mississippi with a degree in finance in 2002. She was employed as a credit analyst for AmSouth Bank’s Healthcare Division in Nashville, TN. She became a Paducah resident in 2004 after marrying Blann Hancock. They have three children, all of whom are enrolled in Paducah Public Schools. She is employed by Hancock’s of Paducah and is a co-owner of Barre Co. Paducah. Mrs. Hancock is currently chairman of the Easter Seals Board of Directors, of which she has been a member for the last eight years, and served as past president of the Charity League of Paducah. She is a member of Broadway United Methodist Church.

Dr. Akojie joined the WKCTC biology department faculty in 1991. He earned his PhD in biochemistry in 1985 from the University of Ife in Nigeria and did postdoctoral studies in chemistry at Loyola University in Chicago and immunology at the University of Vienna in Austria. He previously taught at the University of Ife and the University of Benin medical schools. He and his wife Patricia have four grown children, all graduates of PTHS. Dr. Felix Akojie was first elected in 2003 and has served as vice chair of the board from 2005 through 2008 and again in January 2014 until present. 

At the January 14 meeting he was elected to continue as Vice Chair, with Dr. Carl LeBuhn serving as Chair.