Meet Shanese Higgins, Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program director and associate professor at Kettering College. Shanese was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in the Upper Dayton View Triangle area. She was raised in the church and has a strong foundation and personal belief in the Christian faith.
Shanese is an occupational therapist with over 16 years of experience, and she specializes in mental health and psychosocial factors that impact occupational engagement and overall health and wellness. She began working at Kettering College in July of 2014 and became the program director for the Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program in January of 2020. She was drawn to work at Kettering College because she wanted to help build a new program and live her faith in the daily work she does with students, faculty, and other staff. Among many accomplishments she feels fortunate to have, she says one of her greatest is being a part of the opening and accreditation of the Occupational Therapy Doctorate program and standing up the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council and executive committees at Kettering College.
Her students’ desire to become occupational therapists and working with dedicated and innovative colleagues are what inspire her the most in her job. She encourages people to “Pray. Ask God for a word and vision about His plan for your life. Then, make sure that as you try to follow His plan you find something that ignites and sustains your passion. Recognize that you will have challenges, that you won’t always get it right, but that if you follow God’s plan and you work in your area of passion, you will be sustained in your calling.” Higgins is a wife, mother of three sons (Russell III, Aaron, and Jaalam) and a new YaYa to a grandson (Russell). She is also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc which is a private, non-profit organization whose purpose is to aid and support to the underserved.