Meet Nghana

I grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and graduated from St. Thomas More Catholic High School. I received my undergraduate degree in English from Tulane University and a PhD in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I worked with the late American literary historian and women’s studies scholar, Nina Baym. I served on the faculty of Louisiana State University, before accepting a joint appointment in English and Africana Studies at Tulane University.

I earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University in New Orleans in 2007. In 2016, I entered elective politics, with an unsuccessful run for District Court Judge, Division B, 40th Judicial District Court. Four years later, I successfully ran for the same position, and was elected on November 3, 2020.

Throughout my career, I have been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for my research, teaching, and community service, including a Woodrow Wilson Early Career Foundation Fellowship, a Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellowship for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, the Louise and Leonard Riggio Endowed Social Entrepreneurship Professorship, the Roddy Richard Lifetime Achievement Award, and an NAACP Award for Education & Representation. In addition to my work in the classroom, in the courtroom, and in my community, I count among my greatest accomplishments watching my daughters, Ciel and Cydney, become compassionate, fearless change agents, and marrying my best friend and lifetime backgammon challenger, Corey.