06/18/2026
🔸Special Message from Dr. Jeanne Akin🔸
To my present students and advisees, my many students of the past, my OBU colleagues—past and present—and my Shawnee-area friends:
I want to let everyone know that I have retired from OBU.
I did not make this decision until after finals, so we did not have an opportunity to plan a special time to say goodbye. The truth is, I am not very good at goodbyes.
Students, each of you is very special to me, and I cherish the time we have shared together. As I have often said, YOU give me hope for tomorrow. I see your potential, your good hearts, and the impact you will have on the world wherever God leads you. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey.
As for retiring, I genuinely LOVE teaching at OBU. It fills my heart and gives a lot of purpose to my life, but I made the decision to retire for those twin grandkids you've heard me talk about. They are starting high school this year. It is a pivotal time of life, and I believe God is asking me to invest more in their lives.
I am already genuinely grieving the loss of teaching and serving OBU as faculty. As Pooh Bear says, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Serving OBU has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and YOU are part of that! Thank you.
I promise to come by next fall to see my present students. And to all my former students, friends, and colleagues, we will be celebrating at a retirement reception likely to be held during The Weekend (Homecoming). Stay tuned! We will celebrate!
Truly, "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance" (Psalm 16:6). What a God-gift teaching and serving OBU (YOU) has been to me! I am forever grateful.
All of life, all for Jesus,
Dr. Jeanne Akin
Fall 1997 – Spring 2026
