Dr. Wendy Osefo resigned from her professor position in 2024, but she’s now fully back in the throes of academia.
The Real Housewives of Potomac cast member made the initial announcement about her return to teaching at the end of Season 9, but shared new details on the decision while speaking to The Daily Dish at DIRECTV’s Plot Twist – Featuring Bravo event in New York City on August 12.
“I’m still teaching at Wesleyan in Connecticut, where I’m a distinguished professor, so that’s super exciting for me, and I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “This is my second year there, and I’m teaching about reality TV and its impact on society. My students love it, and so I’m geared up for that.”
Wendy taught the class last fall and called it “fun,” but decided to take the spring semester off to decide whether she’d return. And now that she’s back, she’s “knee-deep in Love Island” in preparation for the new semester.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” she confessed. “I know some of the names, someone is loving somebody, somebody is recoupling, I’m not sure. But give me some time. I’m going to figure it all out.”
Why did Wendy Osefo quit her job as a professor in the past?
On the RHOP Season 9 premiere, which aired in October 2024, Wendy shocked audiences by announcing plans to take a break from teaching at Johns Hopkins University. “I wanted to resign for a very long time. I’m turning 40, but I still have other things to do,” Wendy said in a confessional, adding that she “no longer felt fulfilled” as a professor.
The married mother of three also noted that she wanted wanted to focus on her and her husband Eddie Osefo’s children: Karter Osefo, 12, Kruz Osefo, 10, and Kamrynn Osefo, 6.
Upon her decision to shift back into academia with her reality tv-themed studies, Wendy told Forbes in May, “We may live in cities that are diverse in thinking and community, but there are people in certain parts of the United States who, whether we realize it or not, may live in very homogeneous communities where everyone looks like them and thinks like them. Why does that matter? It matters because media and television often become their only source of interaction with people who think and look differently from them.”
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Everything to know about Wendy Osefo’s career
Wendy carries a host of achievements under her belt, many of which have been showcased on RHOP since her Housewife status began in 2020. Before then, her incredible academic career started with a B.A. degree from Temple University, followed by a Master of Arts degree in government from Johns Hopkins University, where she later served as a professor in their Doctor of Education program, according to her website.
She earned her second Master’s degree — of science — at Rutgers University in 2016, making her the first Black woman there to earn a PH.D. in Public Affairs-Community Development.
Related: Dr. Wendy Osefo Dishes on Her “Gorgeous” Princess-Cut Engagement Ring (EXCLUSIVE)
Per her page with Wesleyan, Wendy “provided academic and administrative leadership and was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day administration and operation of the management program” when directing the Master of Arts in Management program at Goucher College in Baltimore.
Her accolades include directing several programs under former U.S. President Barack Obama’s Promise Neighborhood Initiative to combat poverty, and founding the 1954 Equity Project for underrepresented minority students in universities, according to her website. Wendy also received the Johns Hopkins Recognition Award in 2017 and was an honoree of the Baltimore Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, just to name a couple of her many other distinctions.
Find out what the rest of the RHOP cast does for a living.
— Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
