Shellie Ochi, Ph.D.

Dr. Ochi has taught composition and literature for twenty years at institutions such as Harvard University's Institute for English Language, the University of California (Davis), Whittier College, and Cerritos College. She is now a full professor at Saddleback College. She completed a postdoctoral residency at the University of California, Davis, where she earned a Ph.D. in 2008. While at UC Davis, Dr. Ochi won the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award in 2005, and was awarded a dissertation fellowship while publishing her research in Journeys: The International Journal of Travel Writing, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of of African American Folklore, and Writing on the Edge. Dr. Ochi holds a lifetime K-12 Teaching Credential from the State of California, and her service experience includes working as a faculty researcher to improve student success at Cerritos College, as a consultant on the Writing Assessment Team at Whittier College, as a curriculum designer for Harvard University's Institute for English Language, and as the organizer of a headline event for the UC Davis Distinguished Speakers Series. She won Saddleback College's Alpha Gamma Sigma Teaching Award in 2017, and is currently piloting a new composition course for the Saddleback College English department.