CAMEROONIAN-BORN SCHOLAR DR. JERRY YONGA NAMED TO U.S. FULBRIGHT SPECIALIST ROSTER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and project management professor selected for three-year Fulbright Specialist term through 2029.
SAN MARCOS, Calif. — September 17, 2026 — Dr. Jerry Yonga, a Cameroonian-born American technologist, professor, author and cybersecurity expert, has been named to the U.S. Fulbright Specialist Roster for a three-year term through 2029, marking another milestone in a career spanning technology, higher education, healthcare, cybersecurity and international development.
The Fulbright Specialist Program, part of the broader Fulbright Program, provides opportunities for highly qualified U.S. academics and professionals to engage in short-term collaborative projects with institutions around the world. Candidates are selected for the Specialist Roster through a merit-based review process based on their professional experience, academic credentials and potential contributions to international educational exchange.
For Yonga, the appointment represents another chapter in a journey that began in Cameroon and has taken him through universities, technology organizations, healthcare institutions and classrooms across several continents.
His professional career has included work in engineering and information technology, healthcare technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing and project management. His experience in Northern California included work supporting technology initiatives associated with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at Kaiser Permanente.
Yonga later returned to Cameroon, where he served in academic leadership positions, including Dean at ICT University in Yaoundé and Dean at Yaoundé International Business School. His continuing engagement with education and youth development in Africa has included work with organizations such as GreatRift Foundation and Open Dreams.
Today, Yonga teaches cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud technologies, information systems and project management, including faculty roles with the University of Maryland Global Campus and the University of Arizona Global Campus.
The Fulbright recognition also reflects Yonga's long-standing belief that knowledge should travel beyond the classroom.
“I am very blessed to have reached this stage of my life and to have accomplished what I have been able to accomplish,” Yonga said. “But I still believe there is much more work to do. My motto is simple: Keep pushing. Keep rising. That is not merely a line I use to close my books. It is an instruction manual I have been following since I was a twelve-year-old boy with a typewriter, a dream and very little else.”
Alongside his academic and technology career, Yonga is a prolific author. He has written more than 80 titles spanning cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, project management, memoir, fiction and children's literature, and has set a goal of reaching 100 published titles by 2030.
His works include Cybersecurity Fundamentals: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Digital Security, Mastering Artificial Intelligence: A Global Guide to Innovation and Opportunity, and books written for students, professionals, families and young readers. His work and educational activities have also been covered by The Guardian Post in Cameroon.
His career has increasingly focused on connecting technology education with practical opportunity—particularly helping students move beyond simply learning technology toward applying it, building with it and creating economic opportunities from it.
Yonga has taught and worked internationally and has traveled to more than 25 countries. Away from technology and academia, he has spent decades involved in soccer as a coach and mentor and holds a U.S. Soccer Federation coaching license.
For Yonga, however, the Fulbright Specialist appointment carries particular significance because it connects the different chapters of his life: Cameroon, the United States, technology, education and international service.
“Education changed the direction of my life,” Yonga said. “If the knowledge and experience I have accumulated can help another university, another professor or another young person somewhere in the world see possibilities they did not see before, then the journey continues to have purpose.”
As a member of the Fulbright Specialist Roster through 2029, Yonga is eligible to participate in approved short-term international projects that bring U.S. academic and professional expertise into collaboration with institutions abroad.
About Dr. Jerry Yonga
Dr. Jerry Yonga is a professor, technologist, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence specialist, project management professional and author based in San Marcos, California. His career spans more than three decades in information technology and more than two decades in project and program management, with experience in healthcare, government, higher education, cybersecurity and cloud technologies. He holds a doctorate focused on healthcare and cybersecurity and professional certifications in project management, information security, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
Born in Cameroon, Yonga has maintained a strong interest in expanding educational and technology opportunities in Africa while teaching and working in the United States and internationally.
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