How new father and doctoral graduate Anthony Dontoh raised his first child while earning his PhD
June 18, 2026
Earning a doctorate degree is often the most challenging task any student could complete. Dr. Anthony Dontoh did it while raising a newborn baby girl.
Dontoh enrolled in the Herff College of Engineering in 2023, seeking his PhD in Civil Engineering. A year into his doctorate, his wife, Sara Amegatse, gave birth to their first child, Zoey Ewurama Dontoh.
Already deprived of sleep by his studies, Dontoh said that the addition of a newborn made life a little more complicated.
“It was tough, especially the very first few weeks when she came and I was already deprived of sleep because the doctoral program was not that easy and now it’s been compounded because that little time that I get to sleep, now I cannot sleep during those times because that’s the time that she’ll be crying and I would have to go pick her up or my wife would go pick her up. It wasn’t easy,” Dontoh said.
Dontoh and his wife, a pre-nursing student at the University of Memphis, hadn’t planned on having a child while he finished graduate school. Still, the two quickly fell into a routine of researching, studying and changing diapers, though Dontoh admits that Sara more seamlessly adapted to parenthood.
“There are certain things that I can try to do, like changing her clothes and changing her diaper. I do contribute, but I’m not as efficient and as fast as she is. When she’s crying, the best I can do is carry her. Sometimes, she still cries, but my wife does better at it,” Dontoh said.
Alone in Memphis, the two Ghanaian natives relied heavily on each other during Zoey’s first year, an experience Dontoh credits with strengthening his marriage and revealing even more qualities in his wife that amazed him.
“I wouldn’t have been able to graduate without my wife’s help,” Dontoh said. “Sometimes, when I’m hard pressed for deadlines and all that, she takes responsibility for taking care of Zoey so that I can focus and then finish, especially this last summer. We knew that I needed to graduate because of the financial responsibilities, and one of us needed to graduate. One of us would have to take much more responsibility for Zoey than the other person and she took that responsibility and she was fantastic.”
When he wasn’t caring for Zoey, Dontoh worked as a teaching assistant, conducted research, and worked on his dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Ivey. But caring for Zoey always came first, something Dontoh said the faculty at the Herff College of Engineering fully understood and supported.
“I did plan my itinerary around her and the professors that I was working with knew that, during certain periods, I would not be available. Regardless, there were emergencies that came up that I had no control over and I had to skip or postpone a meeting. Sometimes, I’d have to shoot the professor I was helping teach an email and let her know that I wouldn't be able to come in because I had to take Zoey to the hospital. And, thankfully, the professors, my advisor, and the professor I was working with at the time all understood and things were quite smooth,” Dontoh said.
Those sacrifices and sleepless nights paid off in May 2026 when Dontoh earned his doctorate degree in civil engineering, an accomplishment he said would not have been possible without the friends who believed in him and helped him achieve his dream.
He brought Zoey, then a month shy of her second birthday, to his hooding ceremony, where Ivey presented him with his doctoral hood.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic, brilliant, has contributed so much to all of the research that we have done, and I’m so excited to see what he accomplishes in the future because I know it will be amazing,” Ivey said.
Though Zoey slept through most of the event celebrating her father’s crowning academic achievement, Dontoh said having his daughter in attendance set what he hopes is a solid foundation for his family moving forward.
“It really meant a lot to me because I am the first-generation doctoral degree holder from my family, and seeing my daughter there kind of felt like I’m setting a very good example for her, too, if she ever wants to pursue her doctorate degree. At the same time, I felt accomplished, like, ‘Hey, you did it. You did it for the family. You did Zoey proud and my wife proud.’ So, seeing her there was really important to me,” Dontoh said.
Of course, two-year-old Zoey didn’t grasp the magnitude of the moment when her father officially became Dr. Dontoh. But he hopes that when she grows up and he and his wife tell her about his journey, she will realize that with family by her side, anything is possible.
“I hope she realizes that, if you put your mind to anything, you can do it. That if you put your mind to it, you’ll be able to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve and also that family is everything. Yeah, you have to pursue your career and whatnot, but at the end of the day, family is what is going to be there for you, and when you have to prioritize, family should come first,” Dontoh said.