President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday pledged to give the female leaders occupying the top hierarchy of the University of Ghana (Legon), the necessary support to enable them to succeed.
The President, made the pledge at the swearing in of the first female Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, was optmisistic that the team of female leaders can take the nation’s premier university to great heights.
The University of Ghana currently has Prof Amfo as its Vice-Chancellor, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, as the Chancellor, Justice Sophia Akuffo, retired Chief Justice as Chair of the University Council and Mrs Emilia Agyei-Mensah as its Registrar.
It is the first time a quartet of female leaders was occupying the top positions of the university in its 73 years of existence.
President Akufo-Addo said the University of Ghana’s tradition of male Vice-Chancellors had been broken with the appointment of accomplished women to lead the management of the affairs of the university.
He urged the males in the academic hierarchy of the University not to be threatened by the new development, adding that the time had come for women to also take charge of the affairs of the institution.
“That tradition has fortunately been broken. The premier university, University of Ghana, Legon, has as of now a new Vice Chancellor who is female. Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Anful, warm congratulations on your achievements and the best of luck and God’s guidance in the discharge of your duties” he said.
According to the President, woman had waited long enough to lead in such positions
President Akufo-Addo observed Ghana was undergoing significant reforms in its educational system — significantly, the broadening of access to education at all levels of the country’s educational structure.
“I am confident that the premier university, the status that would be attached to Legon forever, has in our new Vice chancellor, chosen a person who will be adequate to this formidable task,” he said
Prof Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, a 2009 African Humanities Program Postdoctoral Fellow and the chair of the Steering Committee of the African Humanities Association, was appointed Vice-Chancellor at the University of Ghana, effective October 26, 2021.
She was sworn-in by the University Council on Monday, 26th July, 2021, to act as Vice-Chancellor until a substantive appointment was made. Her appointment took effect from 1st August, 2021.
Prof. Amfo took over from Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu whose tenure of appointment as Vice-Chancellor ended on 31st July, 2021.
Prof Amfo was the Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Ghana. She is an experienced academic and university administrator, with close to twenty years of experience in higher education.
Prior to her becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor (ASA) in November 2019, Professor Amfo was founding Dean of the School of Languages (2014 – 2019). She previously served as the Head of the Department of Linguistics (2013 – 2014). She has participated in the governance of the University of Ghana through her service on several statutory and ad hoc boards and committees.
Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo’s MPhil (2001) and PhD (2007) degrees in Linguistics are from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.
She holds a bachelor’s degree (French and Linguistics) from the University of Ghana. Professor Amfo has a post-graduate certificate in Administration and Management from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and has received additional training in higher education management and leadership from Harvard Business School, University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and INSEAD, France. She is a past student of Holy Child School (O’Level) and Archbishop Porter’s Girls Secondary School (A’Level).
BY YAW KYEI
