By Edward Acquah
Accra, Nov. 16, GNA – The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) on Tuesday inducted 15 new fellows, including five women, into the Academy at a ceremony in Accra.
The new fellows are: Professor Samuel Agyei Mensah, a former Head of the Department of Geography at the University of Ghana; Mr Ace Anan Ankomah, Founding Member and Director of OccupyGhana; Prof. Kwasi Ampene, Professor of Ethnomusicology at Tufts University; Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, First Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana, and Prof. Herbert Graves Winful, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan.
Others are: Prof. Evans Adei, an Associate Professor of Computational Chemistry; Prof. Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, a Professor of Bacteriology at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research; Prof. Richmond Nii Okai Aryeetey, a Public Health Nutritionist, and Prof. Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Ghana, and Prof. Amos Kanponang Laar, Associate Professor of Bioethics and Public Health Nutrition, School of Public Health, UG.
The rest are Prof. Marian Asantewaa Nkansah, Associate Professor of Environmental Chemistry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Prof. Jehoram Tei Anim, Professor of Histopathology; Prof. Bruce Banoeng-Yakubo, Professor of Geology at the University of Ghana; Prof. Sarah Darkwa, Professor of Food Science and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, University of Cape Coast, and Prof. Dorcas Osei-Safo, Associate Professor of Natural Products Chemistry.
The new fellows were inducted as part of activities to mark the Academy’s Founder’s Week Celebration.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia graced the occasion.
The celebration, which is the oldest in the GAAS’ tradition, started in 1940, and focuses on important national or topical issues.
The final day of the week-long celebration is dedicated to what has been christened the “Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture” in memory of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the Founder of the Academy and first President of Ghana.
This year’s lecture will be delivered by Emeritus Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah, a Fellow of the Academy on Friday, November 18, 2022.
Addressing the gathering, Emeritus Professor Samuel Kofi Sefa-Dedeh, President of GAAS, urged the new fellows to uphold the principles of integrity, excellence, and professionalism as they commenced their journey in the Academy.
“The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences is the cradle of multi-disciplinary knowledge, and your membership has come to further enrich the profile of Fellows of the Academy,” he said.
Prof. Sefa-Dedeh said the Academy had over the years demonstrated its ability to provide and disseminate critical information and practical solutions needed for different sectors of the economy.
He urged Fellows of the Academy to continue to initiate partnerships and projects in their areas of expertise or interest to promote national development.
“This can expand the resources of the Academy, increase relevance and offer opportunities for young researchers to learn from the experiences of Fellows as mentors,” he said.
GNA