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Profile at a Glance

Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo is the first female Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana and a Professor of Linguistics. With nearly twenty-five years of experience in academia and university leadership, she is widely recognised for her innovative, inclusive, and transformational approach to higher education. Her leadership is anchored in two guiding principles: harnessing technology as an enabler and placing people at the centre of institutional transformation.

Leadership & Service

Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana (2021–Present); first woman to hold the position.

Chair, Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Partnership Board

Vice-Chair, African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA)

President, African Humanities Association (AHA), International Federation of Modern Languages and Literatures (FILLM)

Member, Administrative Board, International Association of Universities (IAU)

Ambassador for Gender Equity and Social Inclusion, Association of African Universities (AAU)

Academia

Professor of Linguistics, specialising in pragmatics, multilingualism, language and gender, and higher education.

Education: BA – University of Ghana, MPhil, PhD – Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Executive Education: Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Hochschule Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.

Global Impact & Recognition

Global Leadership & Engagement: Internationally recognised higher education leader and sought-after speaker with professional engagements in 37 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia.

Awards & Fellowships: Glitz Africa Woman of the Year – Excellence in Education (2023); GUBA Nana Yaa Asantewaa Woman of Enlightenment Award (2021); Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, DAAD, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Commonwealth Professional Fellowship, and International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation.

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Welcome Message from the Office of the Vice Chancellor

It is indeed a great time to be part of our community here at the University of Ghana, and I welcome you to join us in our forward march towards the achievement of greater recognition within the global academic community.

At the University of Ghana, world-class research and high-quality teaching and learning take place across the broadest possible range of disciplines. From the Humanities to Basic and Applied Sciences, Health Sciences, and Education, this is an institution that has, for many years, set the pace for its peers in Ghana, in the sub-region, and at the continental level.

As Vice-Chancellor, I am determined to build on our well-established position as a highly-sought university to become one of the very centers of teaching and research. We have a bold strategy amplified in our Strategic Plan, taking us to 2029, which is based on a re-defined vision to achieve global impact through innovative research, teaching and learning, using a technology-driven and people-centred approach.