11 Inducted into Academy of Arts and Sciences
Eleven people have been inducted into the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) for demonstrating excellence in their respective fields of speciality that has contributed to national development.
The inductees are a former Chief Justice, Justice Sophia Abena Boafo Akuffo; the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo; a Professor of Linguistics, Kofi Agyekum; a Professor of Philosophy in Classics, Martin Ofei Adjei; a Professor of African Languages and Literature at the University of Vienna, Adams Bonlacher Bodomo, and the Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana, Prof. Peter Quartey.
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The rest are the Director-General and Chief Research Scientist of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Victor Kwame Agyemang; the Head of the Department of Clinical Pathology at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) at the University of Ghana College of Health Sciences, Prof. Regina Appiah-Oppong; a Professor of Public Health, who doubles as the President of FHI 360, Peter Richter Lamptey; a Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Ghana, Eric Sampane-Donkor, and a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cape Coast, Dr Nii Narku Quaynor.
Event
They were inducted at the 2021 Founders Week celebration on the theme: “The 1992 Constitution: Fitness for purpose in the 21st Century”.
The President of the GAAS, Prof. Samuel Kofi Sefa-Dedeh, led the fellows to make their declaration and sign the register of fellowship.
The fellows were decorated in brooches after they had gone through the ceremonial process.
Prof. Sefa-Dedeh congratulated the fellows and urged them to continue their journey of thought-leadership and excellence in their respective fields.
“The GAAS is the cradle of multidisciplinary knowledge, and your membership has come to further enrich the academy,” he said.
Partnership
The president emphasised the need for stronger and dependable partnership that would help the academy achieve its core mandate.
“Actions taken to ensure the building of strong partnerships must be encouraged; the GAAS would be more proactive with both national and international entities.
“At the local level, the GAAS must show interest in the work of its mother ministry, the Ministry of Education, by providing relevant inputs to guide policy,” he added.
According to Prof. Sefa-Dedeh, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) was collaborating with some fellows of the GAAS, led by Prof. Ladé Wosornu, to conduct research into some components of cocoa which could aid in the treatment of some life-threatening diseases globally.
He explained that the research formed part of COCOBOD’s programme to increase the usage for cocoa beyond the confectionery and cosmetic industries and thereby expand the global market for cocoa.
Such collaboration, hesaid, was important to find solutions to challenges which hampered Ghana’s progress towards industrialisation and the expansion of the economy.
“This is an example of collaboration between industry and the science community to ensure the conduct of research and development to drive innovation,” he added.