Patrick Awuah Jr. | |
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Born | 1965 |
Nationality | Ghana |
Alma mater | Achimota School UC Berkeley, Swarthmore College |
Known for | Ashesi University |
Spouse | Rebecca Awuah |
Awards | John P. McNulty Prize[ citation needed ] MacArthur Fellowship |
Patrick Awuah Jr. (born 1965) is a Ghanaian engineer, educator, and entrepreneur. Awuah established Ashesi University, a private, not-for-profit Ghanaian institution in 2002. [1] He has received awards [2] as an individual and as the founder of Ashesi. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Awuah grew up in Accra, Ghana. He attended the Achimota School [8] [9] where he was a house prefect.[ citation needed ]
He moved to the U.S. in 1985 to attend Swarthmore College with a full scholarship. He earned bachelor's degrees in Engineering and Economics, graduating in 1989. Following graduation, Awuah worked as a software engineer and program manager for Microsoft from 1989 to 1997. At Microsoft, he met his future wife, Rebecca, a software testing engineer. [10]
In 1997, Awuah left Microsoft with the goal of returning to Ghana to educate the next generation of African leaders. [11] [12] He enrolled at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, focusing his work on preparing a business plan for Ashesi. Awuah, Nina Marini, and other graduate students from Berkeley went to Ghana to do a feasibility study for opening a private university there. Awuah graduated with his MBA in 1999. That same year, he moved back to Ghana with his family to found Ashesi University. [1] [13] [14] [15] Awuah continues to serve as the president of Ashesi University. [16]
John Kufuor presented Awuah the Order of the Volta Award to recognise his contribution to tertiary education in Ghana in 2007. [3] In 2009, Awuah won the John P. McNulty Prize. [17] In 2010, Awuah was awarded 87th most creative business person by Fast Company. [18] In 2014, he received The Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award, which honours UC Berkeley alumni with distinguished records of service to their native country. [19] In the same year he was named best social entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. [20] In 2015, Awuah was listed by Fortune as number 40 in world's 50 greatest leaders [5] and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. [6] In 2017, Awuah was awarded the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) prize, a major global education award. [7]
Jerry John Rawlings was a Ghanaian military officer, aviator and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1993, and then served two terms as the democratically elected president of Ghana. He was the longest-serving leader in Ghana's history, presiding over the country for 19 years.
Achimota School, formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school was founded in 1924 by Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey and the Rev. Alec Garden Fraser. It was formally opened in 1927 by Sir Guggisberg, then Governor of the British Gold Coast colony. Achimota, modelled on the British public school system, was the first mixed-gender school to be established on the Gold Coast.
Ashesi University is a private, non-profit and non-sectarian university located in Berekuso, near Accra. The mission of Ashesi University is to educate ethical, entrepreneurial leaders in Africa; to cultivate within students the critical thinking skills, the concern for others, and the courage it will take to transform the continent.
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Kwaku Addo Sakyi-Addo is a journalist from Ghana, who was the country correspondent for both Reuters and the BBC between 1993 and 2007. He currently hosts a political talk show on Asaase Radio in Accra.
Richard Kent Lyons is an American economist and academic who has been the 12th chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, since July 1, 2024. He is the first undergraduate alum to serve in this role. Prior to that, he was UC Berkeley’s first chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer from 2020–24 and the dean of its Haas School of Business from 2008–18. He joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1993 after earning his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and teaching at Columbia University for six years.
Major Seth Kobla Anthony, MBE was a Ghanaian soldier and diplomat. He was the first black African-born soldier to be commissioned as an officer in the British Army.
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Regina Honu, is a Ghanaian social entrepreneur, software developer and founder of Soronko Solutions, a software development company in Ghana. She opened Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa. Honu has received multiple awards, including being named by CNN as one of the 12 inspirational women who rock STEM. She was also named as one of the six women making an impact in Tech in Africa and one of the ten female entrepreneurs to watch in emerging economies.
Yawa Hansen-Quao is a Ghanaian founder, social entrepreneur and a feminist. She sits on the Board of Directors of Ashesi University, serves on the advisory board, Women's Institute for Global Leadership and Benedictine University. She is the founder of the Leading Ladies Network (LLN), a member of the African Leadership Network and the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Community. She is a force to reckon with in the education and well-being of the girl child.
Dr. Ken Kwaku is an international investment and corporate governance expert. In 2013 he was nominated together with the late President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills for the Africa Achievers Award. This recognition stemmed from his track record in the area of business development and the unearthing of leadership potentials across Africa. He is Ghana's Honorary Consular to Tanzania and a special adviser to the former president, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa.
Joseph Nana Kwame Awuah-Darko, also known as Okuntakinte is a Ghanaian artist. He started his music career professionally in late 2015 when he was signed with Meister Music Management which also manages artists like Mr. Eazi. He released his major hit Melanin Girls in January 2016, which was received with appreciation.
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Kwame Awuah-Darko is a Ghanaian politician, entrepreneur and a banker. He is the 3rd son of the late Nana Awuah-Darko Ampem I, who reigned as the Nkosuohene of Asante Juaben traditional area in the Ashanti Region of Ghana from June 1985 till his demise on November 25, 2005.
Isaac Emmanuel Osei-Bonsu was a Ghanaian politician who was a member of the first parliament of the second republic of Ghana. He represented Mid-Volta constituency under the membership of the Progress Party (PP).
Owuraku Ampofo a successful Sports Journalist who is the Country director for Flashscore and works for 3Sports under the Media General brand. He played for Koans FC, in the Second Division of Ghana Football,after writing his Wassce. Born to Mr and Mrs Ocran
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Nana Akwasi Awuah is a Ghanaian politician, activist and lawyer. He has been the managing director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, Ghana’s gold assaying agency, since 2021. In 2014, he co-founded and was convener for Occupy Ghana which actively criticized governance in Ghana under the John Mahama presidency and organized two famous mass protests; Occupy Ghana and Occupy Flagstaff House. Awuah also founded the Citizen Ghana movement in 2015.
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