Francis Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962.
The L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards, created in 1998, aim to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress. The awards are a result of a partnership between the French cosmetics company L'Oréal and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and carry a grant of $100,000 USD for each laureate. This award is also known as the L'Oréal-Helena Rubinstein Women in Science Awards.
Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah is a Ghanaian politician and chairperson of the Convention People's Party (CPP). In the 2008 parliamentary election, she won the Jomoro constituency seat at her first attempt. She is the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana.
Francis Kofi Ampenyin Allotey was a Ghanaian mathematical physicist. Together with Daniel Afedzi Akyeampong, he became the first Ghanaian to obtain a doctorate in mathematical sciences, earned in 1966.
Helena R. Asamoah-Hassan is a Ghanaian librarian who is the present Executive Director of African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA), the Board Chair for the Ghana Library Authority and the Secretary General of African Regional Memory of the World Committee
Professor Aba A. Bentil Andam is a Ghanaian particle physicist who was President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences from 2017–2019. She is the first Ghanaian female physicist.
Letitia Eva Takyibea Obeng was the first Ghanaian woman to obtain a degree in zoology and the first to be awarded a doctorate. She is described as "the grandmother of female scientists in Ghana".
Lubna Hamid Tawfiq Tahtamouni is a Jordanian biologist known for her work in developmental biology and cancer research. She is the head of the Department of Biology and Biotechnology at Hashemite University in Zarqa, Jordan. She has won multiple awards for her work on breast cancer, and is known as an advocate for allowing young women in the Arab world to choose a career in science. In 2016, she was named one of BBC's 100 Women.
Jane Catherine Ngila is the head of the Chemical Sciences Department at the University of Johannesburg, her work focuses on applying nanotechnology for water purification. She is Acting Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences and member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.
Nikoletta Samonas is a Ghanaian and Greek actress and a freelance model. She is known as Nikki Samonas in the entertainment industry and has had roles in a number of feature films. She is an alumna of both Holy Child High School and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Mavis Owureku-Asare is a Ghanaian food scientist. She researched the use of solar dehydration to preserve tomatoes. She conducted research showing that poor quality foods were sold in some Ghanaian markets. She is a principal research scientist at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. She is a fellow of the Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (LEAP) and a recipient of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD).
Anne Amuzu is a Ghanaian computer scientist and the co-founder of the technology company, Nandimobile Limited.
Marian Asantewah Nkansah is a Ghanaian environmental chemist. Her research work focuses on finding solutions to environmental problems associated with levels and fate of toxic substances such as heavy/trace metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food, water, soil, rocks, sediments and other environmental samples. She also researches on the interaction of these pollutants with each other in the environment. In 2016, together with some scientists from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, she led a research which led to the confirmation that edible white clay poses potential cancer risk. In 2016, she became the first scientist to win the Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi Prize, an annual award that recognises exceptional women scientists from scientifically and technologically lagging countries. She and Collins Obuah, another scientist from the University of Ghana, were the two scientist selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting in 2017. In 2021, she was among five women recipients in developing countries of the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards. She received the 2022 Africa Role Model Overall Female Personality Award, and was inducted as a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences the same year.
Rita Akosua Dickson is a Ghanaian phytochemist and the first female Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Delese Mimi Darko is a Ghanaian pharmacist. In 2017, she became the first woman to be appointed chief executive officer of the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority by Nana Akuffo-Addo.
Agnes Oforiwa Tagoe-Quarcoopome, also known as Auntie Oforiwa, was one of the women who supported Kwame Nkrumah in the fight for Ghanaian independence. She was also a market queen.
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi is a Ghanaian academic. She is a professor of Immunology and Parasitology at the University of Ghana and the Foundation Dean of the University of Ghana School of Public Health. She is also a researcher in the field of medicine and a health practitioner. She is a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. Professor Quakyi was recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of “seven women scientists who defied the odds and changed science forever”.
Yézoumi Akogo is an agricultural scientist from Togo, who attended the National University of Benin. Her research examines the in vitro propagation of plants utilised in market gardening, tubers and medicinal plants. In 2000 she was awarded a L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship, which enables recipients to fund field research. Akogo has worked on the in vitro propagation of okra, as well as models for experimental plant morphogenesis.
Constance Elizabeth Swaniker is a Ghanaian sculptor, educator, and entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Accent & Arts and also the founder of Design and Technical Institute (DTI) in Accra.
Peggy Oti-Boateng is a Ghanaian bio-chemist. She is the current executive director of African Academy of Sciences. She is the immediate former head of UNESCO Science Policy and Capacity Building Department. She was also a former head of the Sciences Sector for the Southern African Development Community, director of the Research Centre at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and former chair of the BioInnovate Africa Programme Advisory Committee (PAC).
