William Frank Kobina Coleman

Last updated
William Frank Kobina Coleman
2nd Director-General of the GBC
In office
1960–1970
Alma mater
OccupationGeneral Manager & Director-General of the GBC (1960–1970)

William Frank Kobina Coleman (born 21 March 1922) was a Nigerian-born Ghanaian engineer. [1] He was the first Ghanaian to serve as the Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, [2] he served in this capacity from 1960 to 1970. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Coleman was born in Kano, the capital  of Kano State, Nigeria (then Northern Nigeria) on 21 March 1922. [1] [3] His father was then a civil servant residing in Kano. [3] He had his early education at the Holy Trinity School in Kano where he passed his third Standard in 1932. [4] A year later, he left Kano for the Gold Coast, where he resumed his education at E. C. M. Senior School at Saltpond. [4] He enrolled at Adisadel College, Cape Coast in 1936 but returned to Nigeria a year later to join his parents. [4] [5] Coleman gained admission at the Igbobi C. M. S./Methodist Secondary School where he graduated in 1940. [4]

Career

In 1941, Coleman gained employment at the Nigerian Railways but left for the Gold Coast after a year of service. [4] He took up a teaching job in 1942 at St. Edward's Seminary, a school which was then located at Adabraka, a suburb of Accra. [4] He later joined the Treasury as a second Decision Clerk prior to entering Achimota College to pursue an Intermediate bachelor's degree in engineering. [4] [5] Upon passing his External Degree Examinations, Coleman was attached to the Gold Coast Broadcasting Service (now the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) for a brief period of time after which he joined the Achimota College teaching staff. [4] In 1948, he won a scholarship to study a post graduate course in the United Kingdom. [4] He studied at the University of Southampton (where he obtained a diploma in Electronics), [1] the University of London (where he obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering), [5] and also had an attachment course with the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Messrs Marconi, a radio company then in the United Kingdom. [4] Coleman returned to the Gold Coast after his studies abroad to join the Gold Coast Broadcasting Service once again. [4] He began as an engineer, and was later promoted to the post of a Deputy Chief Engineer in 1955. [1] [4] In 1958, he became the Chief Engineer and later the deputy director when the position was regraded. [1] [4] [6] In August 1960, Coleman was appointed Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, [7] succeeding J. B. Millar. [4] [6] Coleman served in this capacity from 1960 to 1970. [4] He was succeeded by Stephen Bekoe Mfodwo in August 1970. [8] Coleman remains the longest serving Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. [4] He once served as the vice president of the Ghana Institution of Engineers. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Who's who of British Engineers. Ohio University Press. 1970.
  2. ↑ Ghartey-Tagoe, David Kwesi (2010-07-28). David Ghartey-Tagoe: A Broadcast Icon. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN   978-1-4535-4207-1.
  3. 1 2 "Ghanaian". Ghanaian. Star Publishing Company, Limited. 1960.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Ghanaian. No. 19–29, 31–35. Star Publishing Company, Limited. 1960. p. 3.{{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[ clarification needed ]
  5. 1 2 3 Ghana Today. Information Section, Ghana Office. 1959.
  6. 1 2 Ghana Today. Information Section, Ghana Office. 1959.
  7. ↑ Educational Broadcasting International. Peter Peregrinus. 1970.
  8. ↑ Africa, Union of National Radio and Television Organizations of (1980). URTNA Review: Revue de LÚRTNA (in French). The Union.
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