Honouring Outstanding Faculty Members
Ashesi celebrated a historic milestone as two outstanding faculty members, Associate Professor Nathan Amanquah and Dr. Ayorkor Korsah, were honored at an inaugural investiture ceremony on October 4th. The two were honored with new faculty positions in the presence of members of our community—Board members, family, colleagues, and friends—who gathered to celebrate their remarkable contributions to Ashesi and academia.
The newly established faculty chair and fellowship represent a milestone in Ashesi’s journey to deepen faculty research and excellence in teaching. These honors provide funding to support the scholarly activities of exceptional faculty, furthering their groundbreaking work.
The Patrick Awuah Professorial Chair, named after Ashesi’s Founder, is the university’s first endowed faculty position—made possible through the generosity of a community of donors who made the gift in honor of the university’s founder and our 20th anniversary.
The Hopper-Dean Fellowship, made possible through the generosity of Heidi Hopper and Jeff Dean, will bolster Ashesi’s Computer Science and Engineering departments, while also advancing the Ashesi’s new Master’s in Intelligent Computing Systems.
Patrick Awuah Professorial Chair Nathan Amanquah is an Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science. He teaches courses like Embedded Systems and the Internet of Things and has over 20 years of experience as a software developer.
Since joining Ashesi in 2004, he has contributed immensely to the development of our engineering programs and was key in launching the Ashesi-ETH Zurich Master’s in Mechatronic Engineering. He has also supervised over a hundred projects, some now notable alumni enterprises.
His research focuses on machine learning in embedded systems, IoT, and wireless sensor networks.
Hopper-Dean Fellow Dr. G. Ayorkor Korsah is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Computer Science and Information Systems Department at Ashesi. She holds an M.S. from Dartmouth College and a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Since rejoining Ashesi in 2011 after an initial stint in 2003, she has grown the computer science curriculum, mentored faculty, and created the initial pilot for what would become the Ashesi Innovation Experience for high school students.
She is currently leading the launch of a new Master’s program in Intelligent Computing Systems, and her research focuses on technology education, robotics, and applying computing to development challenges.
Watch honorees share their journey, work, and ambitions in a question-and-answer session during our inaugural investiture session, and in separate interviews they had with Ashesi radio host Innocent Chikwanda ’25.
Photos: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Ashesi to dialogue with students
During a visit to Ghana, and ahead of his visit with the President, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited campus to dialogue with and learn from the perspectives of students at Ashesi.