Dr. Fred Orthlieb, the Isaiah V. Williamson Professor of Civil & Mechanical Engineering at Swarthmore College, has traveled to Ghana to assist in the development of Ashesi’s liberal arts core Design course, and to conduct research on the effects of culture on the process of design. Dr. Orthlieb is working with a local architect, Mr. William Nii Teiko Evans-Anfom, to develop and deliver our first offering of a design course that will give students fundamental skills in artistic and technical design problem solving, taking maximum advantage of Ashesi’s IT infrastructure and satellite access to design education resources on the Internet . As Dr. Orthlieb states, “The world improves to the degree that people succeed in solving problems, many of extraordinary difficulty. Ashesi’s core curriculum in the liberal arts, and particularly the Design course, should go a long way towards equipping Ashesi grads to acquire habits of mind and synthesis skills they will use to confront and solve hard problems throughout their careers.”
Dr. Orthlieb has been involved with Ashesi from its early planning stages, assisting with curriculum development and sitting on our academic advisory council. He is committed to Ashesi’s vision and is excited to be able to “get in on the ground floor” of such an exciting venture. We feel very honored to have Dr. Orthlieb working with us in such close collaboration to ensure that Ashesi’s curriculum will challenge and better prepare our students for their future careers.