Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang

Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang (born 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana) is a former Minister for Education in Ghana. She was appointed in 2013 by President John Mahama after the 2012 Ghanaian general election and served until January 2017 when the Nana Akuffo-Addo administration was elected to power. She is a member of the National Democratic Congress.^[1][2]

Professor Opoku-Agyemang, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast, Ghana, was the first female Vice-Chancellor of a state University in Ghana. She assumed duty on 1 October 2008, succeeding Emmanuel Addow-Obeng.

Biography

Born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang attended Anglican Girls' Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls' School. She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971. She completed B.Ed.(Hons) in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986. She has held various academic positions including Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research. From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora. From 2008-2012 she was the University's Vice Chancellor.

In March, 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

In October 2009, she was elected Ghana's representative to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

As of January 2013, she is the new Education Minister of Ghana.^[3]

Professional association

Opoku-Agyemang is a member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, University Teachers Association of Ghana, English Studies Association, African Studies Association, United States, African Literature Association, United States and International Fulbright Scholars Association, among others.

Awards

Opoku-Agyemang has been honoured with honorary degrees from the University of West Indies^[4] and Winston-Salem University.^[5] She has also received an award for Global leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa.^[6]

Bibliography

• "Where there is No Silence: Articulations of Resistance to Enslavement". Revised Inaugural Lecture to the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Opoku-Agyemang, N. J., Lovejoy, P. E., Trotman, D. V. (eds), Africa and its Diasporas: History, Memory and Literary Manifestations, Trenton, New Jersey, USA: Africa World Press, 2008.
• Where There is No Silence: Articulations of Resistance to Enslavement, Accra: Page Link Publishers, 2008.
• Anquandah, J., Opoku-Agyemang, N.J., and Doormont, M. (eds), The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Landmarks, Legacies, Expectations, Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2007, pp. 210–224.
• "The Living Experience of the Slave Trade in Sankana and Gwollu: Literary Manifestations and Implications for Tourism". In James Anquandah, Naana Opoku-Agyemang and Michel Doormont (eds), The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Landmarks, Legacies, Expectations, Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2007, pp.
• "A Fork in the Road: Ayi Kwei Armah's Osiris Rising and Florence Ladd's Sarah's Psalm on the subject of homecoming" in Naana J. Opoku-Agyemang, with Paul E. Lovejoy and David V. Trotman (eds), Africa and its Diasporas: History, Memory and Literary Manifestations, Trenton, New Jersey, USA: Africa World Press, 2008, pp. 303–318.^[7]

References

External links

• University of Cape Coast Vice-Chancellor's Profile
• AllAfrica.com
• African Press Agency
• Myjoyonline.com