Patrick Awuah Jr.

Patrick Awuah Jr.
Born	1965
Nationality	Ghana
Alma mater	Achimota School UC Berkeley, Swarthmore College
Known for	Ashesi University
Spouse	Rebecca Awuah
Awards	John P. McNulty Prize^[citation needed] MacArthur Fellowship

Patrick Awuah Jr. (born 1965) is a Ghanaian engineer, educator, and entrepreneur. Awuah established Ashesi University, a private, not-for-profit Ghanaian institution in 2002.[1] He has received awards[2] as an individual and as the founder of Ashesi.[3][4][5][6][7]

Life

Awuah grew up in Accra, Ghana. He attended the Achimota School[8][9] where he was a house prefect.^[citation needed]

He moved to the U.S. in 1985 to attend Swarthmore College with a full scholarship. He earned bachelor's degrees in Engineering and Economics, graduating in 1989. Following graduation, Awuah worked as a software engineer and program manager for Microsoft from 1989 to 1997. At Microsoft, he met his future wife, Rebecca, a software testing engineer.[10]

In 1997, Awuah left Microsoft with the goal of returning to Ghana to educate the next generation of African leaders.[11][12] He enrolled at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, focusing his work on preparing a business plan for Ashesi. Awuah, Nina Marini, and other graduate students from Berkeley went to Ghana to do a feasibility study for opening a private university there. Awuah graduated with his MBA in 1999. That same year, he moved back to Ghana with his family to found Ashesi University.[1][13][14][15] Awuah continues to serve as the president of Ashesi University.[16]

Achievements and awards

John Kufuor presented Awuah the Order of the Volta Award to recognise his contribution to tertiary education in Ghana in 2007.[3] In 2009, Awuah won the John P. McNulty Prize.[17] In 2010, Awuah was awarded 87th most creative business person by Fast Company.[18] In 2014, he received The Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award, which honours UC Berkeley alumni with distinguished records of service to their native country.[19] In the same year he was named best social entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.[20] In 2015, Awuah was listed by Fortune as number 40 in world's 50 greatest leaders[5] and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.[6] In 2017, Awuah was awarded the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) prize, a major global education award.[7]

See also

• List of Ghanaians- Academia and educators

References

External videos
Education Entrepreneur Patrick Awuah, 2015 MacArthur Fellow, 3:35, MacArthur Foundation[21]
Patrick Awuah: How to educate leaders? Liberal arts, 17:26, TED Talks[15]

1. "History :Ashesi University Foundation". ashesi.org. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
2. "Biography - Patrick G. Awuah, Jr. - Ashesi University". ashesi.edu.gh. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
3. "Order of the Volta award". Retrieved 20 January 2018.^[permanent dead link‍]
4. "Creating the next generation of ethical leaders in West Africa". McNulty Foundation. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
5. "Worlds 50 greatest leaders".
6. "MacArthur Fellowship 2015".
7. "Ashesi University founder wins education award". Graphic Online. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
8. Ofori-Mensah. "22 Successful Ghanaians Who Went To Achimota School". OMGVoice. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
9. Awuah, Patrick. "Achimota School @ 80" (PDF). Ashesi University Archives. Ashesi University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
10. Maguire, Ken (January 2010). "A New Model of Leadership for Africa". Swarthmore College Bulletin.
11. "Building a University, and Hope, in Ghana". NPR.org. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
12. "Setting Up Ghana's First Liberal Arts College Makes Him A 'Genius'". NPR.org. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
13. "List: MacArthur Foundation 'genius grant' recipients, 2015". San Diego Mercury News. Associated Press. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
14. Carpenter, John (28 September 2015). "3 Chicagoans among class of MacArthur 'geniuses'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
15. "Patrick Awuah: How to educate leaders? Liberal arts". TED Talks. 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
16. "Governance & Leadership". Ashesi University. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
17. "2009 John P. McNulty Prize Finalists". Archive.org. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
18. "Patrick Awuah named amongst 100 most creative people in business". Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
19. "Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award".
20. "Ashesi at a glance". Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
21. "Patrick Awuah". MacArthur Foundation. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.

External links

• Fellow Profile: Patrick Awuah, Aspen Global Leadership Network