Innovative & Impactful Research (IIR)

Prof. Gilbert Okeanonife Onwu

Prof Gilbert Okeanonife Onwu is an Emeritus Professor of Chemical Education, Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria. With a background in Chemistry, Physics and Chemical Education, he holds a B.Sc degree from Goldsmiths College, the University of London, and MSc and PhD degrees from the School of Chemical Sciences, University of East Anglia.

With over 40 years of experience in academia, he has made significant contributions to the field of Chemical Education and Science Teacher Education. He is an elected member of the prestigious Academy of Science of South Africa and a Fellow of the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria. His research has been published in several peer-reviewed reputable journals and he has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2005 Chemical Education Gold Medal Award by the South African Chemical Institute, and Essayists for outstanding contributions to Chemical Education. Prof Onwu is also deeply committed to research, capacity building, and the skills development of emerging researchers and mentoring students having supervised numerous successful PhD candidates.

Currently, he is an Independent Expert Consultant and Facilitator in the Research Directorates of several universities in South Africa. He has acted as a consultant, expert, or lead researcher to several international organisations including the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC), Commonwealth Education Programme London; the World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, UNESCO, Africa-Asia University Dialogue Network (UNITWIN) and African Virtual University (AVU)) among other institutions. Outside of his academic pursuits, he enjoys reading and outdoor pursuits with family and friends.

Prof. Frederick Kwaku Sarfo

Frederick Kwaku Sarfo is a Professor of Educational / Instructional Technology and the foundation Vice-Chancellor of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Kumasi, Ghana.

He received his Ph.D. studies in Educational Sciences (Educational/lnstructional Technology) at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He joined the University of Education Winneba, in 1999 and rose through the ranks, to a full Professor in 2017. Under his leadership as Principal of the College of Technology Education, Kumasi (COLTEK) of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. Sarfo facilitated the upgrade and autonomy of the Kumasi and Asante Mampong Campuses of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) to a full-fledged University – the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED).

Prof. Sarfo has contributed extensively to knowledge in his area of expertise with over fifty (50) publications to his credit. He has authored and co-authored five books and book chapters. In 2007, he won the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) Best Researcher and Lecturer Award in the Sciences. He has attended, participated in, and presented papers at several international and national conferences. He is an editor and executive peer reviewer for several local and international journals as well as conference papers.

As an astute administrator who has occupied various positions in his illustrious life as a university staff, Prof. Sarfo is instrumental in sourcing funding to support academic and related activities of the University. Among Organisations Prof. Sarfo has engaged in and won funding for his university include; the European Commission, the GIZ’s Ghana Skills Development Initiative (GSDI), and the Lenus Palme Partnership Foundation.

Prof. Sarfo’s research interest is in integrating ICT into education, Instructional Design for learning in a difficult situation, Instructional Conceptions, and Designing Competency-based learning environments for developing technical and vocational expertise.

Prof. Ayesha Boyce

Ayesha Boyce is an Associate Professor in the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. Her research career began with her earning a B.S. in Psychology from Arizona State University, an M.A. in research Psychology from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a program evaluation specialization from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she was a research associate for the Arizona Department of Education within the Accountability Division. After earning her Ph.D., she completed a one-year postdoctoral scholar position with the UIUC Illinois STEM Education Initiative. Boyce then joined the University of North Carolina, Greensboro’s Department of Educational Research Methodology from 2015 to 2021 as an Assistant Professor.

Dr. Boyce is a member of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment faculty affiliate and a Member-at-Large on the American Evaluation Association Board. She also co-directs the STEM Program Evaluation Lab. Boyce’s scholarship focuses on attending to value stances and issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, cultural responsiveness, and social justice within evaluation—especially multi-site, STEM, and contexts with historically and systematically marginalized populations. She also examines teaching, mentoring, and learning in evaluation. She has evaluated over 60 programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and the Spencer and Teagle Foundations. She has been a Co-Principal Investigator on four NSF-funded projects.

Dr. Boyce is a 2019 American Evaluation Association Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award recipient and a 2019 UNC Greensboro School of Education Distinguished Research Scholar Award recipient. In her teaching and mentorship, Boyce encourages students to develop a strong methodological foundation, conduct studies based on democratic principles, and promote equity, fairness, inclusivity, and diversity.

Prof. Georg Bader

Prof Georg is a retired professor for Scientific Computing and Numerical Analysis at Brandenburg University of Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany. He completed his PhD in applied mathematics at the University of Heidelberg.

Prof. Bader’s research emphasizes the application of scientific research to impact economies. His application is in the field of mechanical engineering, mathematics and computer science. His main interests of research are: the Analysis and Development of discretization’s for ordinary and partial differential equations, efficient implementation and parallelization of numerical methods for differential equations.

Mr. Sampson Kofi Adotey

Sampson Kofi Adotey is an accomplished development specialist with a proven track record in international affairs and development, managing and growing strategic partnerships, programmes, communications, and fundraising. He is a visionary leader and influential communicator, skilled at driving high-impact results and achieving strategic initiatives. Until recently, Sampson was the Head of the Communications Department at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the Institute’s global presence.

Sampson is an alumni of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, where he served in several capacities, including Community Champion for Anglophone West Africa (Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia) and Impact Officer, among others. He is a young leader of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, USA, serving on the Speaker Committee. He has represented the youth in Ghana and Africa at several international platforms, including meetings of the United Nations and World Economic Forum. Sampson contributes regularly to reputable outlets such as the World Economic Forum Agenda, OMICS Journal, and The New Times Rwanda. He holds a Bronze and Silver Medals from the Head of State Award- Ghana and the Duke of Edinburgh International Award for Young People.

Mr. Yaw Ofori-Debra

Mr. Yaw Ofori Debra is a visually impaired Ghanaian disability rights activist, the 2^nd Vice-President of the World Blind Union (WBU), and Chairman of the Ghana National Council for Persons with Disabilities.

He is a professional teacher with over 30 years’ experience. He is reputed for providing guidance and direction to teachers, students and parents to foster conducive and inclusive learning environments for higher academic performance. Through his counselling, hundreds of students who would have dropped out of school remained and continued to further their education. With his personal experience as a person with visual impairment, he has led the disability movement in Ghana in its advocacy for the passage and implementation of the Persons with Disability Act, 2016 (Act 715), ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, development of Ghana’s Social Protection Strategy and other relevant national policies and programmes.

Among the positions he has held in the past include the President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations – the umbrella body that advocates for the various disability groups in Ghana; President of the Ghana Blind Union, and Vice President of the Africa Union of the Blind. The United States Embassy in Ghana honoured him with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Peace and Social Justice in 2018 for his activism and lifelong advocacy for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Mr. Moulaye Camara

Moulaye Camara is currently the Technical Director for Funding & Financial Systems at HUMENTUM. He has over 30 years of experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors in Africa and Asia. Moulaye is a highly analytical and results-focused corporate executive with a proven track record of efficiently overseeing and directing diverse organisational functions to drive business objectives and profitability. He is proficient in resource mobilisation and executing strategic operational frameworks to ensure on-time, within-budget program completion, Moulaye possesses exceptional interpersonal and communication capabilities, complemented with a demonstrated aptitude for cultivating enduring business partnerships with government entities and stakeholders.

Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah

Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah is the Executive Chair of Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa (TESSA), a programme that has produced free study units for improving classroom practice across thirteen different countries. He was the Director of School and Community Science and Technology Studies and now Director of the Institute for Educational Research and Innovation Studies at the University of Education. He is the Chairman of Open Learning Exchange, an organisation dedicated to improving the quality of learning in Ghanaian schools through the use of technology and especially, the creation of an open digital education library accessible online and offline. He was also the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and for nine years the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), the first university in Africa dedicated to teacher education. He has taught and researched in science education from kindergarten to the university level. He has contributed greatly to the development of open distance learning in Ghana and was the chair of the committee that produced a blueprint for an open university for Ghana.

Prof. Anamuah-Mensah established the Centre for School and Community Science and Technology Studies in 2000 and the Department of Early Childhood Care and Development in 2005 at UEW. He also set up the National Centre for Research into Basic Education to provide evidence-based information that addresses issues covering the 11 years of basic education, i.e., from kindergarten to junior high school. In 1996, he started a PhD program at the University of Cape Coast, which became the benchmark for similar programs in other areas. He is the chief architect of Ghana’s current educational reform, which introduced ECD into the formal curriculum and placed emphasis on science, technology, innovation and skill development.

In 2006, Prof. Anamuah-Mensah was given the Ghana’s second-highest award, the Order of the Volta by the President of Ghana. In 2010, he received an award from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Ghana for his dedication to the cause of Ghanaian children. In 2009, a book, Teaching and Education for Teaching in the Era of Globalisation in Developing Countries: Essays in Honour of Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah was written by colleagues in recognition of his work in education.

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