The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has appointed its first female Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson.

Her appointment was confirmed at the Council's 258th Special Meeting held on Thursday, June 25, 2020.

A statement issued by the Council's Secretary, A K Boateng, explained that, upon the acceptance of the Report of the Search Committee for the Appointment of Vice-Chancellor for the University, the Council appointed Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson, a Professor of Pharmacognosy, as the new Vice-Chancellor.

Mrs. Akosua Dickson will serve for the next 4 years.

Her appointment officially takes effect from August 1, 2020 - July 31, 2024.

This comes barely three months after the University announced the search for Vice-Chancellor position.

Until her appointment, Prof. Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University.

She replaces Prof. Kwasi Obiri Danso, who will soon bring his four-year term in office to an end.

About Prof Akosua Dickson

Prof. Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson is an alumna of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy in 1994.

She pursued graduate studies leading to the award of MPharm. in Pharmacognosy in 1999 and was appointed a lecturer the following year in the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, KNUST.

In 2003, she was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship to pursue a PhD at Kings’ College London, University of London, UK.

She returned to teaching at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2007 and was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in 2009 and further to an Associate Professor in 2014.

Professor Dickson has been the Head of Department of Pharmacognosy for three terms from 2009 to 2013.

Before her appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and also acted as Provost of the College of Health Sciences in the absence of the Provost.