Professor Christian Agyare takes charge as KNUST’s 13th Vice-Chancellor

Professor Christian Agyare has formally begun his tenure as Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), becoming the institution’s 13th holder of the office after succeeding Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, its first female Vice-Chancellor.

The investiture ceremony took place on Saturday and was attended by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Chief of Staff at the Presidency Dr Julius Debrah, members of the academic community, traditional and religious leaders and political figures.

Professor Agyare joins the university’s senior leadership with more than 20 years of experience in teaching, research and administration. Before his appointment, he was Provost of KNUST’s College of Health Sciences.

A Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, he has built an international profile through research into natural products pharmacology, antimicrobial resistance, wound healing, ethnopharmacology, parasitology and anticancer drug discovery.

He began his academic training at KNUST, where he completed Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Pharmacy degrees. He later earned a Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) degree from the University of Munster in Germany.

His research career also included postdoctoral and research appointments at Novartis/Seeding Labs in Boston and the University of California, San Francisco. During those periods, his work focused on pharmaceutical research and the development of treatments for parasitic diseases.

Professor Agyare has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers. His work has received more than 5,000 citations, while his H-index stands at 36 and his i10-index at 84.

The research programmes he has led have secured more than US$11m in competitive funding from international organisations. Those institutions include the German Research Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Mastercard Foundation and the World Bank.

Leadership experience at KNUST

Professor Agyare has held a number of senior responsibilities within KNUST. He has served on the University Executive Committee, Academic Board, Planning and Resources Committee, Budgetary Committee, and Appointments and Promotions Committee.

From 2016 to 2020, he led the university’s Quality Assurance and Planning Unit. In that role, he directed reforms designed to improve institutional governance, accountability and operational efficiency.

He became Provost of the College of Health Sciences in 2020. During his time in that position, the college introduced new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, increased postgraduate enrolment and supported the expansion of academic and health-related infrastructure.

His appointment comes with the expectation that he will help KNUST build on its standing as one of Africa’s leading universities in science and technology. Key areas of focus are expected to include research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Professor Agyare has set out a vision that includes increasing research output, speeding up technology-led transformation, encouraging entrepreneurship and strengthening student-centred learning.

Away from his university responsibilities, he is a Fellow of the Ghana College of Pharmacists and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana. He is also a distinguished alumnus of Prempeh College, a practising pharmacist and a member of the Kwadaso Methodist Church.

Professor Agyare is married to Dr (Pharm.) Charlotte Sena Agyare, and the couple have three children.