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Current News | Archived News | Media Coverage
News from 2003
Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec
Ashesi welcomes a new class of students
Feb 2003
 On Monday, February 24th, men and women from the incoming freshman class spent their first day as Ashesi students. Forty-four individuals were selected from among over 200 applicants to become the Ashesi graduating class of 2006. Welcomed by a rousing speech from Ashesi's President, Patrick Awuah (see full text), the new undergraduates were challenged to think of themselves as the future leaders of Africa and to never stop searching for new knowledge.
 Ashesi's orientation week, held from February 24th to February 28th, was an eye-opener for many of the first-year students. During orientation week freshmen participated in team building exercises, attended workshops on basic computing and library research, and had a chance to interact closely with faculty and staff.
One student commented on how surprised he was to find himself sitting with the president of the school, having a jovial conversation. "That made me understand that he really cares about this school and that touches me a lot. Ashesi is a wonderful place." Another student was pleasantly surprised to sense the high motivation levels of Ashesi's faculty and staff. "I'm impressed that everyone from the president to the gardener feels so enthusiastic about what they do here." Clearly, the members of Ashesi's Class of 2006 are very excited to get started. Ashesi University is different than anything they had imagined.
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Visiting
Swarthmore researcher helps develop a course at Ashesi
Feb 2003
 Dr. Fred Orthlieb, the Isaiah V. Williamson Professor of Civil & Mechanical Engineering at Swarthmore College, has traveled to Ghana to assist in the development of Ashesi's liberal arts core Design course, and to conduct research on the effects of
culture on the process of design. Dr. Orthlieb is working with a local architect, Mr. William Nii Teiko Evans-Anfom, to develop and deliver our first offering of a design course that will give students fundamental skills in artistic and technical design problem solving, taking maximum advantage of Ashesi's IT infrastructure and satellite access to
design education resources on the Internet . As Dr. Orthlieb states, "The world improves to the degree that people succeed in solving problems, many of extraordinary difficulty. Ashesi's core curriculum in the liberal arts, and particularly the Design course, should go a long way towards equipping Ashesi grads to acquire habits of mind and synthesis skills they will use to confront and solve hard problems throughout their careers."
Dr. Orthlieb has been involved with Ashesi from its early planning stages, assisting with curriculum development and sitting on our academic advisory council. He is committed to Ashesi's vision and is excited to be able to "get in on the ground floor" of such an exciting venture. We feel very honored to have Dr. Orthlieb working with us in such close collaboration to ensure that Ashesi's curriculum will challenge and better prepare our students for their future careers.
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Ashesi opens new campus facility
Feb 2003
 Ashesi University is expanding! To accommodate increased enrollment in 2003 and the addition of new faculty, we have renovated an adjunct campus facility one block from our original campus in the Labone neighborhood of Accra. Over the past few months, contractors have been working to add two new classrooms, faculty offices, and a dining area. The work has recently been completed and the campus is ready for students and faculty. The new facilities are equipped with air conditioning, Internet access, digital video projection equipment and a network connection to our original campus. In addition, we have expanded the computer facilities on the original campus to offer students even more computers for student use in 2003. We are very excited that more students have been attracted to Ashesi this year; the expansion of our campus will help ensure that access to the latest technology, highly trained faculty and an exceptional learning environment do not diminish as we continue to grow.
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Dean of the Haas School of Business to teach at Ashesi
Feb 2003
We are honored to announce that Tom Campbell, Bank of America Dean of University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business, will be teaching a leadership seminar on constitutional law during Ashesi's summer term. Dean Campbell has been a professor at Stanford Law School for nineteen years. He has taught courses in corporate law, international law, international jurisdiction, trade and customs law, administrative law, constitutional law, and microeconomics. For the last two years, he has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Asmara, in Eritrea. He taught courses there in law and economics, and gave a series of lectures as well on the law of war and on international financial institutions (IMF and World Bank). He became Dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley in August of 2002. The Haas School is one of the premier business schools in the United States, producing undergraduates, MBA's, Masters in Financial Engineering, and Ph.D.'s in business. For five years, Dean Campbell served on the Africa Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee in the United States House of Representatives. He visited Ghana in 1998 in connection with his assignment to this Committee, meeting with then-President Rawlings, and leaders of the Ghanaian Parliament. He and his wife Susanne visited twenty-eight African nations during his time as a US Congressman. A well-known author in the field of antitrust law, Dean Campbell has just published a book on the subject of Constitutional separation of powers as well. We feel very lucky that Dean Campbell will be teaching at Ashesi this summer.
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Two new faculty members join Ashesi's team
Feb 2003
We are happy to introduce two new full-time faculty members who have joined the Ashesi team for our second year of instruction: Mr. Mohammed-Sani Abdulai and Dr. Sitsofe Enyonam Anku. Both are highly qualified instructors who have returned to Ghana after gaining advanced degrees and teaching experience abroad.
 Mr. Abdulai is a native of northern Ghana and holds a Masters of Philosophy in Computer Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has joined Ashesi's team to set the foundation for Ashesi's computer science curriculum. Mr. Abdulai will be teaching Programming I in the first term and Programming II in the third term to Ashesi's sophomore class. He has over ten years of experience as an undergraduate computer science instructor and promises that his courses will give students opportunities to learn through the use of real-life cases from industry. Mr. Abdulai says he appreciates the diversity on Ashesi's campus and feels that there is a good atmosphere for learning.
 Dr. Anku holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Mathematics Education from the University of British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Anku will be teaching Precalculus to Ashesi's freshman class during the first term of 2003 and Calculus in term two. Dr. Anku has recently returned to Ghana after spending six years as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Dr. Anku is quick to admit that he loves mathematics, and hopes to teach his students to appreciate math as he does. "When students see how math is applied and connected to real life and to other subject areas, then they begin to appreciate math." In his classes he will emphasize conceptual understanding and will teach students how math can be used in real life situations.
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Leah McCollough: Ashesi's first Director of Development
Jan 2003
 Leah McCollough, former Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington, recently joined the Ashesi team to lead our fundraising efforts. Leah has over 15 years of experience working in development, and currently sits on the boards of the Northwest Development Officers Association and Hopelink. Leah's wealth of experience in fundraising will be an invaluable asset and we feel very lucky to have her on our team. As Ashesi's Director of Development, Leah will manage our office in Seattle and lead the strategic planning for our fundraising efforts. She genuinely likes working in development because at its best "you are helping people do something that makes them feel good. What can be bad about that?"
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Ashesi stakes its claim in Berekuso
Jan 2003
 We are happy to announce that we recently completed the purchasing process of 100 acres of land in Berekuso, just 30 minutes from Accra, Ghana's capital. Close to the nation's largest business community and easily accessible by visiting professors, guest lecturers, and local business leaders, we believe Berekuso will be an ideal spot for a college community. Situated atop a hill, the site of Ashesi's future campus will have picturesque views of over both Accra and the port city of Tema. Ashesi's architects have already surveyed the site and have designed buildings for a campus with the capacity to educate up to 1000 students in its academic facilities. The plans for Ashesi's campus borrow heavily from vernacular Ghanaian architecture, positioning buildings to form shaded courtyards that will become the centers of community life.
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