Patrick Awuah Jr. (born 1965) is a Ghanaian engineer, educator, and entrepreneur. Awuah established Ashesi University in 2002.[1] Awuah has won many awards as an individual and as the founder of Ashesi University.[2][3][4][5][6]
Patrick Awuah Jr. | |
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Born | 1965 |
Nationality | Ghanaian |
Citizenship | Ghana |
Alma mater | Achimota School UC Berkeley, Swarthmore College |
Known for | Ashesi University |
Spouse | Rebecca Awuah |
Awards | MacArthur fellowship |
Awuah grew up in Accra, Ghana. He attended the Achimota School[7][8] 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, software testing engineer Rebecca Awuah.[9]
In 1997, Awuah left Microsoft with the goal of returning to Ghana to educate the next generation of African leaders.[10][11] 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][12][13][14] Awuah continues to serve as the president of Ashesi University.[15]
John Kufuor presented Awuah the Order of the Volta Award to recognise his contribution to tertiary education in Ghana in 2007.[2] In 2009, Awuah won the John P. McNulty Prize.[16] In 2010, Awuah was awarded 87th most creative business person by Fast Company.[17] 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.[18] In the same year he was named best social entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.[19] In 2015, Awuah was listed by Fortune as number 40 in world's 50 greatest leaders[4] and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.[5] In 2017, Awuah was awarded the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) prize, a major global education award.[6]
External videos | |
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Education Entrepreneur Patrick Awuah, 2015 MacArthur Fellow, 3:35, MacArthur Foundation[20] | |
Patrick Awuah: How to educate leaders? Liberal arts, 17:26, TED Talks[14] |