Patrick Awuah Jr. | |
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Born | 1965 |
Nationality | Ghana |
Alma mater |
Achimota School UC Berkeley, Swarthmore College |
Known for | Ashesi University |
Spouse | Rebecca Awuah |
Awards | John P. McNulty Prize[
citation needed] MacArthur Fellowship |
Patrick Awuah Jr. (born 1965) is a Ghanaian engineer, educator, and entrepreneur. Awuah established Ashesi University, a private, not-for-profit Ghanaian institution in 2002. [1] He has received awards [2] as an individual and as the founder of Ashesi. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Awuah grew up in Accra, Ghana. He attended the Achimota School [8] [9] 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, Rebecca, a software testing engineer. [10]
In 1997, Awuah left Microsoft with the goal of returning to Ghana to educate the next generation of African leaders. [11] [12] 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] [13] [14] [15] Awuah continues to serve as the president of Ashesi University. [16]
John Kufuor presented Awuah the Order of the Volta Award to recognise his contribution to tertiary education in Ghana in 2007. [3] In 2009, Awuah won the John P. McNulty Prize. [17] In 2010, Awuah was awarded 87th most creative business person by Fast Company. [18] 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. [19] In the same year he was named best social entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. [20] In 2015, Awuah was listed by Fortune as number 40 in world's 50 greatest leaders [5] and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. [6] In 2017, Awuah was awarded the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) prize, a major global education award. [7]
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Patrick Awuah Jr. | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 1965 |
Nationality | Ghana |
Alma mater |
Achimota School UC Berkeley, Swarthmore College |
Known for | Ashesi University |
Spouse | Rebecca Awuah |
Awards | John P. McNulty Prize[
citation needed] MacArthur Fellowship |
Patrick Awuah Jr. (born 1965) is a Ghanaian engineer, educator, and entrepreneur. Awuah established Ashesi University, a private, not-for-profit Ghanaian institution in 2002. [1] He has received awards [2] as an individual and as the founder of Ashesi. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Awuah grew up in Accra, Ghana. He attended the Achimota School [8] [9] 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, Rebecca, a software testing engineer. [10]
In 1997, Awuah left Microsoft with the goal of returning to Ghana to educate the next generation of African leaders. [11] [12] 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] [13] [14] [15] Awuah continues to serve as the president of Ashesi University. [16]
John Kufuor presented Awuah the Order of the Volta Award to recognise his contribution to tertiary education in Ghana in 2007. [3] In 2009, Awuah won the John P. McNulty Prize. [17] In 2010, Awuah was awarded 87th most creative business person by Fast Company. [18] 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. [19] In the same year he was named best social entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. [20] In 2015, Awuah was listed by Fortune as number 40 in world's 50 greatest leaders [5] and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. [6] In 2017, Awuah was awarded the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) prize, a major global education award. [7]
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