Nana Aba Appiah Amfo

In 2021 Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo became the first woman to lead the University of Ghana in its 73-year history. In 2026 she took on two international roles at once: chair of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from January, and chair of the Worldwide Universities Network from June.

Early life and education

She was born in Kumasi on 30 September 1971, the eldest of four children, and moved around with her family, attending primary schools in Kumasi, Takoradi and Tarkwa. She went to Holy Child School for her O Levels and Archbishop Porter Girls' for A Levels, then studied French and linguistics at Legon from 1991 to 1996. She earned an MPhil (2001) and a PhD (2007) in linguistics in Trondheim, at Norway's NTNU.

Academic career

She joined Legon's linguistics department as a lecturer in 2001 and rose to full professor in 2017, after heading the department and serving as dean of the School of Languages. Her research is in pragmatics, and she co-wrote a 2018 textbook on communication for nurses and midwives. In 2019 she became the university's pro-vice-chancellor in charge of academic and student matters.

Vice-Chancellor

The university council named her acting Vice-Chancellor in July 2021 and confirmed her that October as its 13th Vice-Chancellor. In 2026 she gave the Distinguished Africa Lecture at the University of Warwick, under the title "Whose Language Counts?", and the University of Ghana was ranked best in West Africa in the first QS rankings for sub-Saharan Africa.

Family

She is married to Frank Amfo and has three children. A keen tennis player, she won the University of Ghana corporate tennis championship in October 2025.