Former UCC Vice-Chancellor honoured

The Reverend Professor Emmanuel Adow Obeng, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has been conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Aberdeen.

The conferment ceremony took place at the university's campus in Aberdeen, Scotland on July 5, 2013.

A statement issued by the Office of the former Vice-Chancellor, copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday, said the honour was in recognition of Prof Obeng’s contribution to the development of higher education in Africa, specifically in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.

It said in respect with Ghana, the award was in recognition of the growth and expansion of the UCC during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor from the year 2000 to 2008.

The statement said the period witnessed the establishment of the School of Medical Sciences, expansion of the distance education programme and infrastructural development among others.

It said “the University of Aberdeen, a public research focused educational institution in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland, sees an honorary degree as one of higher education for most significant accolades.”

“Each year, it (University of Aberdeen) awards honorary degrees to distinguished individuals who merit special recognition for genuine achievement and distinction in a field or activity.”

The statement explained that this was not only to acknowledge and celebrate their success, but also to provide students of the University of Aberdeen with role models and to promote in them further determination to succeed.

University of Aberdeen was founded in 1495, and it is the 4th oldest University in the United Kingdom, with approximately 13,500 students from undergraduate to doctoral level.

It has many international students and five Nobel Prize winners associated with it, and the university is consistently ranked among the top 150 in the world.

Meanwhile, Prof Obeng, who is also the current Vice President (Academic) of the Central University College in Ghana, is still in the United Kingdom and would travel to the United States later in the month for engagements before returning to Ghana.