Ghanaian student honoured much coveted speaker in US

Mr Michael Kwame Benison, a Ghanaian master’s student at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been honoured as the much coveted commencement speaker at a graduation ceremony.

The honour followed a speech delivered by Mr Benison after completing a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management course that attracted a massive crowd.

A statement issued in Accra by Mr Appiah Kusi Adomako, Centre Coordinator of CUTS International Accra, a policy think tank working in the area of trade and development and law, noted that the Ghanaian student won the support and title out of 15 final year students who contested the position.

The statement said Mr Benison spoke at the over packed Patterson Event Centre where the ceremony took place, sharing his story from how he got to the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University from his hometown Kikam in the Western Region of Ghana.

He said although life was very difficult for him from childhood because he lost his guardians ,he managed to keep himself going whenever he remembered the encouraging words of his grandmother.

“I moved to the capital city, Accra to fend for myself and later entered the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to study physics.

“I managed to become one time local National Union of Ghana Students Secretary and National Coordinator for Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation”, he said.

Quoting the words of Mr Benison, the statement noted that “life is like a bicycle - to keep your balance - you must keep moving. I moved – and, I am happy to be here - today - with all of you”.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a global research university with more than 13,285 students, 98,000 alumni, and 5,000 faculty and staff. CMU has been a birthplace of innovation since its founding in 1900.

CMU is one of the only 25 universities in the world, 11 in the US invited to join the World Economic Forum and Global University Leaders Forum.

The statement said CMU scientists are developing technology to assist the elderly with household chores, respond to natural or man-made disasters and land a robot on the moon in 2015.

The university has campuses in Pittsburgh, Qatar and Silicon Valley, and degree-granting programmes around the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America.