Brief History Of Professor Rita Akosua Dickson Vice-Chancellor Of KNUST

The recent development in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Science and Technology (KNUST, Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana is not the first of its kind. This troubling and disgraceful menace has lived with the University over several years, and it appears that the narrative is not getting better any time soon. Amidst several strategies and policies rolled out by the Council of the University and the Disciplinary Committee, perpetrators of such acts seem to be weightier than the law, and as such, use several means to bend down the rules in their favour and do whatever they like. 

One of the most destructive incidents in recent years happened under the leadership of Professor Kwesi Obiri-Danso, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor and Alumnus of the University. This 2019 incident we are talking about led to the vandalisation of several school properties. The chaos at that moment was a serious one, and tracing the rate of anger within some of the students, nothing was able to stop them from showcasing their challenges and emotional dissatisfaction to the school authorities.

These acts of indiscipline on the part of University students may also stem from the inability of the school authorities to put in place feasible measures to control the behaviours of recalcitrant students in the schools. Since it has been part and part of the university culture, it is laborious for them to do away with it, no matter how hard they try. 

But I think this is the time for the authorities to do the right thing, and protect the reputation of Ghanaian universities. It’s just wondering why some of these big schools in the country consider themselves as adults institutions yet their students behave like children! These are schools that occasionally receive top awards from the global academic environment, but they continue to dirty their images through unnecessary acts. If it must be done, it must be done well!

It is rather unfortunate that one of these stinking acts happened under the leadership of the First Female Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the university in question. Professor Rita Akosua Dickson may not be surprised, but very disappointed in students who shamelessly engaged in the act. And I believe this is a wake up call for her to put a permanent stop or end to this troubling phenomenon. 

Having known the background story, let’s comprehensively unfold her life chapters, so that we could appreciate her uniqueness as the VC of KNUST. 

The St. Monica’s Secondary School (Mampong, Ashanti Region) and Wesley Girls’ High School (Cape Coast, Central Region) Alumnus is a holder of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmacy and a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy (MPharm) with specialisation in Pharmacology from KNUST in 1994 and 1999 respectively. Professor Dickson further obtained a PhD in Pharmacology in 2007, from King’s College, London, UK through a Commonwealth Scholarship. 

As a Phytochemist, she is so much interested in the usage and application of natural products in the management of communicable and non-communicable diseases in Africa and beyond. 

Within a period of seven years at KNUST, Dickson rose from a Lecturer (in 2007) to a Senior (in 2009) and to an Associate Professor (in 2014). 

She was further promoted to the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the same University. 

And in 2018, she rose to become the First Female Pro Vice-Chancellor of KNUST. 

In 2020, Professor Rita Akosua Dickson set another record as the First Female Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and made all women in the university very proud. 

Dickson is married to Nana Dickson; and together, they have four children.

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