Accra, April 24, GNA - Emeritus Prof. Kwame Gyekye, renowned in the world of academia as a ‘brilliant philosopher’ and ‘an exemplary teacher in Philosophy’, has passed on at 79, at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, after a short illness.
A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency, on Wednesday by his family, and signed by Dr Maame Adwoa Gyekye-Jandoh, one of his three daughters, said the incident happened, on Saturday, April 13.
Prof Gyekye spent 40 years of his lifetime researching and imparting knowledge to students at the University of Ghana.
He won the Kwame Nkrumah African Genius Award for Philosophy, which was to celebrate his excellent contribution to the making of African Philosophy and its ascendance on the global academic map.
Prof. Kwame Gyekye was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Graphic Communications Group Limited from 2003 to 2006. He was also the coordinator of the Golden Jubilee Lectures, which was part of Ghana’s 50th Independence Anniversary in 2007.
He was born in Akyem Achiase in the Eastern Region on 10th November, 1939. His illustrious academic career began with a Ghana Government Scholarship to the Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, after excelling in the Common Entrance Examination in Elementary School in his hometown.
He attended Mfantsipim from 1955-1960, where he became a foremost student of Classics, obtaining the Cambridge School Certificate in 1958 and the Cambridge Higher School Certificate in 1960.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts with Honours Degree in History in 1964 from the University of Ghana, he went on a University of Ghana Postgraduate Scholarship to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Greek and Arabic Philosophy on June 13, 1969.
Prof. Gyekye was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Ghana in October 1969. He was promoted Senior Lecturer in April 1974, Associate Professor in June 1977, and Full Professor in April 1984.
He was the Head of the Department of Philosophy for several years and also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts (1988-1991), and Dean of the School of Research and Graduate Studies (1996-2000).
In May 2011, he was elevated to the status of an Emeritus Professor and after 40 years of service to the University, retired in 2009.
He also taught many different courses in Western African, and Arabic philosophies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
He won several awards, including the J.E.K. Aggrey Fellowship by the Phelps-Stokes Fund of New York, and the Edward W. Hazen Foundation of New Haven, Connecticut (USA), for graduate study at Harvard (1964-1967), and a Fellowship from the African-American Institute to complete graduate work at Harvard (1967-1969).
He is the author of nine books on philosophy, editor of two scholarly works, sixty-eight journal articles and book chapters, and three books for pre-tertiary education.
Prof. Gyekye is survived by his wife, Mrs. Joana Dedo Gyekye, and their three daughters, Dr. Maame Adwoa Gyekye-Jandoh (Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana), Dr. Asantewa Gyekye-Kusi (Medical practitioner) and Nana Abena Gyekye-Milner (Pharmacist).
GNA
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