Kwesi Yankah (Prof.)
Kwesi Yankah is a humanities scholar of international repute, (former) professor of linguistics, public intellectual, and university administrator. He is a product of Winneba Secondary School, University of Ghana and Indiana University, USA. At Legon, he held several positions including Dean of Students, Head of Linguistics Department, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Pro-Vice Chancellor in charge of academic and student affairs.
As an academic, Yankah has several award winning books to his credit, including the Esther Kinsley award by Indiana University for his outstanding doctoral dissertation, the first by an African student. In 1990, he was honored by the Ghana Book Development Council with the Ghana Book award; and in 1996 his formidable book entitled, Okyeame: Speaking for the Chief, also attracted the Gold Book award by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Yankah has held fellowships and visiting professorships in several universities including, Stanford University, Indiana University, University of Pennsylvania, University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan, Northwestern, University of Birmingham, etc. From 2009 till 2017 Kwesi Yankah was also Associate Director of the African Humanities Program, established by the American Council of Learned Societies.
In Ghana here, Yankah is known also as a public intellectual, having written regular columns for several newspapers on contemporary national issues since he was only 27. Since 1987, he has won several literary and journalistic awards, including the columnist of the year award 1987 by the Ministry of Information; Valco Literary award, 1990; the WEB Du Bois award for Ghanaian literature by Ghana Association of Writers 1991; and in 1996 honored by Ghana Journalist Association, for significant contribution to Ghanaian journalism. GJA also referred to his remarkable feat as writing the longest running column in the history of Ghanaian journalism.
After retiring from Legon in 2011, Professor Kwesi Yankah in 2012 was appointed President and later Vice Chancellor of Central University until 2017, when he was appointed as Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education during the first term of the Akufo Addo government. Yankah is currently Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Media, Arts and Communication (a merger of GIJ, NAFTI and GIL).
Professor Yankah has been a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1997, and as recently as 2022 last year, was inducted into the prestigious fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of very few Africans thus honored.
Late 2021 Kwesi Yankah launched a 325 page book Beyond the Political Spider: Critical Issues in African Humanities, which is his intellectual biography. This paved the way for his full length autobiography released last month entitled, The Pen at Risk: Spilling my Little Beans. It is his latest book which brings him here today, and from which he is going make his presentation and readings.
Prof Kwesi Yankah is married to Daavi Victoria; they have three adult girls, all products of Wey Gey Hey and University of Ghana. Professor Yankah says his hobby is dancing to brass band music.