Past Principals and Vice Chancellors
Past Vice Chancellors
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Past Vice Chancellors
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The Finance Office of the University is focused on providing sound financial management and support for the University. The office aims to provide accurate, reliable, relevant and timeous financial information, including strategic and operational financial planning and budgeting, to University users and stakeholders.
The Finance Office is made up of Units such as the Accounts Office, Treasury and Cash Office, Final Accounts, MIS/Payroll, Faculty Accounts Offices, Stores and Supply, and the Procurement Unit. The Finance Office is being acted by Mr Jonathan Sakoe who continues to manage the financial resources of the University. The Finance Officer also pursues other strategic investment initiatives on behalf of the University.
The Vice Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the University and responsible for the overall planning, direction, organisation, management and discipline of the University. As chief academic, administrator and strategist, the Vice Chancellor provides leadership to all the members of the University.
The Vice Chancellor is an ex-officio member of every Faculty, School and Committee of the University and may preside at any meeting of such Faculty, School, Committee or body. He exercises responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the University and its constituent parts in relation to its academic, financial and organisational goals and policies. Two other offices that report directly to the Vice Chancellor are the Planning and Quality Assurance Unit and the Office of International Programmes. Prof Richard K. Amankwah is a Professor in Minerals Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana.
Until his appointment, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Integrated Management Science (FIMS). He was educated at Technology Secondary School, Opoku Ware Secondary School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana; Technical University of Clausthal, Germany and Queen’s University, Canada, where he obtained a PhD in 2005. He was born in Kumasi on 22nd September, 1966 to the late J. S. Amankwah, then a Technician at KNUST and Akua Amponsah, a petty trader.
Prof Amankwah is a distinguished and internationally acclaimed scholar and business oriented academic who has provided dedicated service for many years at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa. He rose to the status of full professor of Minerals Engineering in 2011.
He was the Lead Country Researcher for the United Nation’s Women in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Africa Project. He was the Principal Investigator on the National Science Foundation (USA) project on “Climatic extremes, mining, and Mycobacterium ulcerans: a coupled systems perspective”, the British Council Project on “Artisanal mining, smallholder farming and economic development: developing a strategy for poverty alleviation in rural Ghana”, the United Nations Development Organisation project on “Building the capacity of artisanal and small-scale miners in eliminating mercury and innovative mercury-free processes” and the Vivo Ghana project on “Strength augmentation of grinding discs used in size reduction of gold ores in small-scale operations”. He has also worked as an Investigator on several international and local projects and a consultant on the European Union’s Ghana Mercury Abatement Project and the World Bank Project on “Poverty and social impact analysis of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Ghana”, spearheaded by Oxford Policy Management Group. He is a principal metallurgical consultant to the minerals industry and has worked with every mine in Ghana and many others in West Africa.
Prof Amankwah has a US Patent on microbial-mediated mineral recovery, with three papers, one adjudged key article in the Journal of Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, IMM, Transactions C, and two others as part of the Top 25 Hottest Articles in the Minerals Engineering Journal and Resources Policy Journal. He has authored 120 academic publications in journals, conference proceedings and books and has more than 100 technical reports. He serves on the Editorial Board of two international journals and is a reviewer for 17 journals. He is a Visiting Professor to the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, Nigeria; Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya and the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2ie), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the Mining Engineering Department of Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. By working with several teams, he has helped to raise about $10 M from several research councils for academic work in some institutions in the West African sub-region.
As a leader and manager, Prof Amankwah has experiences as Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, Professorial Member on the UMaT Council, Vice Dean of Faculty, Head of Department, Examinations Officer and Senior Hall Tutor. He has also served as Chairman or Member of several statutory and adhoc committees.
His research interests include gold beneficiation, biohydrometallurgy, environmental biotechnology, waste engineering, microwave processing of minerals, water quality monitoring, geometallurgy, medical geology, sustainable development and small-scale mining. He is a Fellow of the West Africa Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (WAIMM), and a member of the International Association of Engineers (IAE), Ghana Institution of Geoscientists (GhIG), International Medical Geology Association (IMGA), Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), USA.
Prof Amankwah is a highly gifted communicator, mentor of Barrack Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative, and teacher who has worked as trainer of lecturers on ‘Effective Lecture Delivery’. In addition, he has motivated students and the general public and been honoured as a ‘Lecturer Icon’ by the Students Representative Council, UMaT.
He is married to Irene and they have three children: Otiwaa, Afriyie and Agyeman. His favourite snack is roasted corn. He enjoys acting, play-writing and poetry. He is a member of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), where he is a Sunday School Teacher.
The Office of the Pro Vice Chancellor is second to the Office of the Vice Chancellor and that makes the Pro Vice Chancellor the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the University. The Pro Vice Chancellor assists the Vice Chancellor in planning, direction, organisation, management and discipline of the University. The Pro Vice Chancellor exercises powers as specified in the Act 677 and such others that may be delegated to him by the Vice Chancellor.
The Pro Vice Chancellor is in attendance at the University Council and member of the Academic Board. He is a visionary leader and manager with experience as Dean of a Faculty, Vice Dean of a Faculty and Head of Department. He is either a chairman or member of several major statutory and non- statutory committees in the University. He is responsible to the Vice Chancellor for the efficient discharge of his duties.
Prof Anthony Simons is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana. Until his appointment, he was the Dean of Faculty of Engineering. He obtained Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Certificates from St. John’s School, Sekondi and Ghana Secondary Technical School, Takoradi respectively both in the Western Region of Ghana. He had his pre-tertiary education from Moscow Automobile and Road Institute, Moscow, Russia from 1988 to 1989. He further pursued MSc, Mechanical Engineering at Mogilev Mechanical Engineering Institute, Belarus from 1989 to 1994. He obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 from the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute currently known as St. Petersburg Mining University, Russia.
Prof Simons has six other professionally related qualifications including Certificates in ASNT NDT Level II Eddy Current Testing (ET), ASNT NDT Level II Magnetic-particle Testing (MT), ASNT NDT Level II Penetrant Testing (PT), ASNT NDT Level II Radiographic Testing (RT), ASNT NDT Level II Ultrasonic Testing (UT), ASNT NDT Level II Visual Testing (VT) all from Trinity Institute of NDT Technology, Bangalore, India.
Prof Anthony Simons is a well-seasoned and internationally acclaimed academic who started his lecturing career in the Takoradi Polytechnic, now Takoradi Technical University from August 1995 to July 2003. He was engaged by the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa as a Lecturer in August 2003 and promoted to the position of a Senior Lecturer from October 2008 to September 2015. He was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in October 2015 and the rank of Professor in October, 2020.
Prof Anthony Simons has a wide research and practical experiences in design of machine element, non-destructive testing, structural analysis, heat transfer, fuels and internal combustion engines, factory technical audit, maintenance engineering and accident vehicle assessment. A strong researcher with a patent on Conical Brake for Belt Conveyor (RF 2167093) with three papers resulting from this research. He is a member, National Society of Black Engineers, International Association of Engineer and American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is a recognized Professional Engineer by the Ghana Institute of Engineering.
Prof Anthony Simons is a labour advocate whose negotiation skills helped in the migration of University Teachers of Ghana (UTAG) unto the Single-Spine Salary Structure and upward increase of the Book and Research Allowance. He is a former National President of UTAG.
Prof Simons is a Ghanaian by birth. He was born on 11th January, 1965 to Mr Ebenezer N. K. Simons, a photographer and Elizabeth Quaicoe, a trader. Both parents are deceased. He is married to Georgina Duah and their union is blessed with a daughter and two sons namely Nana Ewurafua Neizer, Papa Kweku Nyan and Paa Kakraba Bosomefi.
The Office of the Pro Vice Chancellor is second to the Office of the Vice Chancellor and that makes the Pro Vice Chancellor the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the University. The Pro Vice Chancellor assists the Vice Chancellor in planning, direction, organisation, management and discipline of the University. The Pro Vice Chancellor exercises powers as specified in the Act 677 and such others that may be delegated to him by the Vice Chancellor.
Prof Grace Ofori-Sarpong Akuffo is a Professor of Minerals Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana. Her previous positions at UMaT include serving as the Acting Pro Vice Chancellor, Dean of Faculty of Mineral Resources Technology, Vice Dean of Planning and Quality Assurance Unit, Head of Petroleum Engineering Department, Head of Environmental and Safety Engineering Department, and Coordinator of University Examinations. Grace serves as a member on several national boards including the Governing Boards of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), Ghana Chamber of Mines (GCM) Tertiary Education Fund, and University of Mines and Technology. She is also the Chairperson of the International Advisory Board of African Centre for Mineral Exploration and Development (ACMED) in AUST, Nigeria, and a member of the Amira Research Consortium. In addition, she serves/has served on the Governing Board of Academic City College, and numerous national and international committees including the Ministerial Committee of Enquiry on Health and Safety in the Mining Industry, the Publication Committee of Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Technical Committees of MIIF Board and GCM Council, the Committee of Independent Reviewers for International PhD Scholarship, Selection Committee of OWSD Early Career Fellowship and as Associate Editor of Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy. She has also served as organiser, keynote speaker, resource person and moderator for several conferences, workshops and seminars both locally and internationally.
Grace is actively involved in research and consultancy in the areas of precious minerals beneficiation, comminution characteristics, aqueous processing, mine waste treatment, acid mine drainage issues, and myco-hydrometallurgy, among others, and she has over 90 technical publications to her credit. With about 20 years’ experience in lecturing and research in minerals-related issues and community service, Grace has made a lot of strides including receiving an international award in 2017 from OWSD-Elsevier Foundation for her contribution in science and her positive role in inspiring and mentoring females to reduce the gender gap in STEM. Grace is the Founder and President of Ladies in Mining and Allied Professions in Ghana (LiMAP-Gh), a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS), and West African Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (WAIMM). She is also a member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Engineers (SME), International Association of Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and Women in Mining, Ghana.
Grace holds PhD in Energy and Mineral Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA, MSc in Environmental Resources Management and BSc in Metallurgical Engineering, both from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.