The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), currently on a national campaign to prevent the use of unearned academic titles in Ghana and enforce the law on the abuse, has concluded that the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah does not hold the academic title “Professor in any capacity”.
GTEC has consequently written to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, as her employer, to ensure that she ceases presenting herself as such.
GTEC has also threatened that, should Dr Ayensu-Danquah continue to use the title “Professor”, the Commission may be compelled to pursue legal action on grounds of public deception.
This was contained in a letter dated August 12, 2025, from GTEC, addressed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, a copy of which has been sighted by Graphic Online.
The latest development followed an earlier engagement by GTEC with Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah for her to cease using the professor title or provide documentary evidence showing the university that appointed her to the rank of “Professor.”
The first correspondence was in a letter dated August 4, 2025 from GTEC to Dr Ayensu-Danquah which the Chief of Staff was put in copy.
In that letter, reference was made to a personal interaction between the Board Chairman of GTEC and Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah regarding her use of the academic title “Professor.”
In the said letter the Commission requested Dr Ayensu-Danquah to provide verifiable evidence of her appointment to the rank of Professorship with a deadline of August 11, 2025.
Subsequently, on August 8, 2025, solicitors for Dr. Ayensu-Danquah, represented by David K. Ametefe, responded to the Commission.
In their correspondence, they stated that Dr. Ayensu-Danquah had been appointed as an Assistant Professor of Surgery by the University of Utah, USA.
They also questioned the authority of GTEC to request such evidence, given that the appointment was made outside the jurisdiction of Ghana.
According to GTEC, “instead of documentary evidence of a Professorial appointment, the solicitors submitted a letter from the University of Utah, signed by Prof. W. Bradford Rockwell, Vice Chair for Academic Affairs of the Department of Surgery, dated 7th August, 2025.
And that letter indicated that Dr. Ayensu-Danquah was appointed as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
“Sir, the Commission wishes to clarify the following key points:
- Contrary to the assertion in the letter from her solicitors, Dr. Ayensu-Danquah was not appointed as an Assistant Professor but as an Adjunct Assistant Professor, as clearly stated in the letter from the University of Utah. The omission of the word “Adjunct” by her legal representatives is both misleading and troubling.
- According to the letter from Dr. Rockwell, the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor is not a tenure-track role. He further explains that academic position titles used by the University of Utah may not directly correspond to those within Ghana’s academic framework.
- For clarity, within the context of Ghanaian higher education, an Adjunct Assistant Professor is roughly equivalent to a Part-time Lecturer, and not even comparable to the rank of Senior Lecturer, let alone Professor,” the letter stated.
GTEC indicated that it was based on the above that, the Commission has concluded that Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah does not hold the title of Professor in any capacity.
“We therefore respectfully call on you, her employer, to ensure that she ceases presenting herself as such. Should Dr. Ayensu-Danquah continue to use the title “Professor”, the Commission may be compelled to pursue legal action on grounds of public deception,” the GTEC letter signed Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai as Director-General added.
Source: graphic.com.gh