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The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), as part of its nationwide campaign to curb the misuse of academic titles, has determined that Deputy Minister of Health Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah does not hold the academic title of “Professor” in any capacity.
In a letter dated August 12, 2025, addressed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President and copied to Dr Ayensu-Danquah, the Minister of Health, the Clerk of Parliament, and the Board Chairman of GTEC, the Commission urged her employer to ensure she ceases presenting herself as such.
GTEC further warned that if she continues to use the title, the Commission may be compelled to initiate legal action on grounds of public deception.
This latest directive follows earlier correspondence. On August 4, 2025, GTEC wrote to Dr Ayensu-Danquah requesting documentary evidence of her appointment to the rank of professor.
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That letter, also copied to the Chief of Staff and the Clerk of Parliament, referenced prior engagement between the Commission’s Board Chairman and Dr Ayensu-Danquah regarding her use of the title. She was given a deadline of August 11, 2025, to provide verifiable evidence.
In response, on August 8, 2025, her legal representatives, led by David K. Ametefe, wrote to GTEC insisting that she had been appointed an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah, USA.
They also challenged the Commission’s authority to request such documentation, arguing that the appointment was made outside Ghana’s jurisdiction.
However, 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 August 7, 2025.
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That letter, a copy of which has also been sighted by Graphic Online, indicated that Dr Ayensu-Danquah was appointed as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
The Commission stressed that the omission of the word 'adjunct' was misleading, clarifying in its August 12 letter that:
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.
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On this basis, GTEC concluded that Dr Ayensu-Danquah does not hold the title of professor in any form. The August 12 letter, signed by Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, Director-General of GTEC, emphasised:
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.
Attached to the exchanges were three key documents:
GTEC’s initial request (letter dated August 4, 2025), outlining the formal process for verifying professorial titles and warning against misrepresentation.
A letter from the University of Utah (signed by Prof. W. Bradford Rockwell, dated August 7, 2025), confirming Dr Ayensu-Danquah’s position as Adjunct Assistant Professor.
A response from her solicitors (dated August 8, 2025), disputing GTEC’s authority and defending her use of the title.