Ernest Amano Boateng

Ernest Amano Boateng was a Ghanaian academic and public servant. He was an emeritus professor of geography[2] who taught at the University of Ghana. He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and the first chairman of the then Environmental Protection Council of Ghana now Ghana Environmental Protection Agency.[3] He served in various capacities in many institutions including the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences as its president and the West African Examinations Council as its chairman.[4]

E. A. Boateng
Born
Ernest Amano Boateng[1]

(1920-11-30)30 November 1920
Airport Residential Area, Accra, Gold Coast
Died15 July 1997(1997-07-15) (aged 76)
Aburi, Gold Coast
NationalityGhanaian
OccupationAcademic
Spouse(s)
Evelyn Kensema Danso
​
​
(m. 1955)​
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Ghana & University of Cape Coast
Main interestsGeography

Early life and education

Ernest was born on 30 November 1920. His father was the Reverend Christian Robert Boateng; a reverend minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana,[5] and his mother; Adelaide Akonobea Boateng both of Aburi, Ghana.

He was educated at Achimota College and St Peter's Hall now St Peter's College, University of Oxford, England,[6] where he read history and geography majoring in social and political geography and graduating in 1949.[7] He had his master's degree in 1953 and was awarded a bachelor of letters (B. Litt) degree in 1954 for his thesis on human settlements.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Career

Academic

His teaching begun at the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong.[5] After his tertiary education at the University of Oxford he returned to the Gold Coast and was appointed lecturer of geography at the University of Ghana then the University College of the Gold Coast in 1950. He became professor[19][20] and head of the geography department of the University in 1961.[21] In 1962, he was made dean of the faculty of social studies of the university. While at the university, he was master of the Mensah Sarbah hall, a hall of residence in the University of Ghana.[22] In 1969 he was appointed principal of the University College of Cape Coast[23][24][25][9][10] and the first vice chancellor of the institution when it was elevated to university status in 1972 as the University of Cape Coast.[26] He held many visiting appointments with universities in Britain and America. He was a Smuts visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge in 1965 and 1966. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[27][8][14][11][12][13][15][16][17] In 1950 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.[28] He was an honorary fellow of the Ghana Institute of Planners in 1984 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1973.[18]

Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences

Ernest was a foundation member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959. He was the secretary of the academy from 1959 to 1962.[29] He was appointed its president from 1973 to 1976.[18]

Public service

He served on many national and international committees and represented Ghana in many conferences. He was a member of the UNESCO International Advisory Committee on Humid Tropics Research from 1961 to 1963. He was also a member of the Scientific Council of Africa from 1963 to 1980. In 1961, he was made a member National Planning Commission of Ghana, he served in this capacity for three years. He was a member of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Ghana from 1967 to 1975. He served as director of the Ghana National Atlas Project from 1965 to 1977. In 1967 he was a member of the Ghana delegation at the United Nations Conference on Geographical names, a conference that was hosted in Geneva. He was appointed chairman of the Geographical committee for the 1970 population census.[9][10] In 1973 he was appointed first chairman of the Environmental Protection Council of Ghana, he served in that capacity until 1978.[30][11] He served in the National Economic Planning Council of Ghana as a member in 1974 to 1978, in 1995 he was appointed vice chairman of the council. He was a member of the Ghana delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, New York City in 1976.[8][12] That same year, he was Alternate Leader of the Ghana Delegation to the United Nation Conference in Vancouver. He was appointed chairman of the Land Use Planning Committee of Ghana from 1978 to 1979. In 1979, he was appointed president of the Governing Council of UNEP and a senior consultant of the council from 1989 to 1992.[31] From 1978 to 1979 he was a member of the Constituent Assembly that was responsible for drafting the constitution for third Republic of Ghana. In 1980 he was a member of the Presidential Task Force on Investments of Ghana and the national council for higher Education from 1975 to 1983. He was appointed chairman of the West African Examinations Council in 1977 and he served in that capacity until 1985.[32] He served as president of the Ghana Wildlife Society from 1974 to 1987.[14][33][16][17][13][15][18]

Publications

He authored and contributed to many books and pamphlets. He also contributed articles in geographical and other journals and reference works. He was a contributor for Encyclopædia Britannica for almost twenty years.[34][35] Some of his works include:

  • Tomorrow's Map of West Africa, 1952[36]
  • A geographical study of human settlement in the eastern province of the gold coast colony west of the volta delta, 1954[37]
  • A Geography of Ghana, 1959; (contribution)[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]
  • Developing Countries of the World, 1968; (contribution)
  • Population Growth and Economic Development in Africa, 1972
  • Independence and Nation Building in Africa, 1973
  • A political geography of Africa (Cambridge University Press, 1978)[45][46][47]
  • African Unity: the dream and the reality ( J. B. Danquah Memorial Lectures 1978), 1979[48]
  • Physical and Social Geography ( in Africa South of the Sahara 1994)[49]
  • Crisis, Change and Revolution in Ghanian Education (Armstrong- Amissah Memorial Lecture), 1996
  • Government and the People: outlook for democracy in Ghana, 1996[18]

Honours

While at the University of Oxford, he was awarded the Henry Oliver Beckit Memorial Prize for geography.

He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.

In 1978 he was a recipient of the National Book Award, Ghana.[18]

Personal life

He married Evelyn Kensema Danso in 1955. She is the daughter of the late Reverend Robert Opong Danso and of Victoria Danso both of Aburi and together they had four daughters.[50][18] He is the brother of Josiah Ofori Boateng, a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana.

Death

He died on 15 July 1997[50] after a short illness. He was buried in his hometown; Aburi.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Black African Literature in English, 1987-1991, Volume 4". Hans Zell Publishers. 1995: 282. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Boateng, E. A. (1996). Crisis, Change, and Revolution in Ghanaian Education. p. 454. ISBN 9789988773502.
  3. "World Environment Report, Volumes 5-6". Center for International Environment Information. 1979: 304. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "West Africa, Issues 3117-3129". Afrimedia International. 1977: 883. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Agyemang, F. M. (2006). Our Presbyterian heritage. p. 147. ISBN 9789988029210.
  6. "Oxford University calendar". Oxford University. 1950: 157. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Daniel, Ebow (1999). Mister Registrar. p. 83. ISBN 9789964978594.
  8. Boateng, E. A. (1978). African Unity: The Dream and the Reality. p. 70.
  9. "Ghana Year Book". Graphic Corporation. 1970: 183. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "African Biographies". Verlag Neue Gesellschaft. 1971. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. Who's who in the World. Marquis Who's Who. 1976. p. 94. ISBN 9780837911038.
  12. Men of Achievement. Melrose Press. 1977. p. 69. ISBN 9780900332432.
  13. The International Who's Who 1989-90. Europa publications. 1989. p. 170. ISBN 9780946653508.
  14. Uwechue, Ralph (1991). Africa Who's who. Africa Journal Limited. p. 1548. ISBN 9780903274173.
  15. The International Who's Who 1991-92. Europa publications. 1991. p. 173. ISBN 9780946653706.
  16. The International Who's Who 1992-93. Europa publishers. 1992. p. 174. ISBN 9780946653843.
  17. The International Who's Who 1997-98. Europa publications. 1997. p. 166. ISBN 9781857430226.
  18. Who was who 1996-2000. St. Martin's Press. 1996. p. 51. ISBN 9780312293666.
  19. Report (Report). Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. 1963.
  20. "Annual Report". University of Ghana. 1965: 78. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. "Atti, Volume 4; Volume 20". U.S. National Committee of the International Geographical Union, National Academy of Sciences--National Research Council. 1952: 352. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. "Advance, Issues 49-58". Center for International Environment Information. 1966: 1. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  23. Aidoo, George (1970-07-21). "Don't worship wealth-Boateng". Daily Graphic. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
  24. "Handbook". Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 1970: 1. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  25. Full report, edited by A. Adu (Report). Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 1971.
  26. "Commonwealth Universities Yearbook". Association of Commonwealth Universities. 1972: 1088. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  27. "The Journal of geography, Volumes 60-61". 1961: 397. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  28. "The Geographical Journal, Volumes 115-116". Royal Geographical Society. 1950: 272. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. Du Bois, W. E. B. (1997). The Correspondence of W. E. B. Du Bois: Selections, 1944-1963. p. 454. ISBN 1558491058.
  30. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1997). The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Propaedia. p. 734. ISBN 9780852296332.
  31. Who's who in the United Nations and Related Agencies. Arno Press. 1975. p. 760. ISBN 9780405004902.
  32. "Chairmen of the Council". THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATION COUNCIL. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  33. "The International Who's who". Europa publishers. 1990: 170. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  34. "Ernest Amano Boateng". Britannica. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  35. Myers, R. A. (1991). Ghana. p. 1. ISBN 9781851091355.
  36. Boateng, E. A. (1952). Tomorrow's Map of West Africa.
  37. Saur, K. G. (2006). Ghana. p. 302. ISBN 9783598117121.
  38. "A Bibliographic Guide to Population Geography, Issues 80-81". University of Chicago. 1962: 230. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  39. International Biographical Centre (1982). Two-in-one Special Edition of the International Authors and Writers Who's Who, International Who's who in Poetry. p. 67.
  40. "The science reports of the Tohoku University. Seventh series, (Geography)". Faculty of Science, Tôhoku University. 1969: 30. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  41. "Publications". 1966: 129. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  42. "WALA News, Volumes 3-4". West African Library Association, Ibadan, Nigeria: 91. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  43. "Geography: Journal of the Geographical Association, Volumes 52-53". Geographical Association. 1967: 208. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  44. "Northwestern University Studies in Geography, Volumes 4-7". Department of Geography, Northwestern University. 1952: 293. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  45. "West Africa, Issues 3207-3232". Afrimedia International. 1979: 213. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  46. "The Geographical Magazine, Volume 51". Geographical Press. 1978: 314. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  47. Essays in honour of judge Taslim Olawale Elias: Contemporary international law and human rights, Volume 1. Nijhoff. 1992. p. 789. ISBN 9780792314264.
  48. "African studies newsletter, Volumes 13-14". African Studies Association, University of California, Los Angeles. African Studies Center. 1980: 21. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  49. Africa South of the Sahara 2008. Europa publications. 2007. p. 520. ISBN 9781857434217.
  50. Ghanaweb,"First Vice-Chancellor Of UCC Passes Away", Ghanaweb, 17 July 1997.
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