Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah
The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has clashed with Deputy Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan, Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, over her use of the academic title “Professor,” warning that she risks legal action if she continues to present herself as such.
In a letter dated August 12, 2025, and addressed to the Chief of Staff and copied to the Clerk to Parliament, GTEC declared that its records show Dr. Ayensu-Danquah “does not hold the academic title of Professor in any capacity.”
The Commission emphasised that the inappropriate use of unearned academic titles undermines the integrity of Ghana’s higher education system and could amount to public deception.
It has, therefore, directed the Deputy Minister to provide official documentary evidence of her appointment or promotion to the rank of Associate Professor or Professor by a recognised institution.
“Should you be unable to provide the required documentation, you are required to immediately cease the use of the title Professor,” the Commission’s letter stated.
It also demanded that Dr. Ayensu-Danquah withdraw the title from all professional platforms, including letterheads, institutional profiles, and official communications.
Adjunct Appointment
As part of her defence, Dr. Ayensu-Danquah presented a letter from the University of Utah in the United States, dated August 7, 2025, and signed by Professor W. Bradford Rockwell, Vice Chair for Academic Affairs at the Department of Surgery.
The letter confirmed her appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.
But GTEC has challenged her legal team’s account, pointing out that her lawyers misleadingly omitted the crucial qualifier “Adjunct” when describing her position.
“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’ is both misleading and troubling,” the Commission said.
According to Prof. Rockwell’s letter, the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor is not a tenure-track role, and the academic nomenclature used at the University of Utah does not directly correspond to Ghana’s system.
GTEC further explained, “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.”
It was on this basis, GTEC said, that it concluded Dr. Ayensu-Danquah does not legitimately hold the title of Professor.
“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 letter signed by Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, Director-General of GTEC, warned.
Counterattack
Dr. Ayensu-Danquah’s lawyers, however, accused GTEC of overstepping its authority and attempting to embarrass their client for political reasons. In a response to an earlier letter from GTEC dated August 8, 2025, and signed by solicitor David K. Ametepe, they insisted that the Deputy Minister had never claimed to be a professor under Ghana’s academic system.
“Our client was appointed an Assistant Professor of Surgery by the University of Utah. She has nowhere made a claim that she earned her professorship from a Ghanaian university,” the lawyers argued.
They further dismissed GTEC’s demand for accreditation of foreign titles, stressing that “the law applicable to an academic title is the law of the place of conferment, and not Ghanaian law.”
The legal team also criticised the Commission’s tone as “condescending” toward an elected Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Health.
They described GTEC’s intervention as “petty wordsmithing” that distracts from Dr. Ayensu-Danquah’s “formidable credentials and experience.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu