Professor Eric Y. Danquah, PhD (Cantab)
Professor of Plant Genetics & Founding Director West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana
Eric Yirenkyi Danquah is a Professor of Plant Genetics and a former Dean, International Programmes, University of Ghana. Currently, he serves as the Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, established in the University in 2007 as a consequence of his shared vision and leadership to train a new generation of plant breeders to develop improved varieties of the staple crops of West and Central Africa. Eric Danquah’s professional focus is on genetic diversity in crop plants and how diversity relates to performance. He is a recipient of the University of Ghana Distinguished Award for Meritorious Service, 2013, a member of the IAEA’s Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications, the 2018 Laureate, Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences (GCHERA) World Agriculture Prize and the President of the African Plant Breeders Association. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia and a Visiting Scientist at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. Eric Danquah holds a BS degree in agriculture (crop science) from the University of Ghana, a MPhil degree in plant breeding and a PhD in genetics from the University of Cambridge, UK.