The University of Cape Coast (UCC) will on Friday, March 13, 2026, confer a Distinguished Fellow Award on the Vice President, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang in recognition of her service to the university and her role in national governance.
According to the university, the award also acknowledges her historic election as Ghana’s first female Vice President, describing it as a transformational moment in the country’s democratic and gender representation history.
In a statement dated February 27, 2026 and signed by the Acting Director of the Directorate of Public Affairs, Kwabena Antwi-Konadu, UCC stated, “The Award is in recognition of her excellency’s distinguished services to the University of Cape Coast as an illustrious alumna and Fellow, as well as her commitment to society, women and children, academia, governance, democracy, leadership, national and global development. The University recognizes her historic achievement as the first female Vice President of the Republic of Ghana and for particularly marking a transformational moment in the country’s democratic and gender representation history”.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, an alumna of UCC, previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the university from 2008 to 2012, becoming the first woman to head a public university in Ghana.
The statement further highlighted her tenure as Minister for Education from 2013 to 2017, citing her efforts to strengthen basic and secondary education, improve teacher development initiatives, and expand access to education in underserved communities.
It also noted her service as Chancellor of the Women’s University in Africa in Zimbabwe from 2018 to 2024, describing her role as a “sustained commitment to advancing women’s access to higher education across the African continent.”
