Prof. Andrews Ofori-Birikorang Appointed as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UEW

Post date:
Tue, 12/03/2019 - 17:44

The Management of the University of Education, Winneba, on behalf of the Governing Council, has appointed Prof. Andrews Ofori-Birikorang as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University. The appointment takes immediate effect

Until his appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ofori-Birikorang was the Dean of Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication.

For his education, Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang attended Amankwatia Experimental School, Kumasi for his basic school education and proceeded to Opoku Ware School, Kumasi where he gained his GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels Certificates. He proceeded to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science Technology (KNUST) and graduated in 1989 with a BA (Social Sciences) in English and Law. In May 2003, Prof. Ofori-Birikorang pursued a Certificate in Public Administration Programme at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

In the year 2003, he gained admission to Ohio University (OU) in Athens, Ohio and completed a Master in International Affairs programme in 2005. That same year, he was admitted into a doctoral programme in the School of Media Arts and Studies at the Scripps College of Communication in the same institution to read a PhD in Mass Communication and graduated in 2009.

Prof. Ofori-Birikorang worked as a teacher in the Ghana Education Service and taught English and English Literature at Aduman Secondary School from 1991-1996. He was later employed at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) as a Prosecutor from 1996 to 2003 before leaving for the United States for further studies.

Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang was employed as a Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) in May 2010. He was appointed the Departmental Graduate programmes coordinator in August, 2011.  In August 2012, he was appointed Head of Department and functioned in that position till August 2016. Prof. Ofori-Birikorang was in August 2017 appointed as the Director of the Externally Funded Project Office (EFPO) of UEW. The following month, September 2017, he was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication, a position he has held until this election to the office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor.

At the University of Education, Winneba, Prof. Andy Ofori Birikorang serves on several high ranking Boards and Committees including: the Academic Board, the Appointments and Promotions Board, the Executive Committee, the Graduate Board, the Strategic Plan Development Committee, and the Strategic Plan and Monitoring Committee.  In his capacity as the Dean, he has since September, 2017 functioned as the Chairman of the Board of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Education. Prof. Ofori-Birikorang has also performed several other University duties including chairing University Audit Committee on affiliated institutions that run communication and media studies-related programmes.

At Ohio University, he was Graduate Assistant from 2000 to 2008 and was appointed a Teaching Assistant for the 2008/2009 academic year. During his student days at OU, he was elected Vice-President of the African Students Association from 2005 to 2006. 

After his appointment as Lecturer in May 2010, Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang was promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer in July 2015. In December, 2018, he was promoted to the Rank of Associate Professor.

At the national level Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang is a member of the National Media Commission (NMC) as the representative of the Journalism and Communication Training Institutions in Ghana. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Communicators Educators Association of Ghana (CEAG). In addition, at the international level he is a member of several professional associations including: International Communication Association (ICA), the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), and the Africa Studies Association-Africa (ASAA).

At the Department of Communication and Media Studies where he lectures as an Associate Professor, he teaches four courses: Communication Theory, Development Communication, Research Methods in Communication, and New Media Technology. His areas of research include communication and critical pedagogy, popular culture and African media, gender and media, media theories, development communication and social media and identity research. He has several publications to his credit in peer-reviewed journals. 

Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang is very passionate about teaching and sees the profession as his call to serve Ghana and mankind. He is passionate about mentoring and socializing with his students as well as having intellectual discourses with them. He is also a strong gender advocate and likes to be referred to as a feminist.

Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang has three daughters.