Died January 14, 2014 Name Marian Addy | Occupation Professor Other names Marian Ewurama Cole | |
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Full Name Marian Ewurama Cole Born February 7, 1941 ( 1941-02-07 ) Alma mater Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity of GhanaSt.Monica's,Asante-MampongHoly Child girls School,Cape Coast Known for Science and Maths quiz host | ||
Prof marian ewurama addy s tribute
Marian Ewurama Addy (née Cole; 7 February 1941 – † 14 January 2014) was a Ghanaian biochemist and the first Host of the National Science and Maths Quiz. The first Ghanaian woman professor of natural science, Addy became a role model for school girls and budding female scientists on the limitless opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Marian Addy was also a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected in 1999. In the same year, she was awarded the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science.
Contents
- Prof marian ewurama addy s tribute
- Education
- Career
- Personal life
- Death and legacy
- Awards and honours
- Books
- References
Education
Ewurama was educated at St Monica's Secondary School in Mampong-Ashanti from January 1956 to June 1960 where she excelled in sports and obtained her 'O' and 'A' level certificates. She also attended the Holy Child Girls' School in Cape Coast. She earned her bachelor's degree in botany from the University of Ghana, Legon. She later obtained a master's degree and doctorate degree in biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University.
Career
Addy's focus of academic research was the biochemistry of herbal medicinal products used by traditional medical practitioners, especially in areas relating to safety and efficacy. When she reached the rank of full professor of biochemistry, Marian Ewurama Addy became the first woman to hold a professorship in science at the University of Ghana. She was the Chair for the Policy Committee on Developing Countries (PCDC), she also chaired the National Board for Professional and Technicians Examinations (NABPTEX). She served as the Program Director for the Accra-based Science Education Programme for Africa (SEPA), a Pan African programme for pre-tertiary science education in 1970s. She was a board member of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission from 1996 to 1998 together with the Ghanaian botanist, George C. Clerk.
In January 2008, Addy was appointed as the first President of the Anglican University College of Technology, a technology initiative in higher education.
She served as a member on member of WHO Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine, and worked as an advisor to the International Foundation for Science, in Stockholm, Sweden. She was the Founder and First Executive Secretary of Western Africa Network of Natural Products Research Scientists (WANNPRES), which established February 2002.
She served on the Kwami Committee, a technical committee on polytechnic education set up by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), to study and recommend policies to assist the Ghanaian government in supporting polytechnic education. In 1994, she was also a member of a 4-member UNDP team of consultants in Ghana tasked with formulating a National Action Program for Science and Technology Development.
She had extensive experience in both basic and applied science, lecturing to undergraduate, post-graduate, dental and medical students at the University of Ghana, Legon and subsequently at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC. Her research on the biochemistry of diabetes mellitus led to the improvement of herbal plant formulation for the treatment of the disease.
Her autobiography, Rewards was published in 2011.
Together with her two sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, she instituted an Award for the “Best Girl” at her alma mater, St Monica’s Secondary School. The Ghanaian government appointed her an Officer of the Order of the Volta for her contributions to science and girl-child education.
Personal life
Marian Ewurama Addy was married to Ebenezer Charles Oko Addy, a sociologist and former athlete who won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. The couple had two daughters, Naa Lamiley Addy-Sadowsky and Lamiokor Esi Addy.
Death and legacy
She died of natural causes on 14 January 2014 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. She was buried on 1 March 2014 in Saltpond, a historic coastal town in the Central Region of Ghana. A science laboratory at the Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Ghana, was named the “Marian Ewurama Addy Laboratory for Medicinal Plants and Natural Products Research” in her honour. Her research work in the medicinal biochemistry of herbal products made herbal medicine more popular and acceptable to the scientific community.