Ing. Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann is a Visiting Scholar in the newly established Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics. She is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering from the University of Ghana. Prof. Effah Kaufmann has contributed immensely towards the development of Science education at all levels in Ghana and beyond and has been the Host and Quiz Mistress of the Ghana National Science & Mathematics Quiz TV Programme since 2006. She is a member of the Scientific Programmes Committee of the Next Einstein Forum and a member of the Ghana National Committee of the United World Colleges. She sits on numerous Boards.
Education
After secondary education in Ghana, she proceeded on scholarship to the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales in 1988 where she obtained an International Baccalaureate Diploma, and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE, Cum Laude), Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) and PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. After her graduate studies she received postdoctoral training at Rutgers University, serving also as founding Director of the Cell Biology Laboratory at the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials, and thereafter joined the University of Ghana in 2001.
Work Experience
Prof. Elsie Effah Kaufmann began her teaching career with the University of Ghana in 2001. She initially joined the Department of Physics, where she taught undergraduate courses and also supported teaching in the Dental School and the then newly formed Department of Physiotherapy. Incidentally, she was the first female to be appointed full-time to the Department of Physics.
During the period between 2001 and 2006 she was a member of the committees that prepared proposals for the establishment of the Departments of Physiotherapy, Radiography, Audiology and Medical Physics. In 2001 she was nominated to serve on the planning committee set up by the Academic Board of the University to make proposals for establishing the then Faculty of Engineering Sciences, now the School of Engineering Sciences. She was appointed as the first Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2006.
Science/Research Output
Her teaching and research are focused on tissue engineering, biomaterials, design of scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, characterization of natural materials and the application of biomedical engineering concepts to the solution of problems in the Ghanaian context. She has also published in Engineering Education. In spite of her heavy administrative and teaching responsibilities, she has consistently developed and cultivated a reputation for service at the University and at National and International levels as indicated by her service on numerous committees. She is currently a member of the University of Ghana Centre for Ageing Studies.
Prof. Kaufmann has received numerous local and international awards, including University of Ghana’s Best Teacher Award for the Sciences in 2009; International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellowship in 2011; Impact Africa Summit Laureate for Education in Ghana, for her “exceptional and continuous contribution to science education in Ghana and for being a role model and inspiration to many young girls, activities which are vital to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5”; Leading Women Achievers Award from the Global Women Economic & Social Empowerment Summit (GWESES) in 2018; the National Society of Black Engineers’ 2018 Golden Torch Award for International Academic; and the Ghana Women of Excellence Award for Tertiary Education (Science and Mathematics), conferred under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in recognition of her contribution to the social and economic development of Ghana in March 2019. She is also Glitz Africa’s Honouree for Excellence in Education, 2019. Prof. Effah Kaufmann has been featured in Who’s Who in Ghana Publication, 2019 and as an Inspirational Person in the Those Who Inspire Ghana Book, 2020.
