The Governing Council of the Catholic University of Ghana (CUG) has appointed Professor Matthew Glover Addo, a Microbiologist and Molecular Biologist, as the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
His appointment took effect from Monday, September 1, 2025, after the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Daniels Obeng-Ofori, which ended in August 2025.
At the handover ceremony last Monday, Prof. Addo promised to be firm, fair and dedicated to the promotion of high academic and moral standards through judicious application of the statutes and other relevant regulations and policies.
Harness talents
He said he would harness the individual talents and staff collective desire and commitment to improve the fortunes of the university.
"I believe in your ability to succeed with this new challenge. Always know that you are part of the team, and your unique skills are essential to our collective success," he said.
Prof. Addo, who said he spent all his academic career at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), underscored the need for CUG to promote discipline in the conduct of staff and students.
"Discipline in this context includes attitude and devotion to work and studies, attendance at work and lectures, and the use of facilities and services of the university," he explained.
VC's profile
Prof. Addo is the immediate past Director of the Institute of Distance Learning at the KNUST, a former Dean of the Faculty of Biosciences, Vice-Dean, Head of Department, Hall Master and Senior Tutor, among others.
His academic journey has taken him to countries such as Norway and France, where he earned multiple advanced degrees, including simultaneous PhDs in Molecular Biology from the Université Paris XI, France and in Microbiology from KNUST.
Prof. Addo has an impressive record of board-level and institutional leadership, having served on several high-profile committees at KNUST and as a council member of other universities and institutions.
In 2018, he was elected as the Best Senior Member (Teaching) at the KNUST College of Science Excellence Awards.
Prof. Addo has more than 23 years of rich academic, research, and administrative experience from KNUST and other universities.
Good stewardship
He urged the staff to contribute towards the development of the university, adding that good stewardship would be the hallmark of his administration.
Prof. Addo said he would adopt a participatory approach in running the affairs of the university, saying, "I commit myself to work with the management and stakeholders to achieve financial viability and sustainability.”
For his part, Prof. Obeng-Ofori underscored the need for the university to prioritise staff training and retooling to improve their skills and competencies to sustain high academic and moral standards at CUG.
He urged the new management to work to operationalise the Faculty of Law and the Medical School in the 2025/2026 academic year.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori called for urgent measures to significantly increase student enrolment, mainly with graduate and sandwich programmes, to address the cash flow challenges.
Prof. Obeng-Ofori urged CUG to improve the condition of services of staff to reduce the attrition rate and protect and look after the students well.
He congratulated the new Vice-Chancellor and urged him to show mutual respect to all staff, from labourer/cleaner to Professor, and students alike.
Writer's email: biiya.ali@graphic.com.ghugho
