Prof Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo appointed as new GIJ Rector

Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo has been appointed the new Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) by the Governing Council of the institute.

A statement released by the Registrar of GIJ, Mrs Patience Sowah, said Prof. Kwansah-Aidoo was a professor of Public Relations and Marketing at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia until his new appointment.

“A communication scholar with extensive research interests in media and communication studies, he established Monash University’s Public Relations programme in the early 2000s before moving to Swinburne in 2007, where he became Associate Dean, International, in 2011.

He has published widely in the areas of PR, media and communication and authored or co-authored several books.

Prof. Kwansah-Aidoo considers himself an African “world citizen”, having studied and worked in different countries and continents.

He was a Visiting Scholar at Texas Christian University, an external examiner for a number of universities abroad and visiting professor here at GIMPA,’’ the statement added.

Commitment

According to the statement, during his maiden interaction with the management and staff of GIJ, Prof. Kwansah-Aidoo pledged to uphold the values of the institute and further promote the work of the institute as the leader in communication studies in the country.

For his part, the Chairman of the Governing Council, Prof. Ansu-Kyeremeh, charged the new rector to promote academic excellence at the institute.

The GIJ was established in 1959 as a citadel of training and learning for journalists.

In 2006, the institute was granted a charter to award its own degrees and diplomas.

The institute continues to play a pivotal role in the nation’s human resource in critical areas such as communication, media, and journalism.