Short educational background and professional progression
Prof. Frances Owusu-Daaku obtained her PhD as a Commonwealth scholar in pharmaceutical analysis but branched into social pharmacy on a Commonwealth Fellowship to become the first associate professor in social pharmacy; and first female professor in pharmacy in Ghana. She has been an academic most of her working life at KNUST (the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) where she has had to take an interest in gender issues because of the negligible number of female academics when she was employed. She has mentored countless number of students, both male and female; at graduate and undergraduate levels.
Positions held – currently and previously
Prof. Owusu-Daaku is an honorary member of PPAG Council. She has held several administrative positions at KNUST. These include Head of 2 departments (Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Clinical and Social Pharmacy) and Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Pharmacy. She was the chairperson of the children’s Sunday school committee of the protestant chaplaincy, KNUST from 1995 to 2013. Her involvement with young people has served her well in contributing to being a past President of PPAG (2002- 2007) and the Chairperson of the Zonal Advisory and Support Committee of GHAFES (Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students) in the Mid-Ghana Zone.
In her professional arena, Prof. Owusu-Daaku has been a vice-president of the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) and an active member of LAPAG (the Lady Pharmacists Association of Ghana). She previously served as a LAPAG regional coordinator and a vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) under two presidents. She is a Foundation Fellow of the Ghana College of Pharmacists; a fellow of both PSGH and the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists and a member of the International Pharmacists Federation.
Between July 2013 and June 2015, she was on sabbatical leave from KNUST and took up a leading role as the President of Christian Service University College, a private, Christian, university accredited by the National Accreditation Board. She is back to KNUST as Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice.
What I like most about/ have benefitted most from being a PPAG Volunteer
PPAG has contributed in no small measure to her leadership and administrative skills. As a volunteer of the Association since 1996, she has toured the length and breadth of the country and has been exposed to the plight of the marginalized and underserved in society, especially that of women and the adolescent. Thus she does not take for granted the privileges that she enjoys as a citizen of Ghana. In learning to appreciate that life can be no respecter of persons, she is compelled to give back to society whenever she can.
Other interests, including family life
Her interest in writing has led her to various editorial positions including those of KNUST’s magazine (Technocrat) and College of Health Sciences’ newsletter. She is presently an associate editor of the open-access African Journal of Disability. She has several publications to her credit and her main research areas are chronic disease management and the role of pharmacists in mental healthcare delivery.
Prof Owusu-Daaku, who believes in ‘walking the talk’ in all areas of her life, is married and has three adult children.
