Elsie Akosua Biraa Effah Kaufmann (born 7 September 1969) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, academic administrator,

biomedical engineer Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

, and current host of the National Science and Maths Quiz. In December 2020, Elsie Kaufmann was appointed an associate professor at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

, and was appointed the Dean of the School of Engineering Sciences on 1 August 2022.

Early life and education

The daughter of educators, she hails from Assin in the Central Region. Her father, Yusuf K. Effah served as the headmaster of

T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School, Kumasi T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School (Real Amass) is a coeducational second-cycle public educational institution in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. History The school was established by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana, on 30 January 1950. ...

and later, Director of Education in the Western Region. Kaufmann began her secondary education at the

Aburi Girls' Senior High School Aburi Girls' Senior High School, formerly Aburi Girls' Secondary School, also known as ABUGISS, is a Presbyterian senior high boarding school for girls located south of Aburi in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The brother school of Aburi Girls is ...

, and obtained her

International Baccalaureate Diploma The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

from the

United World College of the Atlantic Atlantic College (formally the United World College of the Atlantic; alternatively styled UWC Atlantic College, UWCAC, or UWCA) is an independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Founded in 1962, it was the first of th ...

in Wales in 1988. She proceeded to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

for her

Bachelor of Science in Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

(BSE), a

Master of Science in Engineering A Master of Science in Engineering (abbreviated MSE, M.Sc.Eng. or MScEng) is a type of Master of Science awarded by universities in many countries. It is an academic degree to be differentiated from a Master of Engineering. A Master of Science in ...

(MSE), and a doctorate (PhD) in

Bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...

Career

Kaufmann was a research supervisor at the Department of Chemistry at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, from May 1998 to June 2001; after being a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Bioengineering at the

. She was also a Senior Lecturer and the first Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering,

(2006–2012, 2014–2016). Elsie Effah Kaufmann is a visiting scholar and Founding Head of the Department of

Orthotics Orthotics ( el, Ορθός, translit=ortho, lit=to straighten, to align) is a medical specialty that focuses on the design and application of orthoses, or braces. An is "an externally applied device used to influence the structural and functio ...

and

Prosthetics In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

at the

University of Health and Allied Sciences The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) a public university located at Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana. UHAS is one of the youngest public universities in Ghana. Its operation started in September 2012, when the first batch of 154 s ...

Ho, Ghana Ho is the capital city of the Ho Municipal District and the Volta Region of Ghana. The city lies between Mount Adaklu and Mount Galenukui or Togo Atakora Range, and is home to the Volta Regional Museum, a cathedral, and a prison.Ghana Communication Technology University Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU) is a public technical university in Accra, Ghana founded in 2005. The school was formerly known as Ghana Technology University College and Ghana Telecom University College. The change in name to G ...

. She serves on the board of African Gifted Foundation Ghana (African Science Academy) as well as the British International School-Ghana. She is the first woman to be appointed dean of the School of Engineering Sciences,

, taking up the post from 1 August 2022. She presently serves as the President of the Ghana Society of Biomedical Engineers.

Awards and recognition

Kaufmann was a Fellow of the International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation. She was awarded in 2009, as the

's Best Teacher Award for the Sciences. She received the International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation Fellowship in 2011 and the 2017 Impact Africa Summit Laureate for Education in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. She is also the first female recipient of the 2018 Golden Torch Award for International Academic Leadership by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) at the 44th Annual Conference held in the

. She is also the recipient of the

National Society of Black Engineers The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is a society that was founded in 1975 at Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is one of the largest student-run organizations in the United States, with core activities centered o ...

' 2018 Golden T.O.R.C.H. (Technical OutReach and Community Help) Award for International Academic Leadership in recognition of her excellence in support of academics on an international level and exhibition of commitment to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) fields. She was awarded the Woman of the Year at the 2022 Exclusive Men of the Year Africa Awards. Kaufmann was elected a Fellow of the

Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) is a learned society for the arts and sciences based in Accra, Ghana. The institution was founded in November 1959 by Kwame Nkrumah with the aim to promote the pursuit, advancement and dissemination ...

in June 2022. She is also a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering, elected in December 2020 and a

Professional Engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...

of the Ghana Institution of Engineering. She holds a PMP Certification from the Institute of Project Management Professionals –

. Elsie Kaufmann has also participated in Executive Education programs at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

and

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

Personal life and family

Kaufmann is divorced and has three children, two girls and a boy by the name Augustus Kofi Effah Kaufmann. She also has a younger sister called Belinda Yaa Dankwaa Effah who is a bank manager at United Bank of Africa (UBA) Ghana Limited.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufmann, Elsie Effah Living people Ghanaian bioengineers University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni People educated at Atlantic College Alumni of Aburi Girls' Senior High School Biomedical engineers Ghanaian women engineers Academic staff of the University of Ghana Akan people Fante people 1969 births 21st-century Ghanaian scientists Ghanaian biologists Ghanaian women scientists Ghanaian academics 21st-century Ghanaian women People from Central Region (Ghana) Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Ghanaian women academics