Ebenezer Laing, (28 June 1931 – 19 April 2015) was 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 the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

botanist and

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

who served as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of 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 ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. ...

. He was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

at the University of Ghana,

, and later an emeritus professor. Laing, together with his university and faculty colleague, George C. Clerk (1931–2019), was one of the first Ghanaian academics to specialise in botany as a scientific discipline and contributed significantly to the growth of the field in Ghana. He was also a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

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 ...

, inducted in 1965. In 1985, he was elected an inaugural Fellow of the

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery and ...

Early life and education

Ebenezer Laing was born in Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana on 28 June 1931. He was educated at the all-boys’ Anglican boarding school, Adisadel College and continued at Achimota School for

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

. Between 1951 and 1954, he attended the University College of the Gold Coast, then an external affiliate of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

. He was the recipient of the ''Basindale Prize'' for ranking second in his class. He proceeded to Corpus Christi College, a constituent college of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

where from 1954 to 1958, he earned a doctoral degree in

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

as a student of Sir

Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who ...

Career

Ebenezer Laing was appointed a lecturer at the

’s botany department and rose through the ranks to become a

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

. He later became the chairman of the botany department. His research was in plant genetics. He also served as the Hall Master of Legon Hall, of which he was an alumnus. Other senior administrative positions he held include the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Faculty of Science and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the university. He was also an external examiner at other universities on the African continent. During his long teaching career, he had courtesy appointments at various departments at the

including the

Institute of African Studies The Institute of African Studies on the Anne Jiagee road on campus of the University of Ghana at Legon is an interdisciplinary research institute in the humanities and social sciences. It was established by President Kwame Nkrumah in 1962 to enco ...

, the Regional Institute for Population Studies, Department of Geography, Psychology Department, Department of Community Health at UGMS, Korle-Bu, School of Public Health as well as the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD). He was also a

board member A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

advisor An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs categor ...

or consultant to several institutions: the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission,

where he was elected a

in 1965, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Cocoa Research Institute, the Volta Basin Research Project and the Population Dynamics Program at the

. He was also a Founding

of the

, elected in 1985. He also provided advisory services to the development of new

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

initiatives in both the public and private sector 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 ...

. These include the

University for Development Studies The University for Development Studies, Tamale was established in 1992 by the government of Ghana with a view to accelerating the development of the then 3 Northern Regions of Ghana (the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions). The late Pr ...

, the

Presbyterian University College The Presbyterian University, Ghana (formerly Presbyterian University College, Ghana) is a partially private & public university with multi- campuses and its headquarters located at Abetifi-Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It is one of th ...

and the Anglican University College of Technology. He was engaged in international work, among other designations as a member of the joint

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...

Panel of Experts on Environmental Management for Vector Control (PEEM) between 1981 and 1995. He co-chaired the ninth PEEM meeting at the World Health Organization in 1989, and was the national counterpart for the organization of the 1992 three-week Health Impact Assessment training course "Health Opportunities in Water Resources Development", held in Akosombo, Ghana.

Personal life

He was married to Mildred Laing and had three children. He was an

amateur photographer ''Amateur Photographer'' is a British photography magazine, published weekly by Kelsey Media. The magazine provides articles on equipment reviews, photographic technique, and profiles of professional photographers. About the magazine ''Am ...

and a trained

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

with special interest in classical music from the Baroque and Romantic periods. An aficionado of Ghanaian music, he also played the classical guitar and the

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

. Laing was also an accomplished

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

for the ''Christ Anglican Church'', ''Legon''. Laing played

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and was a technology-savvy biologist, taking up

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as anal ...

in his old age as a hobby.

Death and legacy

He died in Accra on 19 April 2015 from natural causes. He was buried at the Osu Cemetery (previously known as Christiansborg Civil Cemetery) in Accra. The road behind the university’s department of botany was named in his honour.

Awards and honours

* Honorary

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(D. Sc.),

* Officer of the

Order of the Volta The Order of the Volta is an order of merit from the Republic of Ghana. It was instituted in 1960 and is awarded to people for their outstanding service to the country.

Government of Ghana The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

* Gold Medal, Distinguished Alumnus of Legon Hall * Adisadel College Centenary Award - Distinguished Old Boy

Books

* An introduction to modern genetics (1971) *Genetic Demonstrations: Instructor's Manual (1980); co-authored with

Marian Ewurama Addy Marian Ewurama Addy (née Cole; 7 February 1942 – 14 January 2014) was a Ghanaian biochemist and the first Host of the National Science and Maths Quiz. The first Ghanaian woman to attain the rank of full professor of natural science, Addy ...

and Carol Markwei * A Geneticist's Apology: Thoughts on Genetics Teaching and Research (1985) * The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research retrospect and prospects (1988) * The New Biology: New Hope, New Threat Or New Dilemmas (1989) * Science and society in Ghana (1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Ebenezer 1931 births 20th-century Ghanaian botanists Akan people Fante people Ghanaian Anglicans Ghanaian Protestants Alumni of Achimota School Alumni of Adisadel College Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of London University of Ghana alumni University of Ghana faculty 2015 deaths Ghanaian geneticists Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences Founder Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences