George Tawia Odamtten, (born 7 July 1948) is a Ghanaian

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

. He was professor at the Department of Plant and Environmental Biology and formerly dean of the erstwhile faculty of science of the University of Ghana. He is the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the ''Ghana Journal of Science'' and 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 ...

Early life and education

George Odamtten was born on 7 July 1948 in

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper pop ...

to Theophilus Ayitey Odamtten and Comfort Dewi Quarcoo. He had his early education at the Suhum Presbyterian School and the

Salem School, Osu The Salem School, Osu, or the Osu Presbyterian Boys’ Boarding School or simply, Osu Salem, formerly known as the Basel Mission Middle School'','' is an all boys’ residential middle or junior secondary school located in the suburb of Osu i ...

. Odamtten attended

Accra Academy Accra Academy is a Non-denominational Christianity, non-denominational Day School, day and Boarding School, boarding Single-sex education, boys' school. It is located at Bubuashie near Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region. The school was establishe ...

for his secondary education from 1962 to 1969. Odamtten studied at the

between 1970 and 1977 for 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 ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

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 ...

. He was employed as a research scientific officer at GAEC in 1978. From 1979 to 1981, he was awarded an IAEA Fellowship tenable at IFFIT in

Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many t ...

, the Netherlands. Odamtten took up part-time lectureship at

in 1981 and subsequently full-time appointment as lecturer in 1983 in the Department of Botany. He was awarded his

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1986 at the

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

Career

Odamtten served as head of the Department of Botany at the

on two occasions from 1988 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2001, and oversaw its transformation to become the Department of Plant and Environmental Biology. In 1996, Odamtten became acting dean of the School of Graduate Studies,

and held this post until 1998. He became chairman of the university's Volta Basin Research Project carried out from 1998 to 2004. In 2003, Odamtten was appointed dean of the Faculty of Science of the University of Ghana for a three year tenure. In 1992, he served as a member of the International Mycological Association Committee for the Development of Mycology in Africa (CODMA).That same year he was made a founding vice president of the African Mycological Association. Odamtten was a visiting professor to the

University of Bremen The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Wageningen University and Research Centre Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Odamtten is a reviewer of many international Journals and is currently the

of the ''Ghana Journal of Science''. Odamtten was amongst a group academic experts who were tasked on the establishment of the

University of the Gambia The University of the Gambia (UTG) is an institution of higher education located in Sere Kunda, the largest city in the Gambia. History The campus was founded in 1998 in Kotu-Kanifing, a suburb of Sere Kunda. It was not until March 1999 that t ...

in the year 2000. Following this, Odamtten became a member of the University Council of the

Pentecost University College The Pentecost University is a private university located at Sowutuom in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was founded by The Church of Pentecost (COP) and evolved from The Pentecost Bible College which initially trained only Lay Leaders and ...

from 2001 to 2014. Odamtten was appointed a member of the

Ghana Education Service The Ghana Education Service (GES) is a government agency under the Ministry of Education responsible for implementing government policies that ensure that Ghanaians of school-going age irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, disability, religiou ...

Council in 2002 and served as a member until 2008. In between service on the GES Council, Odamtten became a member of the University Council of the

University of Education, Winneba A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

from 2004 to 2008. In 2005, Odamtten was a member of the review panel for science education for science programmes at the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. T ...

and the

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 ...

Expert Committee Group on Aflatoxins in Foods,

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

. He also served as a member of the National Codex Alimentarius Commission Committee on Food Additives and Security from 2006. He serves on the expert committee for the annual review of programme of the

Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana The Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) is a research institute in the Eastern Region, 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 ...

, CRIG.

Awards and honours

He was a one time member of the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

(1997). Odamtten was listed in the ''Dictionary of International Biography Vol.27'',(1998) for distinguished service and cited in the ''

Marquis Who's Who in the World Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...

'' (1998, 2000). He has also served as an Advisor for the International Foundation for Sciences (IFS) 2000.

Personal life

George Tawia Odamtten married Catherine Neeney Wayoe in 1974. He has three daughters from this marriage. He is a Christian, a church council elder and a patron to Christian Groups in higher institutions in Ghana.

Selected publications

* (contrib.) ''IFFIT Report No. 10 – Studies on the Technological Feasibility of the Application of Dry Or Moist Heat to Grains and Grain Products Prior to Gamma Irradiation: Short Communication'', 1980; * (contrib.) ''IFFIT Report No. 11 – in Vitro Studies on the Effect of the Combination Treatment of Heat and Irradiation on Spores of Aspergillus Flavus Link NRRL 5906'', 1980; * (contrib.) ''IFFIT Report No. 12 – Control of Moulds Causing Deterioration of Maize Grains in Storage by Combination Treatment: A Preliminary Model Study with Aspergillus Flavus Link NRRL 5906'', 1980; * (contrib.) ''IFFIT Report No. 13 – Production of Aflatoxin B1 by Aspergillus Flavus Link in Submerged Static Culture After Combination Treatment of Heat and Gamma Irradiation'', 1980; * (contrib.) ''IFFIT Report No 15 – Production of Aflatoxin B1 During Storage of Maize Grains Subjected to the Combination Treatment of Heat and Gamma Irradiation'', 1980; * (contrib.) ''IFFIT Report No. 16 – Preliminary Studies on the Effect of the Combination Treatment of Heat and Gamma Irradiation on the Keeping Quality of Animal Feed and Cotton Seeds'', 1980; * ''Studies on the Possibilities of Using a Combination of Moist Heat and Radiation to Control Mouldiness in Dried Cocoa Beans'', 1980; * ''Fungi, Man's Allies Or Enemies?'', 1988. *Odamtten, G. T.; Clerk, G. C. (1988) ''"Effect of metabolites of Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride on development and structure of radicle of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) seedlings" Plant and Soil,'' 106 (2): 285–288

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odamtten, George Tawia 1948 births 20th-century Ghanaian botanists 21st-century Ghanaian botanists Living people Scientists from Accra Alumni of the Accra Academy Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian Presbyterians University of Ghana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ghana Osu Salem School alumni Ghanaian mycologists Odamtten family Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences