Professor Christian Agyare Assumes Office as 13th KNUST Vice-Chancellor

Professor Christian Agyare has taken over as the 13th Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), succeeding Professor Rita Akosua Dickson.

His assumption of office was marked by an investiture ceremony in Kumasi attended by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Chief of Staff at the Presidency Dr Julius Debrah, academics, traditional authorities, religious leaders and other dignitaries.

Professor Agyare brings to the position more than 20 years of experience spanning academia, research and university administration. Prior to his appointment, he served as Provost of KNUST’s College of Health Sciences, where he oversaw one of the institution’s largest academic colleges.

An academic and researcher in Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Professor Agyare has built an international research profile in areas including antimicrobial resistance, natural products pharmacology, wound healing, ethnopharmacology, parasitology and anticancer drug discovery.

His academic journey began at KNUST, where he obtained both Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Pharmacy degrees. He later earned a Doctor rerum naturalium degree from the University of Münster in Germany and went on to undertake postdoctoral and research appointments at Novartis/Seeding Labs in Boston and the University of California, San Francisco.

His research record includes more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and over 5,000 citations, with an H-index of 36 and an i10-index of 84. His work has also secured more than US$11 million in competitive research funding from international organisations and institutions, including the German Research Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Mastercard Foundation and the World Bank.

Beyond research, Professor Agyare has held several administrative and governance positions at KNUST. He has served on key university bodies, including the University Executive Committee, Academic Board, Planning and Resources Committee, Budgetary Committee, and Appointments and Promotions Committee.

From 2016 to 2020, he led the Quality Assurance and Planning Unit, contributing to efforts aimed at strengthening governance, accountability and institutional efficiency.

His tenure as Provost of the College of Health Sciences, which began in 2020, saw the introduction of new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, growth in postgraduate enrolment and support for infrastructure development within the college.

As he begins his tenure as Vice-Chancellor, Professor Agyare is expected to pursue a vision centred on research excellence, entrepreneurship, technological transformation and student-centred education, with the broader goal of strengthening KNUST’s standing as a global leader in science, technology, research and innovation.

Professor Agyare is a Fellow of the Ghana College of Pharmacists and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana. He is also a practising pharmacist and a former student of Prempeh College.

He is a member of the Kwadaso Methodist Church and is married to Dr (Pharm.) Charlotte Sena Agyare, with whom he has three children.