The founder and president of Ashesi University will be honored Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. in the LaRose Digital Theatre with the Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Patrick G. Awuah Jr., founder and president of Ashesi University in Ghana, will be honored Feb. 27 with the Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
The ceremony takes place at 5 p.m. in the LaRose Digital Theatre. A reception will follow. Sponsored by the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, the program is free and open to the public.
The Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership is given to recognize an entrepreneur who is a leader in his or her industry and who exemplifies the values of Elon University, including integrity, innovation and creativity, passion for lifelong learning, and a commitment to building a dynamic community.
Ashesi University is a private, not-for-profit institution in Ghana that educates a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders. Ashesi was ranked as one of the top 10 Most Respected Companies in Ghana in 2012, and Awuah was named the fourth Most Respected CEO in Ghana.
Before founding Ashesi University, Awuah worked as a program manager for Microsoft where he spearheaded the development of dial-up internetworking technologies. He was nominated as a Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007, and he was awarded Membership of the Order of the Volta by His Excellency, President J.A. Kufuor. The Order of the Volta is one of highest awards given in Ghana for exemplary service to the country. Awuah received the Microsoft Alumni Foundation “Integral Fellow” Award, the John P. McNulty Prize of the Aspen Institute and has been voted one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company magazine.
He is a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and a member of the USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid, the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Awuah has bachelor’s degrees in engineering and economics from Swarthmore College and an MBA from University of California at Berkeley. He received an honorary doctorate from Swarthmore.
Past recipients of the Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership include:
2009 – Jim Goodnight, CEO and Founder, SAS
2010 – Bernard A. Harris, Jr., CEO and Managing Partner, Vesalius Ventures, Inc.
2012 – Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Founder of the Grameen Bank and Chairman of the Yunus Centre
2013 – Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, founder and CEO, Pace Communications and Chairman of the Board of the American Red Cross