Professor Smile Dzisi

Prof. Smile Dzisi is the former Vice-Chancellor/Rector of Koforidua Technical University. She was the first female to be appointed a Rector of a Polytechnic in Ghana. She ably led the transition of her Polytechnic into a Technical University. Prof. Dzisi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; a Master of Public Administration degree from University of Ghana and a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia where she also received an award for the most distinguished Ph.D. thesis. Prof. Dzisi is the first female to serve as chair of the Vice-Chancellors of Technical Universities of Ghana. She has provided consultancy to the DAAD, UNFPA, Commonwealth of Learning and the World Bank. She champions entrepreneurship education, women empowerment, as well as technical vocational education and training (TVET) and was recently selected as a model for TVET by COTVET/GIZ.

Prof. Dzisi served on the Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa Board as West Africa Coordinator of Women in Technical Education and Development. For her outstanding competency, innovativeness, commitment and passion for excellence, Prof. Dzisi received the Name in Science and Education Award from the Academic Union and the Club of Rectors of Europe, United Kingdom in 2019, Ghana Women of Excellence Award in 2019 and the Daasebre Silver Jubilee Award of Excellence in 2017. She is currently the President of Data Link Institute of Business and Technology, a private university college in Tema, Ghana.