On the second anniversary of the Academy in 1961, its name was changed from the Ghana Academy of Learning to the Ghana Academy of Sciences. This was in view of a feeling that the original name gave the mistaken impression of the Academy's exclusive interest in the abstract pursuit of knowledge.
The Duke of Edinburgh, whose office as President was about to expire, was appointed Patron and the first honorary fellow of the Academy, while Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was appointed President as well as Chairman.
The Academy's first Honorary Secretary was Mr. E. A. Boateng, then a senior lecturer in the Geography Department of the University College of Ghana, and the first treasurer was Mr. Justice W. B. Van Lare, a Justice of the Appeal Court.
At the time of the Academy's establishment, there already existed a National Research Council, which was responsible for research of an applied nature related to national development. In 1963, it was decided that the Academy should absorb the National Research Council. This enabled the Academy to be responsible for the work of ten or so research institutes and four units and projects, which were formerly under the research council.
In 1966, after Dr. Nkrumah was overthrown, the Academy underwent a thorough reappraisal. A committee, chaired by Sir John Cockcroft, a British physicist, was formed to review the role and structure of the Academy. The committee proposed that the Academy be split into two: (a) an Academy of Arts and Sciences operating as a strictly learned society, and (b) a Council for Scientific and Industrial Research concerned with applied research related to national needs. The addition of the word ‘Arts' to the new name was intended to underline the fact that the Academy was concerned not only with the sciences, but also with the humanities and the fine arts.
The Academy today is strictly a learned society and performs essentially the same functions as those initially assigned in 1959. |
