Accra, Nov. 23, GNA - Dr George Acquaah, a Ghanaian and Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, of the Langston University in the USA, is the 2003 recipient of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Millennium award for excellence in teaching.

According to a statement from the University this is the highest award in the US that recognised excellence in teaching at an HBCU.

The award was established by the White House Initiative on HBCU on Feb 12, 2002, when President George Bush signed an Executive Order establishing a federal programme "to advance equal opportunity in higher education, to strengthen the capacity of historically black colleges and universities to provide the highest quality education and to increase opportunities for these institutions to participate in and benefit from Federal Programmes."

The Millennium Award ceremony was one of the activities of the White House Initiative on HBCU's Week Conference held from September 14 - 17, this year, at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel, Arlington, VA.

Ms Cathy Olsen, Associate Director for Science, White House Office for Science, who presented the award, noted the balance in Dr Acquaah's accomplishment.

Dr Acquaah, who holds Ph. D in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the Michigan State University, is currently Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources a the Langston University, a department that had experienced tremendous growth in number and programme offerings during his tenure of office.

The statement said in addition to teaching 15 different courses during the past 10 years and establishing local chapters of honour societies to recognise student and faculty achievement, Dr Acquaah had also established several teaching laboratories and instituted career enhancing programmes for students through exceptional grantsmanship that had garnered about 2.5 million dollars for the University.

His efforts had been recognised by the Langston University with numerous awards including Teacher of the Year, Excellence in Publications Awards, Excellence in Teaching and Research Awards and the Distinguished Professor Award in 2003.

In 2002, Dr Acquaah also became the southern region winner and the first professor in Oklahoma and the HBCU system to receive the prestigious USDA Excellence in College and University Teaching in Food and Agricultural Sciences, awarded through the National Association of Land grant Universities and Colleges.

Dr Acquaah is a prolific writer, with five critically acclaimed text books on the market, published by the prestigious Prentice Hall Company and three others published by other companies