Tarkwa (WR) March 3,GNA - The Council of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), has appointed Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, as the first Vice Chancellor of the University with effect from December 1, 2004.

A press release signed by Mr Emmanuel Bedai, Registrar of the University on Wednesday said Prof. Mireku-Gyimah powered the processes that upgraded the KNUST School of Mines into the Western University College of KNUST and also spearheaded the processes that transformed the College into the full-fledged University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah holds a PhD (Computer-Aided Mine Design & Planning) and Diploma of the Imperial College (DIC) from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London and MSc (Mining Engineering) from the Moscow Mining Institute, Moscow.

He is a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, a Chartered Engineer accredited by the Engineering Council of the United Kingdom and a member of the following professional bodies: Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, UK; New York Academy of Sciences, USA; Ghana Institution of Geoscientists, Ghana and American Society of Mining Engineers, USA. Prof. Mireku-Gyimah joined the KNUST School of Mines, as a lecturer in 1981 and rose steadily through the ranks to become the first full professor of the University of Mines and Technology in 1999. He has over 30 publications to his credit.

He has served on a number of Committees in the University including the following: Member of Executive Committee; Appointments and Promotions Committee; Search Committee for the Appointment of Vice Chancellor for KNUST; KNUST Statutes Review Committee; Chairman of the College of Engineering Committee, Chairman of Aerospace Engineering Committee and a Member (in attendance) of the KNUST Council.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah has also served as Head of the Mining Engineering Department, the last Principal of the KNUST School of Mines at Tarkwa, the first and only Provost of the Western University College of KNUST.

He was the leader of the Panel, which drew up the computer science syllabus for polytechnics in the country; member of the National Disaster Management Organisation; the Technical Committee of the Ghana Chamber of Mines; the Editorial Board of the Ghana Journal of Science, Editor-in-Chief of the Ghana Mining Journal and Vice Chairman of the Wassa Fiase Education Fund.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah is the Chairman of Tarkwa Hospital Endowment Fund, Chairman of Takoradi Polytechnic Council and has provided professional services to a number of mining companies in Ghana and abroad.

These include: AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Obuasi, Ghana; Ghana Manganese Company Ltd, Nsuta, Ghana; Semafo Company Ltd of France, Panasqueira Mine of Portugal and Patrician Gold Resources of Canada.

Prof. Mireku-Gyimah is the originator of the collaboration between the University of Mines and Technology and other universities abroad including Penn State University and Montana Tech University in the USA. He is a member of the international Alliance for Earth Science and Engineering Development in Africa.

As the substantive Vice Chancellor, Prof Mireku-Gyimah brings with him a wealth of academic leadership, managerial, administrative and entrepreneurship skills as well as focused determination and dynamism to the University.

He is married to Mrs Patricia Beatrice Mireku-Gyimah, a Lecturer in Communications Skills at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa with four children.

UMaT started as Tarkwa Technical Institute (TTI) in 1952. In 1957, the Government of Ghana, upon the advocacy of the Chamber of Mines, changed the name of TTI to Tarkwa School to Mines (TSM) to run certificate programmes in mining and related disciplines. In 1976, TSM was affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the name TSM was changed to KNUST School of Mines (KNUSTSM), Tarkwa and given the status of a faculty of KNUST.

In 2001, the Council of KNUST approved the conversion of the School into the Western University College of KNUST. In November 2004, the College was given the status of a full-fledged university by Act 677.