Posted February 5, 2013

At Fox, President Theobald welcomes ambassador, MBAs from Ghana

  • Temple President Neil Theobald greets U.S. Ambassador from Ghana Daniel Ohene Agyekum.
  • In concluding his remarks, Theobald urged attendees to deepen their “relationships across countries so that your nation and our nation can become even closer.”
  • During his remarks, Ambassador Daniel Ohene Agyekum emphasized Ghana’s many connections to the United States, including a 2009 visit from President Barack Obama and Ghana’s distinction of hosting the first cohort of Peace Corps volunteers in 1961.
  • Presentations were also delivered from Temple CIBER advisory board member Christine Martey-Ochola, the president and co-founder of the Sub-Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce; Department of Strategic Management Chair Arvind Parkhe; and Ram Mudambi, a strategic management professor and Temple CIBER’s executive director.

Emphasizing Temple University’s commitment to academic and economic partnerships abroad, President Neil D. Theobald on Monday addressed 75 University of Ghana students visiting the Fox School of Business. 

“Collaborations such as this between the University of Ghana and Temple University, two pre-eminent universities that share a mission of international development, are central to creating stronger bonds between our nations of economic opportunity for our citizens and warm friendships across borders,” Theobald said.

Temple has formal agreements with 11 universities in seven African nations, training African students primarily in business, education, health care and medicine. In addition, Temple’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), based at the Fox School, has developed a Doing Business in Africa program as part of its Going Global Seminar Series for Philadelphia’s business community.

“Our commitment to the African continent has grown every year, and we consider it to be central for our overall commitment to global education,” Theobald said.

The daylong International Business Certificate Program for executive MBAs from the University of Ghana Business School featured remarks from U.S. Ambassador from Ghana Daniel Ohene Agyekum, who emphasized Ghana’s many connections to the United States, including a 2009 visit from President Barack Obama and Ghana’s distinction of hosting the first cohort of Peace Corps volunteers in 1961.

Agyekum, who was treated to lunch by Provost Hai-Lung Dai and other university officials, also mentioned that the late Ghana President John Atta Mills served as a visiting professor at Temple’s Beasley School of Law.

The certificate program has been hosted annually for the past five years by Temple’s Institute for Global Management Studies and Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), both based at the Fox School. The Ghanaian executive MBAs also heard presentations from Temple CIBER advisory board member Christine Martey-Ochola, the president and co-founder of the Sub-Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce; Department of Strategic Management Chair Arvind Parkhe; and Ram Mudambi, a strategic management professor and Temple CIBER’s executive director.

Esther Asiedu, executive MBA program manager for the University of Ghana Business School, said students would visit various universities in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Boston during their 16-day U.S. tour. “Temple,” she said, “was the first link for us.”

In concluding his remarks, Theobald urged attendees to deepen their “relationships across countries so that your nation and our nation can become even closer.”

“I know that you’ll be outstanding business leaders and that your leadership will strengthen Ghana’s position in the global economy,” he said.