Professor Joshua Alabi, OV
Term of office: 2008-2012 and 2012-2016
Professor Joshua Alabi is the first Vice-Chancellor of the University. He is credited with the radical transformation of the University from a crippling Institute. He is a former student who rose through the ranks as a lecturer, Head of Department, Dean, Pro-Rector, Acting Rector, Rector and ultimately Vice-Chancellor. He served as Rector of the then, Institute of Professional Studies (IPS), from 2008 to 2012, and as Vice Chancellor from 2012 to 2016.
When the time to appoint a Vice-Chancellor for the University was due, the mantle again fell on the distinguished Professor who subsequently became the first Vice- Chancellor (September 2012 to 31 December 2016).
With over 25 years of professional practice, Professor Alabi has held a number of international, national, institutional and administrative. His sterling leadership qualities are not limited to academia, but span across politics and sports administration. He has served as chairman of many boards including Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), HFC Bank in Ghana, the Ghana Book Development Council, and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Accra Polytechnic.
He was equally a member of the Ghana National Commission for UNESCO. Professor Alabi has also served as a Minister of State for the Greater Accra and Northern regions, chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), one of the two main political parties in Ghana and also as an MP for the Krowor Constituency in the Greater Accra Region. He also served as a student leader; President for the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in Soviet Union and Europe.
As NUGS President, he led the union to organize “The Help for Medicines Project” and in 1984 he successfully delivered a volume of medicines to the then Head of State of Ghana to be given to Ghanaians during the heightened period of Ghana’s economic downturn in the early 1980s. Furthermore, Professor Alabi served as General Secretary of Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA).
Professor Alabi is an Economist by training and a Marketer by Profession. He is an Associate Professor of Marketing and a graduate of two universities. He obtained an MSc. in Industrial Economics from Moscow Institute of National Economy now the Russian University of Economics (Plekhanov) in 1986, and an MSc. in International Marketing from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland in 1992, where he was awarded the Moshood Abiola Prize in International Marketing. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) and a Fellow of the Ghana Institute of Taxation.
Professor Alabi’s contribution to national development and academia, particularly the transformation of UPSA, has been recognized and celebrated by many. On 29th October 2016, Professor Alabi was awarded the “Officer of the Order of the Volta”, a national award recognizing and awarding his contributions for the transformation of UPSA and other national contributions by the Mahama administration. He was proclaimed the Most Influential Public Sector Leader for the year 2012 by IMANI Ghana, a policy and accountability think-tank, for his sturdy contribution to the phenomenal transformation of UPSA.
In 2012, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG), a professional association, which ensures corporate excellence, named him the Marketing Man of the Year, the highest professional recognition in his field. He has also been named the Africa Vice-Chancellor of the year 2013 by the All- Africa Students Union. In July 2015, he received award from the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB) in recognition of his contributions towards transforming the former Institute of Professional Studies to a full-fledged University, and for his excellent performance in the financial landscape.