Afua Hesse, (FRCSEd, FICS, FFGCS, FWACS) is a professor at the University of Ghana Medical School and President of the Accra College of Medicine, one of only two private medical schools in Ghana which she runes with her husband. She was the first female CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and has over 37 years of experience in her work in both the UK and Ghana.

She trained as a doctor at the University of Ghana Medical School and graduated in December 1976 with a gold medal as the best overall student in the year. She was a Foundation Fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, as well as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCSE) and the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS) (FFGCS)

Prof. Hesse is a woman of many firsts in the Ghanaian science field. She was Ghana’s first female paediatric surgeon and the first woman surgeon from her alma mater, and she also served as President of the Medical Women’s International Association, another first for a Ghanaian in the Association’s 91-year history as the first International Professional Women’s Association. She was also the first female CEO and Director of Medical Affairs at the Korle bu Teaching Hospital as well as the first female Honorary Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association. She was also the first female head of the University of Ghana Medical School’s Department of Surgery.

She lectures at the University of Ghana Medical School at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, serves as an Examiner for the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the West African College of Surgeons, and is a reviewer for a number of international peer-reviewed medical journals. She has served as an external examiner at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s School of Medical Sciences in Kumasi and the University of Development Studies in Tamale.

Afua Hesse has received several honors, including appointments, posts, and medals. She won the Glitz Africa Excellence in Health Award in 2017 and the Millennium Excellence Award for Medical Leadership in 2010.

Afua Hesse is the stepping stone for many Ghanaian women in science and a pillar for many women in STEM.