Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (Volume II, 1964)

Emeritus Prof. J.H. Kwabena Nketia was born on June 22, 1921 at Mampong Asante. He was a composer, ethnomusicologist, and a writer. He had over 200 publications and more than 80 musical compositions to his credit.

He was Acting Principal, Presbyterian Training College, AkropongAkuapem, First African Director, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Professor of Music, University of Ghana, Professor of Music at UCLA, Horatio Appleton Lamb Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Visiting Cornell Professor at Swarthmore College, Distinguished Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Visiting Professor at the University of Brisbane in Australia, Visiting Professor at the China Conservatory of Music, Beijing, Andrew Mellon Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh, and Langston Hughes Professor at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

He was the Chancellor, Akrofi-Christallor Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, Akropong-Akuapem, a Foundation Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts & Sciences, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain, and Ireland, Honorary Member of the International Music Council (IMC-UNESCO), Honorary Fellow Of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Honorary Member of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), Member of the International Jury for the Proclamation by UNESCO of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and Board Member of the National Commission on Culture, Republic of Ghana.

His numerous Awards included Cowell Award of the African Music Society, Companion of the Order of Star of Ghana, Grand Medal of the Government of Ghana (Civil Division), Ghana Book Award, ECRAG Special Honour Award (1987), Ghana Gospel Music Special Award (2003), ACRAG Flagstar Award (1993), ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his book on the Music of Africa, IMC-UNESCO Music Prize for Distinguished Service to Music, Prince Claus 1997 Award for Distinguished Service to Culture & Development, the Year 2000 Distinguished Africanist Award of the African Studies Association of the USA for Life-long Devotion to African Studies, and DLitt(Honoris Causa) of the University of Ghana.

He passed away in 2019.

Born in 1934, William Emmanuel Abraham is a Ghanaian philosopher, and author of The Mind of Africa (first published in 1962). A new edition of Th.e Mind of Africa was published by Sub Saharan publishers in 2015, and this can be purchased from African Books Collective online bookstore.

William attended school at Adisadel College in Cape Coast, Ghana, and went on to study philosophy at the University of Ghana Legon, and then at Oxford University. At Oxford, he became the first African fellow of All Souls, and his interest in African politics quickly developed into a Pan Africanist perspective. The Mind of Africa, written whilst at All Souls, was a fruit of that enlarged perspective.

During a visit to Ghana in 1962, the then President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, persuaded William to move back to Ghana to teach at the University of Ghana, Legon. William subsequently became pro Vice Chancellor of the University, and chair of the three-person vice presidential committee overseeing Ghana's affairs at times when President Nkrumah was abroad. In 1965 William was elected Member of Parliament for Cape Coast. During this period he also chaired the Abraham Commission into Trade Malpractices in Ghana (1965).

In February 1966, Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in a police/military coup, and many of those close to him including William were arrested. William was imprisoned in Ussher Fort, Accra for 9 months, after which he was released and returned to duties as a Professor at the University of Ghana, before accepting an invitation to be visiting professor at the University of Indiana. This was followed by a similar role at Malacaster College. William finally moved the University of California Santa Cruz to continue his teaching and research, where he stayed until his retirement. He continues as professor emeritus.

William is married to Marya Abraham, and lives in St. Paul Minnesota. He has 9 children.