Patrick Awuah, founder and president of Ashesi University College in Ghana, was presented the 2017 WISE Prize for Education on Wednesday. 
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson, Qatar Foundation, presented the Prize to Awuah at the opening plenary session of the eighth World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) before an audience of 2,000 participants from 100 countries. Emine Erdogan, the first lady of Turkey, was also present on the stage.
The WISE Prize for Education is the first distinction of its kind to recognise an individual or a team of up to six people for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. The Laureate receives the WISE Prize for Education gold medal, and $500,000. 
Awuah said, “I am honoured to receive the WISE Prize for Education. This is a crucial moment for Africa - today, one out of six people on earth live in Africa, and this is set to rise to one in four by 2050. Winning the WISE Prize will support the work we are already doing at Ashesi University College to inspire and educate, and build a community of people who can navigate the complexities of Africa’s growth and set an example for the rest of the world.”
Stavros N Yiannouka, chief executive officer, WISE, said Awuah, by winning the sixth WISE Prize for Education, joins a distinguished group of individuals who share a passion for empowerment through education. “The WISE Prize Laureates have recognised needs that challenged them to action. Each has blazed a path in engaging and enrolling others in a vision. Patrick Awuah’s story is unique in his awakening to the role of renewed ethical leadership in social transformation, particularly in Africa."
Ashesi University College is a private, not-for-profit institution that has become one of Ghana’s premier universities in little over a decade. In 2002, Ashesi University College opened its doors in a rented house with a first class of 30 students. 
Patrick Awuah left Ghana in 1985 with $50 in his pocket and a full scholarship to Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania, US. After graduating, Awuah had a very successful career at Microsoft where he spearheaded design for dial-up Internet access. Keen to make a difference in his own country, he returned to Ghana, intending to start a software company. He then went back to the University of California, Berkeley, to understand what it takes to start a university that would foster leadership and integrity.
Today, Ashesi University College has a world-class campus of 100 acres, with nearly 900 students. Ashesi University College offers four-year bachelor degrees in engineering, business administration, computer science and management information systems. The degree is based upon an interdisciplinary curriculum with a continual emphasis on leadership, ethics and entrepreneurship. Before graduating, all students engage in community service.
Ashesi University College places an emphasis on cultural, economic, and gender diversity with 50% of the students on full or partial scholarships. Half of students are women and over 20 countries are represented on the campus. Additionally, in 2008, Ashesi University College students established an honour code, holding themselves responsible for ethical behaviour, the first of its kind in African universities.
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