29/05/2026
At a glance: Prof. Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful
●Born on 3 August 1963
●Attended Queen Elizabeth Day Nursery in Sekondi and Aggrey Memorial Basic School at Bakaekyir
●Had his secondary education at Sekondi College (known as 'Sekco'), where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level Certificate.
● He had his GCE Advanced Level education in Apam Secondary School (APASS)
● After his sixth form education, he gained admission to University of Cape Coast (UCC) and completed with a BA (Hons.) English and Diploma in Education in 1988.
● He also had his MPhil degree in English Language at the UCC.
● He earned his PhD in English at the National University of Singapore, Singapore 🇸🇬
● He became an Assistant Lecturer at UCC in 1999.
● He rose through the ranks, becoming Lecturer in 2001, Senior Lecturer in 2008, Associate Professor in 2012, and Professor in 2021.
● Over the last 27 years, Prof Afful has taught several undergraduate and postgraduate courses, both within and outside UCC.
● He has graduated 10 PhD students and is currently supervising 19 other PhD students who are at different stages of their research.
● He has supervised 52 Mphil students, with still several others being supervised.
● He has been involved as Co-Supervisor of Mphil students in the University of Education, Winneba, and the University of Ghana. He has examined 47 Mphil theses and 12 PhD theses in universities in and outside Ghana such as the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Christian Service University, the University of Fort Hare in South Africa as well as the University of New England in Australia.
● Served as a member of the Fosu College of Education (2021-2024), as well as he served as Chairman of Search Committee for Vice-Principal of Fosu College of Education (2022)
● He was the Team Leader of programme accreditation exercises at various Departments of English In institutions such as UG,KNUST, Christian Service University, Cape Coast Technical University, University of Education, Sunyani Technical University,abd Takoradi Technical University.
● He has published widely in high-ranking academic journals such as Iberica, Taiwan International ESP Journal, Linguistics,and Language and Intercultural Communication, among other.
● He won the National University of Singapore Scholarship for his doctoral studies in 2002 and received grants in 2004 and 2005 for the completion of his studies.
● He won the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2006
● He was the Foundational Head of the Department of Communication Studies, a two-term Head of Department of English, Vice-Dean of School of Graduate Studies,and Dean of the Faculty of Arts.
● Married to Mrs Vida Effie Hutton , with three children .
● A devout member of the Wesley Cathedral (Methodist) in Cape Coast.
● His hobbies include playing the organ, gardening, and watching African movies.
● On Thursday, May 28, 2026, he delivered his inaugural lecture on the topic: " A Tale of Two Cities: The Case of an Applied English Linguist.
