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Four accomplished scholars and practitioners have been selected by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD)-Ghana as its first Democracy and Development (D&D) Fellows.

A statement issued by CDD-Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the new D&D Fellows - Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, Dr Derrick Akpalu, Prof Gretchen Bauer and Dr John Osae-Kwapong; brings on board, rich and diverse knowledge, experience, passion, and a commitment to the development of Ghana and Africa.

It said Prof Asare had been selected as a D&D Fellow in Public Law and Justice.

A KPMG Professor in accounting at the Fisher School of Accounting, Prof Asare, is better known in Ghana as a public intellectual and scholar-activist whose contributions and activism, including as a plaintiff in a number of precedent setting cases before the Supreme Court of Ghana, are helping to push the frontiers of governance and the rule of law, particularly in the area of constitutional law and practice.

A graduate of the University of Ghana, Prof Asare also holds a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from the University of Florida, a PhD from the University of Arizona, and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Baylor University.

He has taught for more than three decades at various universities, including the University of Florida, Nyenrode Business University, Netherlands, University of International Business and Economics, China, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), and the Norwegian School of Economics, Norway.

In addition to law and governance in Ghana, Prof Asare’s other areas of scholarly interest include accounting, auditing, and organizational behaviour.

He has published extensively in his field.

The statement said Dr Akpalu had been selected as a D&D Fellow in the field of Public Health.

He holds a dual PhD in Biomedical Sciences/Master of Science (MSc) Clinical Research from Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta.

He also holds a Master of Research (MRes) in Biomedicine from the University College of London, and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry with Microbiology from the University of London.

With over a decade of experience in biomedicine and clinical research, Dr Akpalu is currently a scientist, specializing in Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson, in the United States of America.

He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the American Heart Association, International Atherosclerotic Society and the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS).

The statement said Prof Gretchen Bauer had been selected as a D&D Fellow in the area of Gender and Politics.

A professor of African and comparative politics in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware, Gretchen Bauer’s research focuses on women's political leadership in Africa, with a current emphasis on women’s underrepresentation in parliament in Ghana.

Prof Bauer had been a Visiting Researcher at the Institute for Public Policy Research in Windhoek, Namibia and at the University of Botswana in Gaborone, Botswana, as well as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Ghana, Legon and a Visiting Professor at Webster University Ghana.

She is co-editor of Women in African Parliaments (2006), Women in Executive Power: A Global Overview (2011), and Gender and the Judiciary in Africa: From Obscurity to Parity (2016), and the author of other books and articles.

The statement said Dr Osae-Kwapong had been selected as a D&D Fellow in the field of the Politics of Development.

Well known in Ghanaian civic and social media communities for his interest in research methods and data-based policy analysis, Dr Osae-Kwapong holds a PhD in political science from George Mason University, Virginia, U.S.A, a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in public policy from Clark Atlanta University, and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Houghton College.

His areas of research interest include political economy, state and society relations, democratization, and bureaucratic politics.

In the past 12 years, he has served as an institutional effectiveness administrator with a number of universities including University of Findlay, Columbia University and Lord Fairfax Community College.

He currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Assessment and Accreditation in the School of Education at Hofstra University.

The CDD-Ghana D&D Fellows Programme, which was launched in July, 2018, is designed to attract scholars, researchers, consultants, and expert-practitioners, whose current research or policy interest, specialty, and expertise overlap CDD-Ghana’s and who are interested in collaborating with CDD-Ghana to influence policy processes and development outcomes through research, analysis, education, and advocacy. Fellows need not be based in Ghana.

The CDD-Ghana commits to provide a supportive environment for its Fellows to conduct research and policy analysis and exchange ideas with counterparts in Ghana’s policy, civic, and academic spaces. During their fellowship, the Fellows will lead public roundtables and lectures in their area of expertise and publish policy papers under the banner of CDD-Ghana.