Profile
Prof. Helen Yitah is Professor of English and Rector of MountCrest University College (MCU). An academic and a university administrator for two and half decades, she has earned high recognition for her track record of diligent, responsive and ethical leadership. Her vision, which focuses on institutional advancement, student success and societal impact, is anchored on MCU’s mission, “to train and prepare a new generation of graduates in body, mind and spirit, for the transformation of society,” and its vision, “to become a world-class teaching and research university, educating for life and addressing the challenges facing contemporary society.”
Obtaining charter for MCU is a key part of her vision for institutional development, as is prioritising its post-charter vision of interdisciplinarity, which brings together MCU’s various areas of study under the broad umbrella of law and governance. This interdisciplinary focus is in line with the Founder’s vision to inspire students to tackle problems facing our communities, our nation and the world around us, and to generate opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
She pursues student success through the strengthening of institutional structures and processes; the enhancement and digitisation of services; intensified outreach activities; academic and financial support; prioritisation of feedback; improvement in student career readiness; and a more vibrant campus life through leveraging the MountCrest family experience that keeps students connected and engaged in our programmes. Equally important to her vision is exploring the impact of MCU’s programmes, students and alumni in the country and beyond, and feeding back the results into the enhancement of MCU’s curriculum, teaching and learning, research and community outreach.
Prior to her appointment as Rector, Professor Yitah served in academic and administrative roles at various institutions in Ghana and abroad. At the University of Ghana, she was Dean of the School of Languages; Head of the Department of English; Founding Head of the University of Ghana-Carnegie Writing Centre, established through her initiative; and Foundation Head of the Writing Support Unit of the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation. She held an appointment as Assistant Director of the First Year English Program at the University of South Carolina in the U.S.A. She was elected Honorary Secretary of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) for two terms.
Professor Yitah has contributed to university governance through her service on various boards and committees. At the University of Ghana, she chaired the School of Languages Management Committee and sat on the University’s Appointments Board as a Humanities Assessor. She was a member of the Business and Executive Committee, the Board of Graduate Studies, University and College Academic Boards, the Management Board of the University of Ghana Superannuation Scheme, and several other governing and advisory boards at both the University of Ghana and its affiliate institutions. She has served on MCU’s Council since 2019.
The first female Full Professor of English at the University of Ghana, Professor Yitah holds a PhD in English from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, BA (English and Linguistics) and MPhil. (English) degrees from the University of Ghana, and a Diploma in English from the erstwhile Advanced Teacher Training College, Winneba (now University of Education, Winneba). She also undertook executive leadership training at Harvard Business School and INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France).
A scholar in literary and cultural studies, her main area of concentration is gender identity in literature, with a focus on African literature, children’s literature, oral literature and performance, and women’s cultural production in colonial and contemporary Ghana. She has led numerous research projects, both within her field and across other disciplines. Her extensive publications include articles in leading peer reviewed journals and books by reputable academic publishers. She has presented keynote and invited lectures across Africa, America and Europe.
Professor Yitah has served on external evaluation panels and as assessor and external assessor for institutions both in Ghana and abroad. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the Modern Language Association’s Literary and Cultural Theory Forum and Ghana’s Focal Point for UNESCO’s World Atlas of Languages (WAL). She sits on international advisory boards for journals and academic publishers, including Taylor and Francis. She has served on awards committees for national and international literary prizes.
Professor Yitah has received worldwide recognition for her work, including an Achievement Award of the Ghana Association of Writers, a William J. Fulbright Fellowship, a Rhude M. Patterson Fellowship for an Outstanding Woman in the Humanities, an International Women’s Forum (IWF) Leadership Foundation Fellowship, Distinguished Scholar for a Mellon Multidisciplinary Research Project (University of Pretoria), a DAAD Research Fellowship, and a Henry Hart Rice Fellowship with the Council on African Studies at Yale University.
She is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and an honorary Fellow of Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Social Difference in New York City.
Professor Yitah is the mother of two young adults: a son, Leslie Mwintoma Nanbigne, and a daughter, Marilyn Puopielun Nanbigne.