Ghana’s renowned Mathematical Physicist, Professor Francis Kofi Ampenyin Allotey, would begin his journey home at a State Service to be held on Friday, February 23, at the forecourt of the State House, in Accra.
After the pre-burial service, which would be held from 0700 hours to 1200 hours, his body would be sent to his native Saltpond in the Central Region, where a wake would be held for him at the St John the Baptist Catholic Church.
This would be followed by the burial and memorial service at 0900 hours on Saturday, at the same venue, before his interment at the Catholic Cemetery.
The final funeral rites would then follow at the St John the Baptist Catholic School Park.
State officials, family members, friends and well-wishers from far and near, who would see the legend off, would then gather on Sunday, February 25, at the St John the Baptist Catholic Church to thank God for a life well-lived.
Prof Allotey passed at aged 85, on the night of November 2, 2017.
The renowned Professor was survived by four children and 20 grandchildren.
Ghana’s most accomplished scientist was born on 9th August 1932, at Saltpond.
He became a world authority and an instant fame with his work on Soft X-Ray Spectroscopy which established the principle widely known as the “Allotey Formalism” for which he received the Prince Philip Gold Medal Award in 1973.
From 1997-89, Prof Allotey was the King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Professor of Physics at Michigan State University in the USA.
For Africa, he founded African Institute of Mathematical Science (AIMS), which he was its President.
He was also a member of Executive Secretariat Responsible for Sensitising African Leaders on Modern Technology for development.
Prof Allotey, who was a founding fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, in 1974, became the first Ghanaian full professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
He was also the President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of a number of international scientific organisations including the International Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physics (ICTP) Scientific Council from 1996.
He was the Chairman of Board of Trustees of the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), and the President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS); a former Board Chairman of both the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Prof Allotey also did a lot of work for the United Nations Education and Scientific Commission and many international bodies.
As the Founder and First Director of the KNUST Computer Centre, he was the first to introduce computer education into Ghana.
The Faculty Board between 1971 and 1980 elected him four times as the Dean of the Faculty of Science. During this same period, he was elected five times as a Representative of the Academic Staff. He was ultimately appointed as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University in 1978.
He was a staunch advocate for the socio-economic development of his ‘beloved’ Saltpond.
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