Prof. Samuel Dampare appointed new Director-General of GAEC

The Board of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), has appointed Pro. Samuel Boakye Dampare as the new Director-General of the institution effective February 1, 2022.

This follows a decision of the Commission’s Board at its 122nd regular meeting held on Wednesday, November 10, 2022, which considered and approved the recommendations of the Search Committee.

He takes over from Prof. Benjamin Jabez Botwe Nyarko, who has reached the statutory retirement age and whose term of office ends on January 31, 2022.

Prof. Dampare, by this appointment, becomes the ninth Executive Head and the fourth Director-General of the foremost scientific research institution in Ghana with a niche in nuclear science and technology, GAEC.

Until his appointment, he was the Deputy Director of Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI) of GAEC. He also served as the Vice Dean of the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS) of the University of Ghana–Atomic and the Head of the Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory at the Ghana Research Reactor–1 (GHARR–1) Centre of GAEC.

He had his basic education at Maase Methodist School, Abuakwa, and obtained his GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels at the Ofori Panin Secondary School, Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region.

Prof. Dampare is an alumnus of the University of Ghana and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and M.Phil. in Geology in 1996 and 2001, respectively.

Prof. Dampare obtained his Ph.D. in Geology in 2008 at the Okayama University in Japan through a Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho).

After obtaining his Ph.D., Professor Dampare was awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to conduct collaborative research at the same university.

He has been a recipient of several awards and fellowships such as the Dean of the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology Award for Academic Excellence, Okayama University (2006); Bank of Ghana Graduate Fellowship, University of Ghana (1998–1999) and MacCallien Memorial Prize for Best Graduating Student in Geology given by Geological Society of Ghana in 1997.

Professor Dampare’s scientific career at GAEC started in 2002 as an Assistant Research Scientist at the Ghana Research Reactor–1 (GHARR–1) Centre. He was upgraded to the rank of Research Scientist in 2003 and promoted to Senior Research Scientist in 2008, Principal Research Scientist in 2011 and Chief Research Scientist in 2018. He was conferred with the title of Associate Professor and Professor in Nuclear Earth Sciences in 2012 and 2020, respectively.

As a researcher, he has undertaken works in petrology and geochemistry of igneous and sedimentary rocks, crustal evolution studies of the West African Craton (WAC), Isotope hydrology and hydrogeochemistry, uranium geology, environmental pollution, development of nuclear analytical techniques for measurement of geological/geochemical and environmental samples as well as space technology applications for socio-economic development, among others.

Professor Dampare has also participated in several training courses, workshops, consultative meetings, and conferences, where he has presented his research findings and given invited talks.

He has participated in the governance of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission through his service on many statutory and Ad-hoc Boards and Committees. He has also served on external boards and committees including the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) Board, UG (2018–date); and Council of Ghana Institution of Geoscientists (GhIG), 2019.

Furthermore, he serves as a member of the African Union Commission’s (AUC) AMREC Working Group from 2017–date and the Project Counterpart for Ghana for some IAEA Technical Cooperation projects

He is a fellow of the Ghana Institution of Geoscientists and a member of many professional associations including the Ghana Nuclear Society, Geological Society of Africa, Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences, American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society and Geological Society of America, and Ghana Science Association.

Professor Dampare has authored and co-authored over 75 articles in international and national major peer-reviewed journals. He has served as an examiner and external assessor of several graduate theses and promotional documents for academics as well as co-supervised several PhDs, M.Phil./M.Sc. theses and B.Sc. dissertations for students from the University of Ghana, and other public universities in Ghana.

He is married to Angela Dampare, and they have four children (Papa Kwabena, Nana Ago, Maame Boohemaa, and Kwabena Amoako). He is a Christian and worships at Mt. Sinai Methodist Church, Atomic, Kwabenya