Prof. Kwara Nantomah has disclosed his intention to embark on the mentorship of young mathematics teachers to improve their knowledge and skills in teaching at the pre-tertiary level.
The youngest full Professor of Mathematics and Dean of the school of Mathematical Sciences at the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences made this known in an interview with Mark Smith on the Daybreak Upper East Show on A1 radio.
He said that because mathematics is one of the topics that students find challenging and requires specialised knowledge to master, it is difficult to spark interest in the subject among pre-tertiary students.
He said after attaining the full professorship in pure mathematics, his next assignment is to adopt some students and mentor them to become good mathematicians, as well as organise refresher workshops for teachers at the pre-tertiary level to help them shape their teaching methodology.
He said, “I want to embark on vigorous mentorship, training people who will step in when eventually we are no more. So I’m going to adopt some students, particularly to improve their knowledge of and interest in the study of mathematics. So mentorship is going to be key. Another one is outreach. I’m going on outreach, visiting the various schools across the country and trying to encourage them on the need to study mathematics.”
Prof. Kwara Nantomah was born in the early 1980s to Chief Joseph Bugri Nantomah and Poanaba Tiah. He had his primary education at Nalerigu Baptist Primary School from 1988 to 1993. He attended Naa-Sheriga R/C Junior Secondary School in Nalerigu from 1994 to 1996 and Nalerigu Senior Secondary School from 1997 to 1999.
On the advice of his father and some kind-hearted people, he applied to the Presbyterian Nurses Training College, Bawku, after finishing senior secondary school. On July 19, 2000, while he was on his way to attend the interview for the Nursing Training College, he suffered a catastrophic car accident at the Nakpanduri Scarp, which resulted in the amputation of his right arm. Since he was right-handed, the ambition of becoming a nurse was suddenly and sadly aborted, and all hopes of continuing his academic career seemed impossible. Nonetheless, despite the difficulties of his situation, he persevered in his academic pursuits. He started to learn how to write with his left hand, and within a matter of three months, he had gained considerable speed and accuracy in writing.
Going by the popular saying, “If you can’t change the direction of the wind, you have to adjust your sail to reach your destination,” he subsequently gained admission into Bagabaga Teacher Training College, Tamale, after passing the entrance exam. On November 1, 2000, while his wound was still healing, he reported to the Bagabaga Teacher Training College. At the Training College, he competed with his abled colleagues and successfully graduated in June 2003 with a Teacher’s Cert A.
In August 2003, he gained admission to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to pursue BSc Mathematics. Despite his condition, he competed (without any form of consideration or favour) with his abled class mates and successfully graduated in May 2007 with Second Class (Upper Division) and a Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 69.86%. The key/scale for award of Classes as captured in his transcript, which was issued by the university, is shown in the picture below.
Based on this scale, his CWA was above the Second Class (Upper Division) by a margin of 0.89% and below the First Class by a margin of 0.14%. So, the question one may ask is “Why was he awarded Second Class (Upper Division) but not First Class?”
After graduation, and as part of his National Service, he served in the Department of Mathematics, KNUST as a Teaching Assistant. After the National Service, he enrolled in MPhil programme and graduated in June 2010 with MPhil in Mathematics.
In August 2011, he joined the Department of Mathematics, University for Development Studies (UDS) as a Lecturer. After serving the probation period of two years, he enrolled in a PhD programme in that same university and graduated in April 2017 with PhD in Mathematics. Even though he submitted bound copies of the Final Thesis (i.e. after the Viva Voce) to the university in October 2016, he was scheduled to graduate in April 2017. He had thirteen (13) publications in creditable international journals from his PhD Thesis but strangely, he did not received any recognitions/awards from either the Department, Faculty, Graduate School or University for such a magnificent achievement. He was not even nominated as the valedictorian. May be the criterion for selecting the valedictorian was based on something else.
By dint of hard work and perseverance, he rose (against all odds) through the ranks, from Lecturer to a Senior Lecturer, from Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor and from Associate Professor to a Full Professor of Mathematics. At the moment, this achievement undoubtedly makes him the youngest Full Professor of Mathematics in Ghana and the first Full Professor of Pure Mathematics in Ghana.
He is a Pure Mathematician and his area of specialization is Mathematical Analysis with particular interest in Mathematical Inequalities and their Applications, Special Functions, Convex Functions, Monotonic Functions, and Classical Analysis. He has to his credit over 90 research publications in international journals of good reputation. He is also an Editorial Board Member and a Reviewer for several Mathematics Journals. He has supervised to successful completion a number of BSc, PGD, MSc, MPhil and PhD Theses. He has served as External Examiner of a number of MPhil and PhD Theses for the Department of Mathematics, KNUST; the Department of Mathematics, University of Ghana; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Energy and Natural Resources.
Also, he is a member of Ghana Mathematics Society, Ghana Science Association, Nigerian Mathematical Society, London Mathematical Society, American Mathematical Society, Edinburgh Mathematical Society, European Mathematical Society and Korean Mathematical Society.
He has served, and in some cases, chaired several committees at the Departmental, School and University levels. Currently, he is the Dean of School of Mathematical Sciences, C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences.
Professor Kwara Nantomah is common man with uncommon desire to reach greater heights in academia. An accomplished Professor of Mathematics, yet very humble and sociable. At his leisure, he likes playing harmonious tunes with the mouth organ.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Samuel Adagom|Ghana
