About Us

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Our association is made up of former students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana - formerly known as University of Science and Technology (UST) residing in North America.

History of Formation

For as long as UST alumni have been in North America, there has been a desire to form an association. For a variety of reasons, chief of which are the constraints imposed by time and the distance separating alumni, forming a long lasting alumni association had been difficult.

Perhaps the most successful attempt was the Houston Chapter started by Dr. Ebow Coleman, Dr. Janet Aikins, and Dr. Paul Biney, et al. It was the success of this effort and the difficulties it faced as a viable self-sustaining entity, which led Emmanuel Gyawu (Chairman) and Kojo Andoh (Prof.) to begin talking about forming a national association.

On October 18, 1997 five alumni (Kojo Andoh, Yaw Ansah, Godwin Mensah, Kwame Polley, and Osei Kingsley) met at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. Samuel Osei-Bonsu had planned to come but took ill at the last minute and could not make it. The idea of forming a national association appeared to have several merits.

• In the first place, although there are several hundreds of UST alumni in the US, they are widely dispersed and will always be. Only a national association could truly represent all.
• Further, and perhaps even more important, a national association has a better chance of being self-sustaining.
• The national association can help organize local chapters

The group that got together to discuss the formation of the national association also realized the importance of forming regional chapters or helping to sustain those that are already in existence. In regions such as the Greater Houston and New York Metropolitan areas, chapters can be highly effective. The initial emphasis was to be on the national association.

Truly, UST Alumni North America formally began on May 29, 1999 in Washington DC at the Embassy Suite Hotel. There and on that date, about fifty (50) alumni from all over the US came together for a full day of deliberations and at the end, adopted bye-laws which the association will be governed by. It was a historic day for all of us from TEK.

Special thanks go Dr. Ebow Coleman who pioneered the Houston chapter and whose bye-laws were modified only slightly for the national association, to Dr. Gyawu whose persistence and strong belief made it possible. By the way, Mr. Goddie Mensah holds the unique distinction of being the first alumni to pay his dues. He did so on October 18, 1999.

Kojo Andoh; November 2012.