Prof. Michael Boakye-Yiadom is the Founding Director-General of the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA) – Under the Auspices of UNESCO, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Michael earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, USA; and his Master of Educational Administration and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Michael joined the IEPA faculty in January 2015 as a Research Fellow. He was promoted to the rank of Senior Research Fellow in February 2020 and to the rank of Associate Professor of Leadership Development in Higher Education and Student Affairs in August 2023 by accelerated mode. Prior to joining the IEPA faculty, he served as Dean of Students at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tennessee, USA; Residential Coordinator at Ohio University; and senior staff at the University of Cape Coast. In June 2022, the President of the Republic of Ghana, through the Minister for Education, appointed Prof. Boakye-Yiadom as Ghana’s National Convenor for the Transforming Education Summit (TES) which was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City from 16th to 20th September 2022. 

Prof. Michael Boakye-Yiadom’s research interests include leadership development in higher education and student affairs, harvesting culturally indigenous knowledge in higher education, international and contemporary issues in higher education and students affairs; diversity and inclusion in education; and educational experiences of underrepresented populations in higher education. 

Prof. Michael Boakye-Yiadom has played different leadership roles in many research and capacity development programs and projects. Recent examples are the UCC - University at Buffalo Leadership Empowerment Program; the UCC – Auburn University Community Engagement Program; the IEPA UCC - Ohio University Service-Learning Program; and the IEPA UCC – University of Maryland College Park Global Classroom Initiative. The others are the IEPA – University of Oxford – University of Toronto DeliverED Research Project in Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Sierra Leone; the IEPA – Education Commission Innovative Pedagogy Research Project in Ghana, Rwanda, and Kenya; the IEPA – APCEIU GCED Initiative; the IEPA – Ministry of Education NELI Program; the IEPA – VVOB Africa Centre for School Leadership Program in Ghana, Rwanda, and Kenya; and the IEPA – GES Leadership Coaching Program for Regional Directorates of Education in Ghana. 

Prof. Boakye-Yiadom is a scholar-practitioner passionate about improving the quality of education and student learning outcomes in Africa. His global engagements with colleagues in educational institutions across the world are supported through collaborative research, innovative pedagogy, and impactful community engagements.