Professor Peter Donkor was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor in January 2011. He is a Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Honorary Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi. He is qualified in both Maxillofacial Surgery and Public Health. His area of clinical expertise is head and neck and craniomaxillofacial surgery.
He had his secondary education at Prempeh College, Kumasi, and went on to study at the University of Sydney, Australia where he obtained his first degree in Dental Surgery. He undertook further dental, medical and surgical studies towards his specialisation and holds additional degrees, fellowships and diplomas from the University of Sydney, University of London, Royal College
of Surgeons of England, Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, West African College of Surgeons, and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. He taught medical and dental students in the University of Sydney and the University of Birmingham before joining the KNUST School of Medical Sciences, Department of Surgery, in 1995. He has served as Head, Department of Surgery, Vice-Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, Head, Centre for Disease Control, Institute for Research in Africa (ISTA), KNUST and Provost of the College of Health Sciences. He was a member of the Committee that developed the curriculum for the KNUST Dental School. He is a Member of the University Council, Academic Board, University Appointments and Promotions Committee and serves as Chairman on numerous committees at KNUST.
Outside the University, he has served and continues to serve a number of national and international bodies, including the Credentials and Accreditation Committee of the Medical and Dental Council of Ghana; the Editorial Committees of the Ghana Medical Association and Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons; Council of the West African College of Surgeons; Advisory Board of OERAfrica; UNESCO Expert Panel on Open Educational Resources; External Advisory Committee of the Centre for Global Health, University of Michigan; and International Outreach Committee of the American Cleft Palate Association. He is co-Founder and President of the Ghana Cleft Foundation, an NGO dedicated to caring for children born with cleft lip and palate. For his work on cleft lip and palate he was honoured as a Visiting Scholar of the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association in 2005.
Prof Donkor has also served as External Assessor for faculty promotion for some universities in Africa and the USA; External Examiner at the University of Ghana; Chief Examiner for the West African College of Surgeons and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons; Founding President of the Pan African Association for Cleft Lip and Palate; Past President of the Ghana Surgical Research Society; and co-Founder of Specialist Cleft Clinic and Head and Neck Oncology Clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
He has won several grants in support of his research interests namely medical education, injury research, emergency medicine, Open Educational Resources (OER), head and neck malignancy, and cleft lip and palate. He has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops and published widely in scientific journals.
Professor Donkor is a family man with children and is married to Dr Kathryn Spangenberg, a Family Physician. His hobbies include reading, writing, walking, classical and traditional music, table tennis and soccer. As a philanthropist he and his wife have supported needy children and funded social and educational projects in his hometown of Nyameani in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region.