The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi has appointed Professor Lawrence Sheringham Borquaye as Head of the Central Laboratory, the university’s flagship shared scientific facility that hosts advanced analytical instruments for teaching and research.

Prof. Borquaye will also oversee the newly completed KNUST Multipurpose Laboratory, a flexible teaching and innovation space designed to provide hands-on practical training across multiple disciplines.

The facility centralises resources and technical expertise to ensure equal access to high-quality laboratory environments for students in science, engineering, creative arts, and applied technology.

A distinguished Ghanaian chemist, Prof. Borquaye earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Cape Coast in 2006, where he investigated the mosquito-repellent properties of Hyptis suaveolens under Prof. Victor Y. Atsu-Barko.

He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA, in 2013 under Prof. Nathan A. Schnarr, developing tools to engineer polyketide synthases (PKSs), the biosynthetic machinery responsible for assembling polyketides.

He returned to Ghana shortly after his doctoral studies and joined KNUST’s Department of Chemistry as a lecturer. He rose to Senior Lecturer in 2018 and Associate Professor in 2022.

In 2023, he was named Beidenharn Distinguished Visiting Associate Professor at Wellesley College in the United States, a recognition of his academic leadership and research accomplishments.

Prof. Borquaye leads one of the largest research groups in the KNUST Department of Chemistry, with about 70 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral researchers working across natural products chemistry, biomolecular computations, and environmental chemistry.

His appointment is expected to strengthen operational efficiency, expand access to analytical instrumentation, and accelerate multidisciplinary collaboration across the institution.

Story by: Edith Asravor