The University for Africa's Future: Patrick Awuah on Building Ashesi

In July of 2025, Patrick returned to the Aspen Institute—where he had been a Henry Crown Fellow—for a conversation with Aspen Institute trustee and Ashesi University supporter Margot Pritzker about the breakthroughs that led him to found the university, and the lessons he learned along the way. Watch the full conversation here, and read on for key takeaways:

As a young man, Patrick had left Ghana to attend Swarthmore College, going on to have a successful career at Microsoft. Initially planning to remain in the US, his perspective shifted after observing the Rwandan genocide and the collapse of Somalia, events that occurred shortly after the birth of his first child. Patrick concluded that his children, and all those of African descent, must have a vested interest in the future of the continent.

Discussions with friends and family in the US and Ghana always yielded a similar diagnosis for the difficulties African countries struggled with: leadership. His friends back home told Patrick that he and others who had gone to universities in the US “thought differently” than those educated on the continent. While Patrick had been trained as an engineer, his liberal arts education had also emphasized critical thinking, creativity, and ethics—all vital skills for leadership. Determined to bring that model home, he made the life-altering decision to leave Microsoft, attend business school, and return to Ghana to found a new university.

In addition to the liberal arts model, Patrick drew on his Aspen seminar experience, which employs the Socratic method and deep engagement with texts, peers, and ultimately with oneself. Indeed, he believed that any future leaders who would one day transform the continent must first have the willingness to transform themselves. And so, he integrated first-year seminars to kickstart the leadership journey. This ethos also shaped Ashesi’s culture, from the student-led decision to adopt an honor code (only two classes have declined) to the 2006 election of Yawa Hansen-Quao, Ghana’s first female university student body president.

Ashesi quickly proved that their model worked; it was clear that even the first class of students “thought differently” than students at peer institutions. But that rapid success in the classroom didn’t spare Ashesi from financial struggles, forcing them to consider closing and transferring students to Ghana’s existing universities. Patrick, however, couldn’t bear sending them back into (at the time) rote, outdated classrooms. Instead, he and his board reorganized the school’s finances, making painful decisions to raise tuition, cut costs, and adopt a savings discipline that continues to protect Ashesi from shocks such as donor shortfalls or the recent USAID shutdown.

Throughout this tumultuous period, Patrick’s leadership was also tested and required growth. First, as one mentor advised him, he needed to “get some sleep.” Second, he needed to be as confident in his presentation as he was in his convictions. Patrick carried these lessons with him while leading the university through a significant transformation, moving from rented trailers in Accra to a state-of-the-art, permanent campus outside the city. Shortly after, Patrick and Ashesi won the McNulty Prize, which, more than anything, validated Ashesi’s model and helped build credibility with donors and once-skeptical government regulators.

Today, Ashesi continues to expand. As Patrick shared with Margot, their offerings now include executive seminars and new majors in economics and public policy. As he put it, the goal is to “educate politicians” and equip them with the knowledge and resources to build a more united and prosperous Africa. Ashesi is also expanding engineering and master’s programs and plans to begin awarding PhD degrees soon. Patrick has also set his sights on Ashesi becoming an R2 research university, enabling Africa’s brightest minds to tackle the hardest programs in science and engineering without leaving the continent. This will not be something Ashesi accomplishes alone—they have helped establish a pan-African university collaborative to connect students to advanced research and career opportunities at the highest level.

It’s a very rare thing to see a dream realized in one lifetime, but in less than twenty-five years, Asheshi has traversed a path that took centuries for leading universities in the US and Europe. Patrick’s vision of ethical, transformative leadership is now a living institution, shaping Africa’s future and role in the world order.