Florence Dolphyne

Florence Abena Dolphyne (born in 1938) is a Ghanaian linguist and academic. She was the first female professor and first female pro-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana.

Early life and education Florence Dolphyne hails from Akyinakrom in the Ejisu-Juabeng District of the Ashanti Region. Her primary school education was at the Wenchi Methodist Primary School. She continued at Achinakrom Methodist Primary School as her family had moved there. She had to sell bread and kenkey after school due to the family's low income. Her next school was at Mmofraturo Girl's Boarding School at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region as her father was then a Methodist minister at Manso Atwere.

Florence Dolphyne had a senior high school education at the Wesley Girls Senior High School, Cape Coast. Her sixth form education was at Mfantsipim School at Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana. This was then a boys' school with a mixed sixth form section. She distinguished herself there by being the first female student to win a prize at the school. She obtained a scholarship

Career Florence Dolphyne was a lecturer and researcher. She rose to become the Head of the Linguistics Department, a position she held on two separate occasions. She also became Senior Tutor and Warden of Volta Hall, the only female hall of residence at the time. She also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the university. She was awarded an honorary doctorate (D.Litt) by the University of Ghana in 2004. She was also involved with the West African Linguistics Society

Florence Dolphyne has been the chairperson of the National Council for Women and Development in Ghana. She has also been one of the commissioners who sat on the National Reconciliation Commission (2002 to 2004) which looked into the effects of military rule on people in Ghana.

The University of Ghana organised an event themed “New Frontiers in Language Studies in Ghana” on the occasion of her 80th birthday to honour her.

Family Florence Dolphyne was the first surviving child born to her parents. Her father was a Methodist minister from the Nzema people of Esiama in the Western Region of Ghana. Her mother was from Achinakrom near Ejisu. She had a sister and three brothers. She married Kofi Dolphyne, an aircraft engineer whom she met in London.

Some publications