California, USA —Daniel Kwame Owusu, a former student of T.I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School in the humble city of Kumasi, Ghana, has etched a remarkable path. His journey, which started in a small corner of the world, culminated in a graduation from Loma Linda University's School of Medicine in California. This was just the beginning of his ascent. He recently scaled new heights in his medical career by securing a spot in the esteemed anesthesiology residency program at Yale University, an Ivy League institution. Owusu attributed divine intervention to his journey from studying business at an Islamic institution in Ghana to becoming a Doctor of Medicine in the United States. He relocated to the U.S. in 2014, where he attended SUNY Westchester Community College and later Stony Brook University in New York. While at community college, Owusu balanced his studies with a job at Walmart and other places, demonstrating his commitment and work ethic. In July 2020, he embarked on his medical studies at Loma Linda University. Daniel's journey was not without its share of hardships. He was raised by a single mother and shared a single bedroom with his four brothers, so he had to navigate a challenging educational path. He candidly shared, "No one goes to grad school and comes off whole again. Either lose an aspect of you or you finish your degree with an effect on your health or yourself." Owusu's story is one of faith and resilience. He encouraged others to pray for graduate students, acknowledging their immense challenges. He attributed his success to divine guidance: "With God, all things are possible." Reflecting on his improbable journey to Yale, he questioned, "How does an African poor young child go to an Ivy League school with low grades, no research, no away rotation? It is like I didn't have anything." Owusu navigated his journey in an old 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300SD as a graduate medical student at Loma Linda University. Daniel Kwame Owusu's story powerfully reminds us of the potential within each individual, regardless of their circumstances. His journey from a modest background in Kumasi to one of the world's most prestigious universities inspires students everywhere.

From his birth on August 26, 1961, in Ghana, Ato Quayson has forged a remarkable career transcending borders and disciplines. At Stanford University, he serves as the chair of the English Department and the newly formed Department of African and African American Studies. He holds the esteemed position of a professor of English. Quayson's academic journey began with an honors degree from the University of Ghana, a testament to his early intellectual prowess. He further honed his skills, culminating in his Ph.D. studies at Cambridge University in 1995. His academic trajectory took him to Oxford University, where he served as a Junior Research Fellow, before returning to Cambridge to assume the positions of Reader in Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies and Fellow at Pembroke College. From 1998 to 2005, he oversaw the Centre for African Studies at Cambridge, solidifying his reputation in the academic world. Quayson's academic journey has been marked by his contributions to various esteemed institutions. Before his tenure at Stanford, he held the positions of Professor of English at the University of Toronto and Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies. His versatility is evident in his role as a professor of African and Postcolonial literature at NYU and a professor of English at Toronto. His contributions were recognized with the highest award bestowed by the University of Toronto—the title of University Professor 2016. Quayson's research has garnered global acclaim, underscoring his significant contributions to academia. His intellectual breadth is evident in his diverse areas of study, including urban studies, literary theory and criticism, diasporic and transnational studies, comparative literature, and postcolonial and multinational literature. His worldwide acclaim was further boosted when he was named a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2019, and fellowships from esteemed institutions like the Royal Society of Canada and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. Quayson's scholarly output is prolific, with six monographs and eleven collections of essays. Notable among these are Aesthetic Nervousness: Disability and the Crisis of Representation, Postcolonialism: Theory, Practice, or Process?, and Strategic Transformations in Nigerian Writing. His work, Oxford Street, Accra: City Life and the Itineraries of Transnationalism, was honored with the Urban History Association's 2015 Greatest Book Prize and featured in The Guardian's 2014 list of the greatest books on cities. Cambridge University Press published Quayson's most recent work, Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature, which won the 2022 Warren-Brooks Prize for Literary Criticism. His current works include Exile and Diaspora in African Literature and Accra Chic: A Locational History of Fashion in Accra. Quayson's work has been supported by scholarships from Harvard University's W. E. B. Du Bois Institute and Australia's National University's Research Centre in the Humanities. He has given numerous lectures in various parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. He has also been a visiting professor at Wellesley College, where he was named after Mary L. Cornille and in Turkey, Australia, and Israel. Professor Ato Quayson's distinguished career demonstrates his interes in education and his enormous influence on the fields of literature and the humanities.