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William Frank Kobina Coleman (born 21 March 1922) was a Nigerian-born Ghanaian engineer.[1] He was the first Ghanaian to serve as the Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation,[2] he served in this capacity from 1960 to 1970.[1]
William Frank Kobina Coleman | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Director-General of the GBC | |
| In office 1960–1970 | |
| President | Kwame Nkrumah |
| Preceded by | J. B. Millar |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Bekoe Mfodwo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Frank Kobina Coleman 21 March 1922 Kano, Kano State, Northern Region, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Ghanaian |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | General Manager & Director-General of the GBC (1960–1970) |
Coleman was born in Kano, the capital of Kano State, Nigeria (then Northern Nigeria) on 21 March 1922.[1][3] His father was then a civil servant residing in Kano.[3] He had his early education at the Holy Trinity School in Kano where he passed his third Standard in 1932.[4] A year later, he left Kano for the Gold Coast, where he resumed his education at E. C. M. Senior School at Saltpond.[4] He enrolled at Adisadel College, Cape Coast in 1936 but returned to Nigeria a year later to join his parents.[4][5] Coleman gained admission at the Igbobi C. M. S./Methodist Secondary School where he graduated in 1940.[4]
In 1941, Coleman gained employment at the Nigerian Railways but left for the Gold Coast after a year of service.[4] He took up a teaching job in 1942 at St. Edward's Seminary, a school which was then located at Adabraka, a suburb of Accra.[4] He later joined the Treasury as a second Decision Clerk prior to entering Achimota College to pursue an Intermediate bachelor's degree in engineering.[4][5] Upon passing his External Degree Examinations, Coleman was attached to the Gold Coast Broadcasting Service (now the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) for a brief period of time after which he joined the Achimota College teaching staff.[4] In 1948, he won a scholarship to study a post graduate course in the United Kingdom.[4] He studied at the University of Southampton (where he obtained a diploma in Electronics),[1] the University of London (where he obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering),[5] and also had an attachment course with the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Messrs Marconi, a radio company then in the United Kingdom.[4] Coleman returned to the Gold Coast after his studies abroad to join the Gold Coast Broadcasting Service once again.[4] He began as an engineer, and was later promoted to the post of a Deputy Chief Engineer in 1955.[1][4] In 1958, he became the Chief Engineer and later the deputy director when the position was regraded.[1][4][6] In August 1960, Coleman was appointed Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation,[7] succeeding J. B. Millar.[4][6] Coleman served in this capacity from 1960 to 1970.[4] He was succeeded by Stephen Bekoe Mfodwo in August 1970.[8] Coleman remains the longest serving Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.[4] He once served as the vice president of the Ghana Institution of Engineers.[1]
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