Ruth Ama Gyan-Darkwa made headlines in 2017 as she was adjudged the youngest ever to gain admission into the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, to study Mathematics at the age of 13, in 2017.
And in December 2021, Ghana celebrated the brilliant Gyan-Darkwa when she graduated after studying Mathematics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Two years after her first degree, the female prodigy has chalked another feat by becoming the Youngest Masters/PhD, Graduate Student at the University of New Mexico, at the age of 18.
She is pursuing a doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering at a US university and has a dream of working with America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after her program.
Gyan-Darkwa beat her older sister, Grace, to the age record when she got admitted into the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) at the age of 13 in 2017.
Today, the youngest graduate from any university in Ghana to have completed school at 17 has just graduated after completing her studies in Mathematics.
She was born on 29 May 2004 in Kumasi to Kwadwo Gyan-Darkwa, a senior tutor at Prempeh College in Kumasi and his wife.
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She had her primary and junior high school education at the Christ Our Hope International School in Kumasi, and the Abraham Lincoln Junior High School respectively.
She later moved to Justice International School in Kumasi to continue her junior high school education.
Due to her ability to learn quickly, she spent a term or two in various classes and was skipped to the next.
At nine years old, while in her first year at Justice International School in Kumasi, she sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination and passed.
As a result, she gained admission to St. Louis Senior High School also in Kumasi to study General Science at the age of ten.
Before SHS, she schooled at the Christ Our Hope International School and the Abraham Lincoln Junior High School in Kumasi.
In 2017, she appeared on The Lounge, hosted by Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, along with her sister and their father, Kwadwo Gyan- Darkwa, a Mathematics and Physics tutor at Prempeh College.
“According to her, she passed her Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) at age 9, while in her first year at Justice International School in Kumasi. As a result, at the age of 10, she was accepted into St. Louis Senior High School to study General Science and successfully graduated in 2017,” a report by knust.edu.gh said.
Speaking with the portal, she also confessed to how not so rosy her journey has been, adding that although she had a very brilliant academic history, she experienced some uncertainties with her tertiary education, feeling quite nervous at times.
“I was able to overcome the many challenges because God saw me through, and I looked to him at all times. Also, I had my eyes focused on the end goal. Some of my coursemates felt intimidated because they thought I was too brilliant. Others wondered if I was cut for the journey. All these brought me to the point of questioning my potential but found solace in how far I have come, the support I received and the future that awaits me,” she said.