Letitia Eva Takyibea Obeng FGA (10 January 1925 – 23 March 2023) was the first Ghanaian woman to obtain a degree in zoology and the first to be awarded a doctorate.
[4] In her autobiography, she describes her experience of coming to study in the United Kingdom in the post-war years, including the prejudices she faced.
[1] She became very familiar with the freshwater courses in North Wales during her PhD studies and often brought her three children, who were 8, 6 and 3 at the time, to take samples in the area's rivers and streams.
[7] In 1952, Letitia Obeng became the first female scientist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where her husband also worked as a lecturer.
[9][10] In 1972, Dr. Obeng delivered the Caroline Haslett Memorial Lecture to the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
Elected the first woman to the Fellowship of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 2008, she was unanimously chosen to be its first female President.
[13] Letitia Obeng's research and publication focus on the environment, health and science education particularly in Africa.
Her doctoral research investigated the aquatic stages of the Simuliidae identified as a major transmitter of the parasite for river blindness.
Obeng was the sister of the late Madam Theodosia Okoh, the designer of the Ghana flag.