Professor Sam Gyandoh (Ekow to me) was an outstanding legal scholar who made a significant impact at the Law Faculty at Legon where he was Dean and also at Temple University Law School in the US when he was a tenured professor. His book on Ghana Constitutional Law, which he co-authored with John Griffiths, was celebrated by students as GnG.
Ekow and I were pioneering lecturers at the Law Faculty at Legon in the early 1960s and we were both admitted to Yale Law School in 1963. After Yale Law School, Ekow returned to the Law Faculty at Legon while I embarked on my international career. Incidentally, Ekow and I were neighbours in the students married quarters at Yale at 305 Mansfield Street, New Haven where his wife, Maysell, assisted me in delivering my daughter, Joyce, in 1964.
Another connection between us was that, I preceded him as a visiting professor at Temple University Law School before he became a permanent member there. I am also reliably informed by my wife, Philomena, that, she and Ekow are remotely related in Cape Coast.
My last recollection of Ekow was at the annual dinner for old and current faculty members of the University of Ghana Law School about a year ago. I fondly recall his booming voice and his infectious laughter throughout the proceedings.
May his soul rest in peace.
Nana Dr. S.K.B. Asante