A Ghanaian professor, Kofi Akamani, was shot dead in Illinois on Saturday, September 19. He was a 48-year-old professor of forest recreation and conservation social science at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale. According to local authorities, Akamani was shot multiple times while sitting in his car at the driveway of his wife's home in Murphysboro. He was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, where he was pronounced dead.
The wife of the deceased professor, Betty Akamani, 35, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, as well as endangering the life or health of a child. She was denied release at a court appearance on Monday and will remain in the Jackson County Jail. Court records indicate that the couple had been separated for about two years and were in the process of divorcing. The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.
Kofi Akamani had been with SIU since 2011 and became a full professor in 2024. He also served as director of the Agricultural Sciences doctoral programme and director of graduate study in forestry. His research focused on rural communities, forests, water resources, and the resilience of resource-dependent communities in Ghana, the United States, and elsewhere.
Akamani began his tertiary education at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, where he earned a bachelor's degree in planning with a specialisation in urban planning. He later obtained an MPhil in Culture, Environment and Sustainability from the University of Oslo in Norway in 2006 and a PhD in Natural Resource Sciences from the University of Idaho in 2011.
During his doctoral studies, Akamani returned to Ghana to conduct research on collaborative forest management and its impact on the social and ecological resilience of forest-dependent communities in the Ashanti Region. He was also elected in June 2026 to serve a three-year term as Secretary General of the International Union of Biological Sciences.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office, coroner's office, and state attorney's office are assisting with the investigation. Authorities have said the case remains ongoing. Betty Akamani's charges are allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. She returns to court in October.
Following Akamani's death, SIU expressed condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and students. The university's profile describes his research as focusing on rural communities, forests, water resources, and the resilience of resource-dependent communities in Ghana, the United States, and elsewhere.
Key points
- The wife of the deceased professor, Betty Akamani, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
- Kofi Akamani was a professor of forest recreation and conservation social science at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale.
- The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.
