Liberia: Prominent Historian Dr. Dunn, Others to Be Honored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

Professor D. Elwood Dunn, a distinguished Liberian historian, is expected to be honored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in December for his “selfless public service, teaching, researching, and publishing for generations.”

The honor, created by the Fraternity at a Convention in 1956, is given to extraordinary persons who have demonstrated tireless efforts on behalf of others over an extensive period.

Dunn is an extremely accomplished Liberian who has worked in academia and public service for nearly five decades.

He has had a front-row seat in Liberia’s socio-political development and has written extensively on Liberia and its role on the African continent, and its longstanding and historical relationship with the United States. He is one of the most published Liberian political historians. 

Among his many publications are: "A Liberian Life: Memoir of an Academic and Former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs" (2022); "Liberia and the United States During the Cold War: Limits of Reciprocity" (2009); "Liberia and Independent Africa: A Brief Political Profile" (2012); "The Annual Messages of the Presidents of Liberia, 1848-2010" (Editor, 2011); "Historical Dictionary of Liberia, 2nd Edition" (2001); and many other earlier publications spanning decades.

Dunn was the National Orator of Liberia at the 165th Independence Day Celebrations in July 2012 and was appointed by the President of Liberia to the Constitution Review Committee in August 2012. In his 2012 Oration, he called on the Nation to re-examine its national symbols and decorations to ensure a sense of unity and “oneness” that adequately captures what he sees as Liberia’s “three major heritages”—African, Western, and Islamic.

It was in that regard that he stunned the Government in refusing to accept the conferral of one of the nation’s highest awards, “The Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneers of Liberia.”

In response, the President of Liberia appointed him to head a National Symbols Review Project and appointed a cross-section of esteemed persons to work with Dunn. The Ebola crisis prematurely terminated the work of the Team. He is a graduate of Cuttington University and has a master’s and Ph.D. in International Studies from American University. He has achieved three crucial objectives of a stellar Professor—1) Effective teaching, 2) Substantial contributions to the academic community, 3) Scholarly engagement and publication.

He retired from Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee, USA where he is the Alfred Walter Negley Professor Emeritus of Political Science. Before that, he served as Minister of State and in other senior-level capacities at both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of State of Liberia.

The fraternity is also expected to bestow its Alpha Award of Merit on Faith Akovi Cooper, Regional Director and Former Country Director of Liberia, International Rescue Committee “for highly impactful contributions in humanitarian assistance and crisis response. The second award created by the Convention in 1956 recognizes persons demonstrating tireless efforts on behalf of others.

Cooper is a recognized leader in her field, and her impact continues to be felt in Liberia and beyond. After serving for nearly four years (2018-2021) as Country Director of IRC in Liberia where she oversaw several successful initiatives, she now serves as Regional Director for Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration for the Southern Border at IRC Headquarters in the USA.

Prior to her work at IRC, she served as Country Director at Africare with oversight responsibilities for both Liberia and Ghana. During the Ebola Outbreak, she served as Regional Advisor for the West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative (WADPI) at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana. There she led a large-scale regional Ebola preparedness training for all ECOWAS member states. Ms. Cooper’s expertise in pandemic preparedness and response was evident during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic as she led the IRC Liberia in mobilizing resources to effectively respond, working with communities and other stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Under her leadership, IRC played a critical role in the COVID-19 government-led interagency Rapid Cluster Response Strategy, which resulted in mass testing of over 10,000 persons across Montserrado.

While in Liberia, Cooper oversaw high-level donor partnerships with USAID, Irish Aid, German Agency for International Cooperation, among others. Under her leadership, the IRC completed the successful implementation of the Partnership for Advancing Community Based Services (PACS), a multi-year US$36 million community health project funded by USAID to deliver high-quality community health and social welfare services across Bong, Lofa, and Nimba counties.

Through PACS, millions of Liberians received primary and preventive healthcare and curative interventions in remote and hard-to-access communities. PACS supported the Government of Liberia, particularly the MOH, to train and equip over 2,000 Community Health workers in rural areas. Before departing IRC Liberia, she led her team to secure a follow-on to PACS, a $17.5 million USAID community health flagship award over four years to strengthen Liberia’s National Community Health Program.

She is a strong advocate for women and children and especially committed to mentoring and coaching young women in the sector. She is a former Chairperson of the Liberian Network of International Non-governmental Organizations Forum (LINGO).

Cooper lives a life of service, including serving as First Vice President of the West Africa Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She was recently selected to serve on the U.S Refugee Advisory Board and is a Board of Wellness Partners here in Liberia.

She is a graduate of Radford University with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree and earned her MPA concentrating in Health Policy and Administration from George Mason University. Faith Akovi Cooper is most certainly deserving of the Alpha Award of Merit.

Additionally, Dr. Yatta Sackie Wapoe, County Health Officer for Montserrado County, would be honored with the Alpha Award of Leadership as a result of her “excellence in public health administration and policy.”

Wapoe is a professional force to reckon with in the Liberian Medical Community. She fully understands the intricacies of public health and policy formulation in less developed countries such as Liberia. She has been the County Health Officer (CHO) for Montserrado County since November 2015.

In that capacity, she manages a budget of over US$2 million overseeing 349 Health facilities and has managed larger budgets during times of emergencies and sudden outbreaks. She is the “Incident Commander'' for Monsterrado County under the Incident Management System (IMS), which is the national mechanism for responding to national health crises and emergencies, as was the case of Ebola and Covid-19. During the recent COVID-19 crisis, she coordinated surveillance activities, contact tracing, isolation, treatment, and community engagement across Montserrado County, which includes the Capital City Monrovia.

In her role, she develops various protocols and training materials and works closely with key donor-partners in achieving desired outcomes. One of her major achievements was setting up the largest Precautionary Observation Center (POC) in Liberia at Fendall with oversight responsibilities for all case management and treatment units in Montserrado during the Covid 19 pandemic.

As CHO, she routinely oversees strategies pertaining to Maternal-Child Health, Immunizations, and Communicable and Infectious Diseases.

Wapoe is recognized regionally and has trained health professionals from other countries at the Kofi Annan Peace Institute in Ghana for the West Africa Emergency Preparedness Initiative. 

She is a Fellow with the West African College of Physicians and has also completed The West Africa Acumen Fellowship, which brings together extraordinary individuals to address problems of poverty in Africa. She has participated in numerous professional development training and forums on Global Health and Policy held in various Countries.

Prior to joining the Ministry of Health, she worked in private practice as a Medical Doctor. Wapoe is a graduate of the University of Liberia and obtained her Medical Degree from the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine at the University of Liberia. She also holds a Master of Health Care Policy and Management from Cuttington University. She is a mentor and role model to other young Liberians in her field and is an active Rotarian of the Rotary Club in Liberia. Dr. Yatta Sackie Wapoe is fully deserving of the Alpha Award of Leadership.

Also, Dr. Elie Saleeby, CEO of Premier Milling Corporation and Former Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, is expected to be honored with the Alpha Lifetime Achievement Award as a result of his “over 40 years of excellence in public service, business, banking and finance.”

Saleeby is a renowned Liberian Banker (Retired) who was the first Executive Governor and Board Chairman of the Central Bank of Liberia after it was created by an Act of the Legislature in 1999, replacing the former National Bank of Liberia.

As the first Governor, he was tasked with setting up the Bank’s supervisory and monitoring functions, macroeconomic and market analysis functions, risk assessment, compliance, audit, insurance, cash management, payment systems and all other functions and divisions of a Central Bank.

For a country emerging from conflict and yet still fragile at the time, that was an insurmountable undertaking. It was a time when many of the country’s banks had collapsed during the civil crisis, and Liberia needed to rebuild the financial sector, stabilize existing banks, and attract new Banks. In addition, ensuring sound monetary policy to respond to the realities and challenges of the period.

He is widely credited for laying the foundation for rebuilding the nation’s banking and financial system and insurance sectors. Saleeby began his career as a Business Analyst working for the Xerox Company. He held several positions in Banking and Finance dating as far back as the seventies.

In 1973, at the request of the President of Liberia, he returned to work for the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), which had been established in 1961 by the National Legislature but didn’t commence its operations until 1965.

He made history becoming the youngest ever to be appointed to head a major Bank at the age of 31. He departed the Bank in 1980 and pursued a career with the World Bank working in multiple capacities until 1997. He returned to serve as Liberia’s Finance Minister from 1997 to 1999.

Many in the banking and finance Industry regard Saleeby as extremely effective and capable in creating and establishing systems and building operational capacities in institutions, especially those in which very little existed prior. In a speech to graduates of the College of Engineering at the University of Liberia in 2018, he told them, “The tendency to think that one is too small or too low on the hierarchy to make a difference is in fact fallacy. Passive patriotism has no place in nation-building. If Liberia will make a significant and sustainable turnaround, Liberians must change their attitudes and concept of citizenship and its duties and responsibilities. We must get rid of the belief and attitude that it is the Government’s duty to provide and ours to consume and criticize.”

Saleeby is a graduate of the University of Dayton with a degree in Accounting and earned his MBA in Finance from Xavier University. He later obtained a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from Kent State University, where he focused his dissertation on the Central Banks of Developing Countries. 

Another honoree is Dr. Romelle Horton, President of Cuttington University, who is expected to receive the Alpha Award of Leadership for "excellence in education policy formulation, administration, and strategies in academia."

Finally, Cllr. T. Negbalee Warner, Senior Partner at Heritage Partners & Associates Law, will be bestowed with the Alpha Award of Leadership due to his "excellence in the legal profession and legal education." Warner is the former Dean of the Louise Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia.