Donald Nkrumah is currently the senior program officer of Animal Nutrition at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He previously serviced as vice president of Global Genetics and Precision Animal Health at Zoetis.
Nkrumah received his bachelor’s in general agriculture from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, in 1998. In 2001, he completed his master’s in meat science and technology at the University of Bristol through a UK Department for International Development (DfID) Fellowship. In 2006, Nkrumah completed his doctorate in animal science at the University of Alberta, Canada, specializing in the development and application of genomic and metabolic tools to improve animal production and to study energy metabolism. In 2013, Nkrumah earned a master’s of business administration from Michigan State University’s Broad Graduate School of Management.
Nkrumah joined Merial Limited as a senior scientist in genetics and genomics in 2006. In 2009, he joined Pfizer Animal Health as a principal scientist and subsequently became associate director for genetics and genomics R&D. Between 2013 and 2020, Nkrumah served as animal production lead at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he developed and managed several multi-million-dollar research and product development and commercialization partnerships among multinational, regional, and local companies and governments, pursuing several livestock portfolios in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Originally from Ghana, Nkrumah is both a Canadian and American citizen and has authored or co-authored several scientific publications and patents in animal nutrition and genetics. He has also served on several scientific and grant funding review committees and continues to participate in graduate students’ supervision and mentorship programs.