Ebenezer Laing, FGA, OV (28 June 1931 – 19 April 2015) was a Ghanaian botanist and geneticist who served as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon.He was a professor at the University of Ghana, Legon, and later an emeritus professor. Laing, together with his university classmate and faculty colleague, George C. Clerk (1931–2019), was one of the first Ghanaian academics to specialise in botany as a scientific discipline and contributed significantly to the growth of the field in Ghana. He was also a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, inducted in 1965. Ebenezer Laing was appointed a lecturer at the University of Ghana’s botany department and rose through the ranks to become a full professor. He later became the chairman of the botany department. His research was in plant genetics.[6] He also served as the Hall Master of Legon Hall, of which he was an alumnus. Other senior administrative positions he held include the Dean of the Faculty of Science and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the university. He was also an external examiner at other universities on the African continent.[1] During his long teaching career, he had courtesy appointments at various departments at the University of Ghana including the Institute of African Studies, the Regional Institute for Population Studies, Department of Geography, Psychology Department, Department of Community Health at UGMS, Korle-Bu, School of Public Health as well as the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD). He was also a board member, advisor or consultant to several institutions: the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences where he was elected a Fellow in 1965, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Cocoa Research Institute, the Volta Basin Research Project and the Population Dynamics Program at the University of Ghana, Legon. He was also a Founding Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. He also provided advisory services to the development of new higher education initiatives in both the public and private sector in Ghana. These include the University for Development Studies, the Presbyterian University College and the Anglican University College of Technology. He was engaged in international work, among other designations as a member of the joint WHO/FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Environmental Management for Vector Control (PEEM) between 1981 and 1995. He co-chaired the ninth PEEM meeting at the World Health Organization in 1989, and was the national counterpart for the organization of the 1992 three-week Health Impact Assessment training course "Health Opportunities in Water Resources Development", held in Akosombo, Ghana.
