Dr. C. Y. Akwaa –Mensah was born on 8th March, 1957. He had his secondary education at Labone Secondary School from 1973 – 1980 and proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts  and Master of Arts(Adult Education) Degrees in 1986 and 1991 respectively. He later pursued a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and a PhD from the University of Sussex, UK in 2015.

He began his career as a Tutor at Axim Secondary School from 1988 to 1990. In 1992, he was a Training Officer at the Non –formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education  and in 1993, a Personnel Officer at the Ghana Highway Authority.

He was appointed as an Assistant Registrar at the then UCEW in June 1993 and was promoted to the position of Senior Assistant Registrar, five and half years later in 1998. In April 2001, he was Acting Deputy Registrar (Personnel Section).

He demonstrated a very  high sense of responsibility; contributing to the development and administration of the Personnel Section of the University through well researched, well-argued memoranda and reports. By dint of hard work, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Registrar three years later in 2004.

In 2005, he was appointed the Registrar of the University of Education, Winneba. He was also a Part-time Lecturer at the School of Business Education, UEW from 2011- 2012

Dr. C. Y. Akwaa –Mensah served on many Committees and Boards. Some of the Boards and Committees included: University Council,  Academic Board,  Search Committee for Vice Chancellor (2007); Search Committee for Finance Officer (2013); Search Committee for Vice Chancellor (2015); Search Committee for Principal, College of Languages Education, Ajumako(2016); Search Committee for Principal, College of Agricultural Education, Mampong (2016-2017 ).

He has travelled extensively around the world and participated in several national and international conferences, seminars and workshops such as Asia Pacific Association for International Education Conference in Australia (August 2016); International Association of Universities Annual Congress, Bangkok, Thailand (November 2016); Association of Commonwealth Universities HR Network, Mauritius (October 2016);Forum on Higher Education organised by NCTE(October 2016);Asia Pacific Association for International Education Conference in Hong Kong (April 2014);Workshop on Management and Administrative Proceedings, Accra (2000); Seminar on Higher Education Management, OECD, Paris; ACU Human Resource Management Conference, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; Seminar for Faculty Administrators, UCEW (1997);Resource Person –Institute of Adult Education, New Year School, UCEW (1997) and Seminar on Higher Education Management, UCC (1994).

He has also contributed to his area of specialty and has to his credit several Publications, Memoranda and Reports.

Additionally, Dr. C. Y. Akwaa-Mensah is a member of various National and International Professional Associations: Association of University Administrators (AUA) United Kingdom; Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) (was once the National President); Association of West African University Professional Administrators (AWAUPA); Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners, Ghana.