When  Harvard professor Emmanuel Akempong was young, his nickname was “lecturer.” The Ghanian born academic found at an early age that he had a gift for teaching.

“When someone had difficulty understanding something, i would explain and the person would get it and then everyone would shout “lecturer!” That’s what we called our professors in Ghana,” Akempong remembers.

His father expected him to follow his footsteps and take over the family’s pharmaceutical company, but Akempong always found himself drawn to history.

“I’ve always been interested in how things change. I’ve always been interested in how people think and why people do the things that they do. History is about human motives, human intentions, human strengths, the choices people are faced with, and what people do. That is how we started and how society gets transformed over time,” Akempong said.

He studied at  University of Ghana, where he received his undergraduate degree. His interest in history sent him across the ocean to America, where he got his masters in European History from Wakeforest University (check that). Akempong received his doctorate from university of Virginia.

Immediately after graduating, he was offered a position at Harvard University. After 18 years, Akempong is still as enamored with the university as he was on his first day, describing his experience as “teaching in an ideal situation.”

To be a Harvard professor, one must stay on top of the game. Professors are required to write articles for academic journals and to publish books on their subject.  The subjects of Akempong’s books range from Alcohol in Africa to Eco-social histories of Ghana.  Every morning, Akempong works out on his treadmill while watching the BBC so if his students mention a current event in class, he can discuss in depth.

“As a professor, you cannot let things slide. You have to be on top. There are students who are also very engaged,” Akempong said. “I run on my treadmill every morning watching BBC news, so when I walk into class and something has happened and your students want to talk about that, very early before we begin the formal lecture, I can. If you are not on top of what happens globally, you will be caught off hand.”

Still, Akempong would not trade his job for anything.

“You have some of the best students in the world, you have some of the best libraries in the world, and some of the best colleagues in the world. [For example, if] I’m working on something and I need a reference on early modern Europe… I go down the hall to speak to my colleagues,” Akempong said. “Your colleagues are some of the best scholars in their field in the entire world.”