I wanted to take a special moment to wish you a very happy birthday.

Your guidance and support have been invaluable to me. Not many people manage to balance it all, but you do an amazing job. Not only are you a visionary, but you are also an established researcher, academic, professional industry marketer, a student problem solver as Dean of Students for the University of Media, Arts and Communication, a friendly ear, a compassionate leader, and most of all, the world’s most incredible supervisor I have had.

In our part of the world, school supervisors, in most cases, act too bossy, giving orders to students with little room for the student's point of view. Most supervisors are made to be feared and are the viceroy of the Lord on earth.

This is completely the opposite of you. You accommodate every student, creating a good playing field for all. You share your own personal stories of your journey to inspire us that we can even do it better than what you did – and this is exactly what true guidance and leadership are all about, guiding them to achieve even higher than you are.

I remember the first day my name popped up, with you as my graduate supervisor. The first thing I did was to check on your publications online. I was exposed to numerous publications. I quickly read "Community Sanitation and Corporate Image in the Hospitality Industry: A Case of Ghana's Top Rated Hotels."

I was amazed by the findings and there wasn't time to go further as your publications abound in the academic space. I quickly looked for your contact, I called and introduced myself. You were so welcoming on the phone. In fact, you asked about my thesis topic and I did.

You further wanted to know why that topic and I did within 15 seconds. Summarily, my first day having a one-on-one encounter saw me getting knowledge about personal life and not just our academic work. The motherly features in you were all put to bear. I left your office with confidence that I am in the hands of a "MOTHER IN ACADEMIC SPIRIT".

Interestingly, one striking thing was to see your office as a philanthropic space where students with fee challenges walked in, asking for assistance in direct form. In fact, the explanation of most of those students suggests that you are the final plug to get their fees paid when they see you.

For others with funds but ran out of deadlines, they wanted you to make a special window open for them to honour their fees without having to defer the program. In all that, I again observed the motherly instincts playing a major role in your guidance. This shows how deserving you are of being the Dean of Students.

I again remember when two students walked in having problems paying fees. You asked what the mother does. She says she sells fresh farm produce and you asked about her role in that business. In fact, she did nothing for her mother's business to progress. You briefly discussed with her how she can use her marketing knowledge with the available modern social media to help her mother.

Here, the moral lesson was "You believe in handups and not just handouts". In fact, many instances of what I observed tell a story of your humanity to society. In fact, it will be interesting opening a book of opinions for students and the general public to tell their version about your selflessness to humanity.

On this special day of your birthday, I respectfully celebrate you highly. It is a privilege knowing a mother in you, a supervisor in you, an academic and researcher in you that contributes to the growing body of knowledge. The knowledge you imparted and impacted in me will be used justly to benefit society.

I pray that the Lord grant you good health with a long life to continue to contribute to the growth and development of society. Once again, happy birthday, Dr.

Respectfully yours,

Lukman Abdul-Razak

abdulrazaklukman6@gmail.com