Dr. Haruna Dika, PhD'15

In Mwanza, Tanzania, on the shores of Lake Victoria, the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS) is growing rapidly in both size and reputation. Future doctors fill lecture halls, researchers gather in laboratories and a new generation of health professionals trains to serve a nation in urgent need. At the centre of that momentum is Dr. Haruna Dika, PhD’15, a calm and steady force who has built his career on transparency, trust and a relentless commitment to academic excellence. 
 
Just a decade after completing his PhD at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, Haruna now serves as dean of the School of Medicine at CUHAS, a remarkable feat in itself. It’s a role that comes with extraordinary responsibility that involves overseeing the education of more than 1,100 medical students, and about 300 more in medical laboratory sciences and medical imaging and radiotherapy sciences in a country where the physician-to-population ratio is just 1 to 20,000.  He also oversees training of more than 250 students pursuing Master of Medicine degree and more than 20 students pursuing PhDs in the field of Medicine. 

In an environment with limited infrastructure and few trained faculty, CUHAS must continue growing to meet the country’s pressing needs, while maintaining accreditation standards and delivering high-quality training. Haruna approaches this challenge with clarity and honesty. 

“I often start dealing with what is necessary, then deal with what is possible,” he explains. “I am also honest and transparent about what can be done or not done.”

His leadership philosophy is grounded in practical wisdom and earned trust. All qualities that have helped him guide CUHAS through a period of extraordinary growth. Since its founding in 2003 with just 10 students, the medical school now graduates more than 220 medical doctors, 60 medical laboratory scientists, 20 medical imaging and radiotherapy scientists and 60 medical specialists annually, and it has gained a national reputation for producing highly competent health professionals. 

“The (Arch) award makes me reflect on my journey and the role the University of Calgary played in grooming me to the extent of being instrumental to my home university,” Haruna says. “This recognition motivates me to continue striving for excellence.”

Haruna’s path to deanship began immediately after completing his PhD in 2015. He was appointed to CUHAS’s Research Ethics and Review Committee that same year, and, within months, his work ethic and leadership skills saw him named to several key university roles. In 2016 alone, he was appointed as acting associate dean of the School of Medicine, secretary of the University Curriculum Review Committee and a member of the University Quality Assurance Committee at CUHAS. Two years later, he was confirmed as associate dean and appointed to the University Higher Degree Committee. 

In 2020, CUHAS created a Medical Education Unit and Haruna was asked to lead it. By 2021, he was officially appointed dean of the School of Medicine, a role to which he was reappointed in July 2025 for a second three-year term.

Behind these milestones is a thoughtful, grounded approach to leadership, one focused not on titles, but on tangible impact. One of his proudest accomplishments, he says, is the “change of faculty-student relationship” at CUHAS and his work in training faculty on better teaching and assessment methods. He points to an increased graduation rate and the improved reputation of CUHAS graduates as signs that these efforts are making a tangible difference. 

“Our university is now recognized for producing competent health professionals in the country,” he says.

Haruna first came to Calgary because he couldn’t find a PhD program in his specialization in Tanzania. He was encouraged to apply to UCalgary through a collaborative partnership between CUHAS and UCalgary International, one designed to build capacity in Tanzanian faculty. When Dr. Cam Teskey, PhD, a professor with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, agreed to supervise him, it opened a door that would shape his entire approach to education and leadership. At UCalgary, Haruna noticed something different. 

“I learned how faculty are friendly to students while maintaining professionalism, particularly strictness in academics,” he says. “I enjoyed the way my supervisor was interacting with his students, but bold in rejecting unsatisfactory work, showing honesty and integrity.”

Haruna also discovered new ways of teaching and approaches that made learning more engaging and effective. That experience changed his own teaching practice and later became the foundation of his leadership style. 

“I lead training of faculty on better ways of teaching and assessment,” he says. “This has changed passing rates of our students while producing competent graduates.” 

Haruna’s work has also earned the trust of CUHAS university leadership, who continued to appoint him to key academic and strategic committees. At a university with a Catholic foundation, his presence as a devout Muslim has never been a barrier — if anything, he says, it has only further underscored his integrity and character.

Leading a medical school in a low-resource setting comes with unique pressures. In addition to his role as dean, Haruna serves on more than four major university committees, juggling a demanding schedule of meetings, strategic planning, faculty management and program development. 

“There is a challenge dealing with staff who do not know procedures and regulations — to ensure fairness to students and faculty while maintaining quality,” Haruna says.

He meets these challenges not with rigidity, but with fairness and humility. 

“I am transparent when setting priorities,” Haruna says. 

Being trusted by both his university and national oversight organizations, he adds, is one of his greatest honours. 

Haruna’s journey reflects the purpose behind UCalgary Alumni’s Arch Award for International Career Achievement: to honour alumni whose work brings global distinction and real community benefit. In a time when access to health care remains deeply unequal, his work at CUHAS is helping to build not just a school, but a pipeline of physicians and scientists that will serve East Africa for generations.

His advice to future changemakers is grounded in the same values he models every day. 

“Individual or small group ideas and commitment can change the community and the world,” Haruna says. “The best action for the future is doing your best now, and doing more than what is required. Hard work and honesty are key to success.”

And, reflecting this philosophy, Haruna is one who leads not by volume, but by example.