He was educated at Achimota School and proceeded to Kings College, Cambridge University in the United Kingdom where he read Classics and graduated with First Class Honours in 1951.He joined the faculty of the University of Ghana in 1953, received his Ph.D. in Classics in 1957 and became a full professor in 1962
He became a visiting professor at Princeton University in 1962 and Pro- Vice-Chancellor and head of the Classics Department at Ghana University. At the time of the Ghana coup in 1966 the National Liberation Council made him a member of the Political Committee and of the Education Review Committee.
In 1971 he bore the brunt of much of the student discontent with the civilian government of Dr Kofi Busia. At the graduation ceremony on March 13, students had paraded with placards “Busia discipline Kwapong” and demanded reduction in fees and examination charges, as part of a general campaign calling the government to adopt more militant nationalisation and foreign policies. During this wave of agitation Jeff Holden, a senior British lecturer, was ordered to leave the country by the Ministry of the Interior.
