Mercy Oduyoye  Mercy Amba Oduyoye (born 1934) is a Ghanaian Methodist theologian known for her work in African women's theology. She is currently the director of the Institute of African Women in Religion and Culture at Trinity Theological Seminary in Ghana. Oduyoye was born in Ghana in 1934. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Ghana in 1963, a second bachelor's degree from Cambridge University in 1965, and a master's degree from Cambridge in 1969. From 1967 to 1979, she was youth education secretary for the World Council of Churches; from 1987 to 1994, she was Deputy General Secretary for the same organization. She has taught at Harvard University, Union Theological Seminary, and the University of Ibadan. She has also served as president of the World Student Christian Federation and founded the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in 1989. Oduyoye has written four books and more tham eighty articles focusing on Christian theology from a feminist and African perspective. One of her central subjects is how African religion and culture influences the experiences of African women. In particular, she has addressed the effects of economic oppression on African women. Oduyoye has been awarded honorary degrees by University of Amsterdam (1991), Stellenbosch University the University of the Western Cape in 2002 and Yale University in 2008.