Sam Adoquei was born in Ghana, West Africa, where he completed his fine arts studies at the Ghanatta College of Fine Arts. After graduation, he traveled extensively around Africa and Europe before moving to the United States.

Sam Adoquei is the first African artist to serve on the faculty of all the major academic art institutions of New York City: The National Academy School of Fine Art, the New York Academy of Figurative Arts, the Art Students League of New York and the Educational Alliance. Recently, Sam Adoquei was invited to serve on the faculty of the Portrait Society of America.

For some years, Sam Adoquei´s monumental triptych, "The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King", toured the country as part of an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The exhibition visited a number of major museums. Sam Adoquei´s artwork is included in the collections of several art museums as well as in private and public collections within the United States and abroad.