Prof Judi Wakhungu nominated to Kenya's new Cabinet

Congratulations are in order to Prof Judi Wakhungu on her nomination as Kenya's new Cabinet Secretary in charge of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.

President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled his new Cabinet earlier this week. The nominees now await vetting by a parliamentary committee on appointments.

Congrats Prof Wakhungu!

Hellen Sambili: Professor of education

Prof Hellen Sambili
 (Photo: Africa International University)

Prof Hellen Sambili may be better known to many Kenyans as a politician than as an academician after her successful parliamentary bid in the 2007 Elections thrust her into the political limelight and saw her being elected as the Member of Parliament for Mogotio Constituency on a United Democratic Movement ticket.

In 2008, she was appointed the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. In 2010, following a Cabinet reshuffle, she was named to a ministerial post in the Ministry of the East African Community. She served as the acting Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology from October 2010 (following the suspension of the Minister, William Ruto) to August 2011 when a Cabinet mini-reshuffle saw her lose her ministerial position and Prof Margaret Kamar was appointed the new Minister for Higher Education.

Before entering into the political arena, Prof Sambili's career was focused on shaping young minds in school and university. She taught at Moi High School, Kabarak and in 1993 joined Egerton University as a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction where she rose through the ranks to become an Associate Professor. She holds a BEd (Science) degree from the University of Nairobi (1983), a Master of Arts in Education from Lancaster University, UK (1986) and a PhD in Education from Lancaster University (1993).

In addition to her various teaching and administrative duties in the department (including serving as head of department), Prof Sambili was also the head of postgraduate programmes and founding director of the international linkage and study abroad programme for visiting students.

She is currently a member of the governing council of the Africa International University (formerly known as the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology - NEGST).

Happy International Women's Day 2012

Today we commemorate 101 years since the first International Women's Day. This year's global theme is "Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures". It's a day to celebrate the success and achievements of the past while remaining cognisant of the reality that the journey to gender equality is far from over.

Once again, this blog is pleased to pay special tribute to Kenyan women professors who, through their excellence in education and academia, have mentored and inspired many girls to aspire for excellence.

Kenyan women professors, we honour you.

Happy International Women's Day! Wanawake hoyee!

AU renames African Environment Day in honour of Wangari Maathai

The 18th African Union (AU) summit has renamed the African Environment Day as Wangari Maathai Day, in honour of the late Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

A declaration after the January 29-30 Addis Ababa meeting stated that the "Assembly recognises her unwavering dedication to promoting peace, democracy and human rights in Africa".

The summit also created the “Wangari Maathai Award for Outstanding Achievements in Environment and Biodiversity Conservation” in her honour.

The prize, an attempt to boost conservation efforts, will recognise individuals committed to preserving the environment.
 
Source: http://www.africareview.com/News/AU+honours+environmentalist+Wangari+Maathai+/-/979180/1317862/-/trolpoz/-/index.html

Prof Wangari Maathai dies in Nairobi, aged 71

Listening to the BBC Network Africa radio program this morning, I heard the sad news of the death of Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Prof Wangari Maathai after an illness.

Prof Maathai's life story was the inspiration for this blog and I know she has inspired many people around the world through her indefatigable work on grassroots environmental conservation and national development.

Through her life's work as a university lecturer, environmental conservationist, politician and human rights activist, Prof Wangari Maathai has left behind a rich legacy. We will miss her.

Rest In Peace, Wangari Maathai.

Mary Abukutsa-Onyango: Professor of Horticulture

Prof Mary Abukutsa-Onyango
(Photo: AWARD News and Views blog)

The mention of research on African indigenous vegetables immediately calls to mind the work of an indefatigable Kenyan woman professor, Prof Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, who is well known in Kenya for her long-standing research on conservation of African indigenous vegetables and food crops.

Prof Abukutsa-Onyango is a full professor of horticulture at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) specialized in agronomy and plant physiology and with over 20 years of university teaching and research.

She holds a PhD in Horticultural Physiology and Nutrition from the University of London (1995) and an MSc in Agronomy from the University of Nairobi (1988). She was previously an Associate Professor at Maseno University in western Kenya.

She is widely published with some 100 peer-reviewed publications to her name. She has also received several national and international awards in recognition of her research work, the more recent of which include the presidential award of Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear and the top prize in the African Union Regional Woman Scientist in Earth and Life Sciences, both of which were awarded in 2010.

In addition to her work on African indigenous vegetables, Prof Abukutsa-Onyango is involved in conservation of medicinal plants and research on New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a rice cultivar that was developed by the Africa Rice Center to improve the yield of African rice varieties.

An astute leader, she has held five senior leadership positions within the university system including Director of the School of Graduate Studies at Maseno University and Coordinator of the Resource Mobilization team at JKUAT. She is also actively involved in developing university curricula, serves as an external examiner for universities and acts as a reviewer for several high profile scientific journals.

Linked to her teaching and research career, Prof Abukutsa-Onyango is playing an active role in nurturing the next generation of African women scientists by serving as a mentor with the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD).

AWARD is a project of the Gender & Diversity program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) that offers two-year fellowships designed to fast-track the careers of African women scientists and professionals delivering pro-poor research and development that benefits rural communities, especially women. AWARD is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Source: http://ke.linkedin.com/pub/mary-abukutsa-o-o-ph-d-ebs/19/b44/40

Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe new board member of consortium of international agriculture research centres

Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe

The Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres has appointed Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe to its Board of Trustees.

The Consortium works to "reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition, and enhance ecosystem resilience through high-quality international agricultural research, partnership and leadership."

It was set up in April 2010, as part of a major reform of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), this year celebrating its 40th year.

Prof Mwang'ombe is currently the Principal of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences of the University of Nairobi and has been previously profiled on this blog. Below is a more recent bio from the Consortium website:

Prof. Agnes W. Mwang’ombe joined the Consortium board in February 2011. She is a full professor of Plant Pathology and currently a Principal, at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 2009, Prof. Mwang'ombe was awarded by the Africa Crop Science Society the Certificate for Outstanding Contribution to Crop Production in Africa as the Best Woman Researcher. The foci of her research work are: plant pathology, sustainable agriculture as influenced by climate change and economic empowerment/mentorship of women farmers. She is a professional mentor to women scientists and has been actively involved in the activities under the AWARD Initiative lead by the Gender and Diversity Programme (CGIAR). Prof. Mwang’ombe served on a number of national and international committees and boards in various capacities, such as President of African Crop Science Society, Advisory Board Member and Scientific Advisory Committee Member at the CTA (Ede, Netherlands), Technical Advisory Committee Member for BASIC (ICRAF), Technical Advisory Committee Member at the RUFORUM (Kampala, Uganda), Advisory Panel Committee Member at Farm Africa (Nairobi, Kenya), Chairperson at the Kenyan Institute for Public Policy, Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), etc. 

Congratulations, Prof Mwang'ombe!

Maria Nzomo: Professor of Political Science

Professor Maria Nzomo holds the distinction of being the first Kenyan woman to attain a PhD in political science, which she earned in 1981 from Dalhousie University in Canada.

She has over 30 years of teaching experience at the University of Nairobi, starting out as a Tutorial Fellow in 1979 and rising up the ranks to become an associate professor of political economy and international studies in 1995.

Well known locally and abroad as an astute professor of political science and international studies, Prof Nzomo has also established herself as a national ambassador of repute.

Between October 2003 and January 2009, she held a number of ambassadorial posts in southern Africa (Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe) and at the United Nations.

In 2006, she was appointed the Kenyan ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, a position she holds to date.

Maria Nzomo is also well known as an ardent promoter of gender and human rights and has published several articles on these subjects in peer-reviewed journals as well as newspapers and magazines.

Last week's Sunday on Standard profiled Prof Maria Nzomo in an article titled, "I'm a committed believer in equality and justice" by Hellen Miseda. Read the article here.

Prof Judi Wakhungu nominated to global climate change advisory body

Congratulations to Prof Judi Wakhungu on her nomination to the global Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.

Below is an excerpt from an article on Page 6 of the Business Daily of Monday 14 March 2011.

A Kenyan scientist, Judi Wakhungu, has been nominated to advise world leaders on how to tackle global climate change and food scarcity.

Prof Wakhungu is the current executive director of the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), an international inter-governmental science, technology and environmental policy think-tank based in Nairobi.

She will sit on the global Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.

Prof Wakhungu's research interests include agriculture and food security, biodiversity and natural resources, and gender issues in science and technology.

She serves on several national and international boards, task forces, and committees including the African Conservation Centre, the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), the GoDown Arts Centre, the Institute for Security Studies, the Lemelson Foundation, the Legatum Centre at MIT, the WorldFish Centre and the World Bioenergy Association.

She holds a PhD in energy resources management from Penn State University.

The United Kingdom's Chief Scientific Advisor, Prof Sir John Beddington will chair the Commission.

Source: "Kenyan picked as climate change adviser" by Steve Mbogo. Business Daily, 14 March 2011. 

Happy International Women's Day 2011

Happy International Women's Day! This year marks the centenary celebration since the day was established in 1911 and the United Nation's global theme for this year is: 'Equal access to education, training and science and technology: A pathway to decent work for women'.

As this blog pays tribute to Kenyan women who have made great achievements in various academic fields, today should be a reminder that the work is not yet complete and we need to continue to ensure that girls and boys, women and men, have access to equal opportunities to fully exploit their academic and intellectual potential.

Wanawake hoyee!