Lucy Irungu - Principal of UoN's Chiromo Campus

Prof Lucy W Irungu is currently the Principal of the University of Nairobi's College of Biological and Physical Sciences - commonly known as Chiromo Campus. She is also a full Professor of Entomology in the School of Biological Sciences.

Prof Irungu's academic career in the sciences began following her graduation from the University of Nairobi in 1978 with a first class honours Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology (the study of insects).

She immediately joined the Nairobi-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) as a graduate research scholar and was awarded a scholarship by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation to pursue a Master of Science degree in Medical Entomology and Applied Parasitology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine which she completed in 1979.

Thereafter, she proceeded to Imperial College and the British Museum on internship for six months before returning to ICIPE. In 1981, she was awarded a scholarship by the Association of Commonwealth Universities to pursue a doctorate degree. She completed her PhD at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 1984 and returned to ICIPE for her postdoctoral work.

In 1988, she joined the University of Nairobi's Department of Zoology as a lecturer and rose through the ranks to full Professor. Prof Irungu also served as the Chair of the Department of Zoology from 1999 to 2004. She was then appointed as the Principal of the College of Biological and Physical Sciences, a position she has held to date.

Prof Lucy Irungu has conducted research in the area of vector biology and control with special reference to malaria vectors and other vectors and parasites of Neglected Diseases. In addition, she has supervised over 20 MSc students and four PhD students. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and a member of several other professional organizations.

Agnes Mwang'ombe - Principal of UoN's Agriculture College

Of the University of Nairobi's six colleges, only two are presently headed by Kenyan women professors. One of these women is Prof Agnes Mwang'ombe, the Principal of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences at Upper Kabete Campus.

The other is Prof Lucy Irungu, the principal of Chiromo Campus, who is featured in my next post.

Prof Mwang'ombe was appointed the principal of Upper Kabete Campus in September 2005, prior to which she was the university's Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture for two years.

Prof Mwang'ombe's area of specialization is plant pathology and she obtained her PhD in plant pathology from the University of London in 1987. A year later, she joined the teaching staff at the University of Nairobi as a lecturer in the Department of Crop Science. She rose through the academic ranks to become a senior lecturer in 1991 and associate professor in 1997.

In 1997, she was appointed a member of the board of the African Crop Science Society and served as the president of the society between 2003 and 2005.

Aside from the area of crop science, Prof Mwang'ombe has been actively engaged in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policy in Kenya. In recognition of her work in this regard, she was appointed the chair of the board of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis in 2007, a position she currently holds.

She is also involved in charity education programs for girls and mentorship programs for young women scientists in East Africa. In 1996, she was elected the first chair of KEPAWAE - the Kenya Professional Association of Women in Agriculture and Environment. Through this organization, professional women in the fields of agriculture and environmental sciences offer technical expertise and material support to Kenyan rural women farmers through transfer of appropriate farming technologies and development of project proposals.

In 2000, Prof Mwang'ombe founded an NGO - Arid and Semi-arid Lands Foundation - to identify and promote projects aimed at sustainable food production and natural resource management in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands that comprise over 70 per cent of the country's area. She presently serves as the NGO's director.