Sheila Okoth: Professor of mycology

I recently came across an article in the Business Daily newspaper that highlighted the work of Professor Sheila Okoth, the first female professor of mycology at the University of Nairobi and just one of the few mycology professors in Kenya.

Prof Okoth is interested in aflatoxin research and has published widely on the subject. She has also set up a postgraduate laboratory for mycology and mycotoxin research through a grant she was awarded after winning the prestigious African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) fellowship.

Read the feature article by Sarah Ooko, UoN first female 'fungi' professor targets aflatoxin

Collette Suda: Professor of sociology

Prof Collette A. Suda

Collette Suda, an associate professor of sociology, is a well respected Kenyan sociologist with a wealth of research experience in issues of gender and development, children in especially difficult circumstances, social development, agricultural/rural development and community development.

Prof Suda earned her PhD in rural sociology from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1986. She also holds an MSc in rural sociology and an MSc in community development from the same university.

After her PhD, she embarked on a career in lecturing and research at the University of Nairobi's Institute of African Studies (now the Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies), focusing on various gender and social development themes including women in development, social change and development, and agricultural development policies, programs and projects.

Prof Collette Suda is widely published and has several peer-reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters to her name. She has also held senior leadership positions at the University, serving as director of the Institute of African Studies from 1999 to 2002 as well as the director of the Board of Common Undergraduate Courses from 2002 to 2007. In 2002, she was promoted to the position of full professor.

In addition to her university teaching and research career, Prof Suda served the Government of Kenya as the Secretary for Gender and Social Development in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development from 2007 to 2012. In June 2013, she was appointed the Principal Secretary for Science and Technology in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Prof Collette Suda is also an Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS), a civilian service award given by the President of Kenya in recognition of distinguished service to the nation.

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).

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 CGIAR Consortium 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.

University of Nairobi appoints Prof Lucy Irungu Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Congratulations are in order to Prof Lucy Irungu who has been appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Production and Extension) of the University of Nairobi. Her appointment takes effect from 1 March 2011.

Prof Irungu's new appointment was announced in a press release from the University of Nairobi which appeared on page 21 of The Standard of Friday 21 January 2011.

According to the press release, Prof Irungu's duties as DVC in charge of Research, Production and Extension include: planning, organizing and managing research infrastructure development and appropriate policy planning; coordinating administrative and logistical support for research at all levels; coordinating the sourcing of libraries and archives. Other duties include research branding, quality control and capacity building.

Prof Irungu is the current principal of the College of Biological and Physical Sciences at Chiromo Campus. With her new appointment, she now becomes the second female professor in the history of the University of Nairobi to hold the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor after Prof Florida Karani who was the DVC in charge of Academic Affairs for 10 years.

Check out Prof Irungu's profile here.

Kudos, Prof Irungu! More grease to your elbow!

Mary Omosa: Professor of Development Studies

Kenyan Women Professors is grateful for the opportunity to honour the memory of a great Kenyan woman professor, the late Professor Mary Omosa, who achieved notable professional and academic exploits in the field of Development Studies.

Reproduced below, with the kind permission of her sister Eileen, is a beautiful tribute to Professor Omosa. She has gone ahead of us, but leaves behind a rich and inspiring legacy of a devoted academician who worked for the betterment of her community and country at large. May she rest in eternal peace.

Our Gem of Hope

The great and humble lady, Professor Mary Bonareri Omosa-Orina: a beloved daughter, sister, mother and wife; who lived a short span of years here on earth but whose deeds seem to have been performed for over 100 years.

Our beloved Professor Mary Bonareri Omosa was born on August 5^th 1961 to Rufina Kerubo Omosa and Peter Omosa Simba, at the Kisii General Hospital, Kisii district, Kenya. Though she was the second born child, she has been the first born living child of Mr. Peter Omosa Simba and Rufina Kerubo Omosa.

Mary is the wonderful sister to: Dr. Florence Omosa, Dr. Gloria-Susan Omosa-Manyonyi, Eileen Kwamboka, Josephine Moraa, Oliver Morangi, Julius Morara, and Dionysius Nyamweya Omosa. Claire Omosa, Lillian Omosa-Makori, Tom Omosa (the late), George, Gloria and Maurice Omosa.

The Loving Home Maker

Mary is an all rounder in her undertakings, and she demonstrated her love of life as a mother and wife: In 1991, she got married to Orina Momanyi Joseph and they have been blessed with two children: Biko Konrad Orina and Abi Gorretti Orina. The children demonstrate the greatness of their mother through the following words, drawn from their written tributes (www.maryomosa.org): “My Mum is great, she would pick me from school stinking after a football game and she would never complain – she would drive me home without a hint that she had smelled anything. My mother supported my sprouting football career throughout. A day before she went in for a major surgery in November 2008, she still came to watch me play football. Mum supported my rugby even though she didn’t believe in it. She supported me in what I liked”. Biko continues to write “For a long time I never understood why we had to stop along the roadside gardens and why I got squashed in the car with plants. It is now when people admire trees at our home that I appreciate. Mum taught me about practical conservation of the environment – that I have to be the change I talk about, and not be like those people who have never planted a tree but shout the most about the environment”. On being given the saddest news of the death of her Mother, Abi cried like any child would, she then asked “Auntie Sue, can we now kneel down and pray for my Mum, now in heaven, to become a saint”. That was Mary, the loving and practical mother.

The Touch Bearer Admired by many Parents

Mary, as the first born child, lived a life that many parents long for. She is the family’s torch bearer, holding it high without hesitation and with full commitment. Through sheer hard work and parental support, Mary managed to take advantage of available opportunities, while embracing life’s challenges on her way. Her enthusiasm and positive outlook to life saw her complete all levels of education, to become the first girl child from her home area to achieve a university education, and to become the first female PhD holder and Professor. Her welcoming, kind, patient, humble, open heart, admirable leadership qualities and achievements made her a darling of many. Mary was always sought after to give public talks as a way to encourage young people from rural areas, especially girls, to embrace education as the gateway to the many avenues in life.

Mary started schooling at St. Patricks Mosocho which was then situated in the current location of Cardinal Otunga High School. She later joined St. Mary’s Primary Boarding School, Nyabururu, in Standard IV, from where she sat for her KCPE in 1974. She joined the then prestigious Nyabururu Girls Secondary School where she sat for “O” levels in 1978, and joined Ngandu Girls High School (now Bishop Gatimu High School) for her “A” levels in 1979-80. Subsequently Mary joined the University of Nairobi from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1985), Honours, from the Department of Sociology. Her dissertation was on People’s Perception of Development in West Kitutu Location of Kisii District. Mary proceeded on to study for a Master of Arts (1988), from the same department. Her Thesis was on The Causes and Effects of the Fuel Wood Crisis in Rural Kenya: A Socio-Economic Analysis of the Fuel Wood Scarcity in Bura Irrigation Settlement Scheme, Tana River District. Upon graduation, Mary was hired by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) of the University of Nairobi (UoN), as a Project Assistant. While working with IDS, she took study leave and pursued her PhD studies at the Department of Rural Development Sociology, Wageningen Agricultural University, in The Netherlands. Mary obtained her doctorate in 1998. Her thesis was titled: Re-Conceptualising Food Security: Interlocking Strategies, Unfolding Choices and Rural Livelihoods in Kisii District, Kenya.

A Professional in Word and Deed

Since graduating at the Masters level, Mary worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi. In 2006, Mary merited and got promoted to the position of Associate Professor of Development Studies. As a researcher, lecturer and professor, Mary has worked on and participated in the formulation of programs and policies on development issues, provided a necessary interface between development theory and practice, especially on how it impacts on our understanding of development and change in Africa.

Mary has carried out more than 65 collaborative researches and commissioned studies, some of which she has been the team leader. In 2006 the University of Nairobi listed Mary as one of the top 3 dons/researchers who sourced the most research funds (her contribution being over Kshs. 100 Million) for the University of Nairobi. Mary’s research and studies have been by institutions such as the British Department for International Development (DFID-Kenya) and TROCAIRE; the International Development Research Agency (IDRC); the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany; Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO); The Ford Foundation; European Union; Bremen University, Germany; UNESCO; and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Professor Mary Omosa regularly participated in local and international conferences and published widely. Mary has over 40 publications: She has several peer-reviewed journal articles; discussion papers; books and edited volumes; book chapters; working papers; policy briefs; research reports; and seminar and conference papers. Her most recent areas of research centred on food security, rural poverty, and popular participation. She has reviewed many research proposals and publication articles, and been a selection panellist for several national and international organizations. Mary has also served as a resource person in various committees, and from time to time carried out administrative duties both at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and at the Centre for International Programmes and Links (CIPL). She held the UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair at the University of Nairobi, and actively engaged in the post-graduate teaching and training program at the IDS.

The Silent Change Agent

Professor Mary Omosa taught innumerable students and people. She has been an external examiner for universities in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, and, supervised and examined more than 20 post-graduate students. Currently, she was supervising three masters’ projects (including one who graduated on December 4, 2009) and two doctoral research theses. Mary held membership in a number of boards of directors and management, of which she held position of board chair in four of them, namely: Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR), K-REP, New Opportunities Network, and Tropical Promoters. Additionally, Mary has been involved in the change process in Kenya, as the University of Nairobi Staff Union (UASU) Chair, an advisor to some national political parties and candidates, and a change agent in many other forums. Her driving force in the change endeavours emanated from her desire for dignified living for each and every Kenyan.

Mary carried dignity and freedom blood in her (like Bonareri, the great grandmother she is named after who was a freedom fighter during Kenya struggle for independence), together with a deep sense of the need for fairness and dignified living by all. This is what she pursued in whatever she did in all aspects of her life - family, work and in the larger community. Mary believed and worked towards guiding her children and siblings to better livelihoods, she always cautioned that we had to always remember we are part of a larger community,  a community that also needs to live in a dignified way.

She made it clear that we have to help others and bring them along. She lived this gospel herself as demonstrated by the many “siblings” she made along the way, mentored and assisted (them) towards achieving their dreams. Mary did this with angelic commitment. Many of you know how once she took up an assignment, be it at work, or to help a child choose a career at the University, or help somebody go for further studies, she utterly devoted herself to the assignment to its conclusion. And if it got to a point where the assignment was difficult to complete, Mary would declare so. Mary was never a person that gave stories to buy time or to make the other party give up – she was forthright and honest.

Her Quest for Good Education

Mary’s position was that good education was the key to dignified livelihoods. To achieve this, she got involved in UASU where she argued that the academic environment, learning and lecturing materials, research, staff welfare, management and development, academic systems and structures and the general academic support environment had to be good if the university products were to be competitive in the job market. The people (both academic and non-academic staff) who nurtured these products had also to live dignified lives. For this reason, Mary spent valuable time carrying out research and consulting in order to put the UASU case on the map of Kenya. And she achieved this with a lot of satisfaction.

Mary believed that for things to fundamentally change, Kenya had to change for the better. She thus plunged herself in the Kenyan national politics, doing voluntary work behind the scenes for some of the significant political figures in Kenya. As a result, she made a major contribution to the change process in Kenya. Mary’s most recent desire was to join the relevant review teams in the on-going Kenya Constitution Review process.

Our challenge now is to carry the touch of change to its conclusive end.

Lucia Omondi: Professor of Linguistics

Lucia Omondi is a professor of Linguistics and African Languages at the University of Nairobi. She holds the distinction of being the first Kenyan to obtain a PhD in linguistics; this she achieved in 1975 from the University of London. Her doctorate dissertation was on the syntax of the Dholuo language.

Prof Lucia Omondi has a long-standing career in research and academia, starting out as a research assistant at the University of Nairobi in 1971, then as a research fellow and later head of department at the Institute of African Studies, University of Zambia from 1975 to 1978.

In 1978, she was appointed to the position of lecturer at the Department of Linguistics and African Studies, University of Nairobi and later rose through the ranks to become associate professor in 1986 and full professor in 1991.

Prof Omondi also served as head of department between 1989 and 1994. Later, from 1994 to 2004, she was appointed the principal of the College of Education and External Studies of the University of Nairobi.

Between 2004 and 2007, Prof Lucia Omondi was a member of the Commission for Higher Education, the body that is mandated to oversee the quality of higher education in the country.

Source: http://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/lomondi/files/cv_prof_lucia_omondi.pdf

Patricia Kameri-Mbote: Accomplished Professor of Environmental Law

Patricia Kameri-Mbote is an Associate Professor of Law, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Chair of the Department of Private Law, University of Nairobi.

She has served as Acting Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi, Acting Executive Director and Director of Research and Policy Outreach, African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi. She was also a member of the Committee of Eminent Persons appointed by His Excellency the President of Kenya in February 2006 to advise the government on the way forward for the stalled constitution review process.

She has also been identified by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as a renowned thinker in the global environment and sustainable development field and served as a Policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Prof Kameri-Mbote studied law in Nairobi, Warwick, Zimbabwe and Stanford and currently teaches Biotechnology and the Law, Patents Law, International Environmental Law, Law, Science and Technology and Feminist Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi.

She has also taught international environmental law at the University of Kansas; Trade, Environment and Law at the University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa; and Women, Access to Resources and the Law at the Women's Law Centre, University of Zimbabwe. She has been invited to teach a January Term Course on Biotechnology and Law at the University of Ottawa in January. She serves as external examiner to the Faculties of Law at the Universities of London, Makerere and Dar es Salaam.

She is a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and the Kenya National Academy of Sciences and a board member of the Kenya Copyright Board, the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE-Uganda); Resources Conflict Institute (RECONCILE) and Women and Law in East Africa (WLEA).

She has consulted for many international and national agencies including the UK Department for International Development, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Government of Kenya.

She has published widely in the areas of international law, environmental law, women's rights and property rights and participated in international, regional, national and local conferences. Patricia also chaired the Kenya Nile Discourse Forum from 2003 to 2005.

Her research interests include environment and natural resources law and policy, human rights, women's rights, land rights, intellectual property rights, biotechnology policy and law and economic law.

Source: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/faculties/SOL/cvs/Kamerimbote.pdf. Accessed 15 July 2009

Florida Karani - Chancellor of Maseno University

On 17 December 2008, President Kibaki appointed Prof Florida Amakobe Karani the Chancellor of Maseno University during the institution’s eighth graduation ceremony. With this appointment, Prof Karani makes history as Kenya's first ever female Chancellor of a public university.

Prior to her new appointment, Prof Karani was the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs at the University of Nairobi, a position she held from May 1994 to June 2004.

Prof Florida Karani has a long-standing academic career in the University of Nairobi. She started out as a lecturer in 1969 and over the years rose through the ranks to attain the position of associate professor of educational communications and technology in 1988. She later went on to become a full professor of education in 1996.

Prof Karani has also held senior administrative positions at the University of Nairobi's College of Education and External Studies. She was the College Principal from 1988 to 1994 before being appointed DVC Academic Affairs. Additionally, in 1988 she became the founding Dean of the Faculty of External Studies.

Florida Karani is an accomplished author and presenter with several peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations to her name. On the international arena, she has been involved in training of trainers for the UN Economic Commission for Africa and UNICEF. In 2002 she was appointed a member of the Africa Regional Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge.

Closer home, Prof Karani has held membership positions in the Inter University Council of East Africa and Kenya's Commission for Higher Education. In 1994 she received the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya (OGW) presidential award in recognition of her contribution towards improving the quality of higher education in Kenya.

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.

Miriam Were - Winner of Inaugural Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize

Next on the honour roll of Kenya's women professors is Miriam Were, in light of her recent award of the inaugural Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Medical Services on 28 May 2008. The prestigious award was presented in recognition of her efforts to bring basic medical services and health care to women and children in the villages of East Africa.

Indeed, Prof Miriam Were’s efforts are a testimony of her commitment to community-based approaches to the delivery of health care in Africa. She is well known nationally in her present capacity as Chair of Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council (NACC), the organization that coordinates the activities of national and international stakeholders involved in Kenya’s response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Miriam Were’s excellence in the medical field can be traced back to 1973 when she graduated as the best overall medical student at Uganda’s Makerere University. She went on to specialize in community public health and received her Master of Public Health (1976) and Doctor of Public Health (1981) from Johns Hopkins University. Between 1974 and 1985, she taught Community Health at the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Medicine and was the Chair of the Department of Community Health from 1982 to 1985.

Aside from the local academic scene, Miriam Were has also distinguished herself as a medical professional of international repute and boasts over 10 years’ work experience in high-level international postings. She has served as the Chief Health and Nutrition Adviser to UNICEF (1985-90), World Health Organization Chief of Mission to Ethiopia (1990-93) and Director of the United Nations Population Fund Country Support Team in Ethiopia (1993-2000).

In addition to her work at the National AIDS Control Council, Prof Were is currently a member of the board of trustees of Uzima Foundation, a charitable organization she co-founded in 1995 that seeks to empower the youth through improved health, including prevention of HIV infection and malaria.

Additionally, she sits on the international board of AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation), an international African NGO with 50 years’ experience in providing poor communities in Africa with improved access to basic health care.

Wangari Maathai - Kenya's First Woman Professor

I believe it's only fitting to begin by paying tribute to Wangari Muta Maathai, an indefatigable achiever who bears the honour of being a woman of many firsts. Indeed, she holds pride of place for being Kenya's first woman professor and the first African woman to receive the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1971, Wangari Maathai became the first woman in East and Central Africa to get a doctorate degree when she was awarded her PhD from the School of Veterinary Medicine, University College of Nairobi (present day University of Nairobi).

She later taught in the University's Department of Veterinary Anatomy, rising to become the head of department in 1976 (again, the first Kenyan woman to achieve this) and associate professor in 1977.

The story of Wangari Maathai's life is marked by trials and triumphs - personal, professional as well as political - which she talks about candidly in her autobiography Unbowed .

Of note is her struggle (together with colleague Vertistine Mbaya) against gender discrimination in the university in the 1970s. At the time, married women lecturers did not receive benefits like house allowance, insurance or pension as did their male counterparts. Reason? They were married so their presumably employed husbands were assumed to be receiving those benefits!

Prof Maathai acknowledges that the situation has since improved. She writes:

Since then, things have changed quite a lot. Now there are quite a few women members of the academic staff at the university and the terms of service have greatly improved for everyone, including women.

Here's more about Wangari Maathai from the blurb of Unbowed:

Born in the Kenyan Highlands, Wangari Maathai was educated in the US before returning to Nairobi to become the first woman in East and Central Africa to gain a doctorate, in 1971. During the mid-seventies she became involved in politics, founding the Green Belt Movement, Kenya's famous environmental and human rights campaigning group. In 2004, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of her campaigns for democracy and environmental reform during the dictatorship of Daniel arap Moi. Now a leading politician, she lives in Nairobi.

In the disputed General Elections of December 2007, Prof Maathai was unsuccessful in her bid to defend her Tetu parliamentary seat. I believe that the main reason for her defeat was that she chose to stick to a principle-based campaign and not ride on the popular PNU-Mwai Kibaki wave that swept across the Central Kenya region.

But all is not lost. Frankly speaking, I think that because of her international acclaim as a Nobel peace laureate, Wangari Maathai is destined for much greater things and should set her sights on further enhancing her image of quality, principled leadership in international forums.

Wangari Maathai has made her mark in history and continues to be a source of inspiration in Kenya, Africa and beyond.