President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed Prof Joseph Mathu Ndung’u, a Geneva-based tropical diseases expert, as the sixth Chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat).
The appointment through the Kenya Gazette last Friday followed prof Geoffrey Ole Maloiy’s retirement in October 2018.
Prof Ndung’u is the head of neglected tropical diseases at the Foundation of Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in Geneva.
He studied veterinary medicine and surgery at the University of Nairobi and earned his PhD from the University of Glasgow’s Veterinary School in Scotland.
The professor joins the list of several prominent people who have served Jkuat in that capacity.
They include former presidents Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki and professors Ali Mazrui and Francis Gichaga.
In a statement, the university said, “Jkuat Vice Chancellor Prof Victoria Ngumi has welcomed Prof Ndung’u’s appointment and expressed the management’s readiness to work with him to propel the university to greater heights.”
Prof Ndung’u was appointed alongside business mogul Narendra Raval Guru, the founder of the Devki Group of Companies, who was named Egerton University chancellor.
The two, whose appointments were effective January 11, will serve those institutions for five years each.