By Ouma Onyango
Professor Paul Kuria Wainaina has been confirmed as the Vice Chancellor of Kenyatta University after acting in the position since 2015 when his predecessor Prof Olive Mugenda’s tenure ended.
The Doctor of Philosophy specializing in Philosophy of Education with a research interest in Theory of Knowledge, Moral Philosophy and Higher Education and Development took over from his predecessor Prof Olive Mugenda who retired as the Vice-Chancellor in May 2015 after serving the University for over 30 years in different capacities. She rose from a lecturer to a full professor and also served as a Dean of school, Chairman of the department, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor before being appointed as Vice-Chancellor from 2006 to 2016.
Professor Wainaina also rose through the ranks at one time being the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) and Deputy- Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of the university and latest being the Acting Vice-Chancellor.
The scholar has served in various capacities in the educational field in Kenyan universities including Kenyatta University (KU) and University of Eldoret (UoE), University of Namibia (UNAM) and Hedmark University College in Norway
Under his tenure as an Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wainaina managed to successfully host the auspicious IAAF Athletics Championships with the University as the games village marking a significant milestone in the University’s quest to nurture sports talent among the youth in the country.
Professor Wainaina is part of 7 other Acting Vice Chancellors in Public Universities who have been given the full mandate to steer their respective institutions. Other universities include University of Embu, Machakos University, Rongo University, Kirinyaga University and Murang`a University.
On his agenda will be to oversee the successful opening of the modern state of the art 600-bed capacity Kenyatta University Referral hospital, which was to be officially opened last year.
Kenyatta University’s student population currently stands at 71,000, from 15,000 a decade ago while its lecturers have doubled to 1,500.