Mathu Ndungu is new JKUAT Chancellor

Prof. Joseph Mathu Ndung’u has been appointed as the new Chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

President Uhuru Kenyatta made the announcement in a Gazette notice on Tuesday.

Prof. Ndung’u is currently the head of Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in Geneva.

He will serve in his new position for a period of five years.

The Professor has a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (BVM) from the University of Nairobi.

He also has a PhD in the Immunopathology of Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) from the University of Glasgow’s Veterinary School in Scotland.

With over 80 publications to his credit, Prof. Ndung’u started his professional career in 1985 as an Assistant Research Officer at the Kenya Trypanosomiasis Research Institute (KETRI).

In 1992, he became the Deputy Director in charge of Research and was promoted to Director of KETRI in 1995.

He later moved to the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI) as a Chief Research Officer in 2005.

In May 2006, Prof. Ndung’u joined FIND to establish the human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) programme which was later renamed to Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) in 2011 and expanded to include Leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, Buruli ulcer and Schistosomiasis.

Prof. Ndung’u is the sixth JKUAT Chancellor after President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, President Mwai Kibaki, Prof. Ali Mazrui, Prof. Francis Gichaga and Prof. Geoffrey Ole Maloiy.