The United States International University of Africa (USIU-Africa) has appointed a new Vice Chancellor (VC) following a recruitment process by the higher education institution.
USIU in a statement on Thursday, May 2, 2024, announced the appointment of Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi as the new VC, which will take effect from July 1, 2024
“Following a rigorous and extensive recruitment process, the University Council of the United States International University – Africa is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Mwenda Ntarangwi as the new Vice Chancellor effective from July 1, 2024,” read part of the statement.
Ntaragwi replaces Dr. Omolola E. Omole-Odubekun who has been serving as Interim Vice Chancellor.
Dr. Omolola had been requested on short notice by the University Council to act as the VC replacing Prof. Freida Brown who had been reappointed to the office in acting capacity back in August 2021.
Freida was reappointed following the retirement of Prof. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, a Malawian don who retired in 2021 having led the institution as the VC since 2016.
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He had taken over from Prof. Brown who had served the university for 21 years.
USIU Council chairperson Kris Senanu in a statement back then said Prof. Brown had been reappointed as acting VC for a period of 9 months as the search for substantive office holder kicked off.
Ntarangwi to Lead USIU
Professor Ntarangwi is an accomplished scholar in cultural anthropology and the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission for University Education (CUE).
The accomplished scholar has dedicated his entire professional life, spanning three decades, in the higher education sector in Africa and the United States of America, through teaching, research, fund raising and senior leadership.
Since 2022, he has been serving as the Deputy Principal-Academics, Research and Student Affairs at NIRUC, a constituent college of the National Defence University – Kenya.
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Prior to that, the scholar had been serving for five years as the Commission for University Education CEO.
“His experience in carrying out accreditation of universities and programs will be critical in supporting USIU-Africa’s dual accreditation thereby raising the quality of education at USIU-Africa,” said USIU in a statement.
Ntarangwi has also been an associate professor of Anthropology at Calvin College and has published numerous articles and chapters on music, gender, identity, performance, post-coloniality, pedagogy, and study abroad.
Long-serving Vice Chancellor
Prof. Freida Brown on the other hand holds the record of the longest serving USIU-Africa VC, having held the office since January 1994.
During her first stint which spanned up to 2016, Brown oversaw the student’s population grow from 1,100 students to 4,700 as well as growth in the number of faculty and academic programs.
Additionally, the campus expanded from an initial 20 acres to 160 acres under her leadership.
Prof. Brown holds a doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Michigan State University and has taught at several institutions including Howard University and Washington University in St. Louis, US.
She has also served on several boards in Kenya including the Federation of Kenya Employers, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the Kenya Educational Network (KENET) Board.
In addition, the former VC is the founding Chair of the Kenya Association of Private Universities (KAPU) which is an advocacy group supporting the development of private higher education in Kenya.
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