President Uhuru Kenyatta Siblings Susan Wakhungu | Nationality Kenyan | |
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Alma mater St. Lawrence University (BSc)
Acadia University (MSc)
Penn State University (PhD) Parents Moody Awori, Grace Wakhungu Uncles Aggrey Awori, Willis Mwendi Awori, Ernest Awori Education St. Lawrence University, Acadia University Grandparents Jeremiah Awori, Mariam Awori Similar Raychelle Omamo, Phyllis Kandie, Moody Awori, Amina Mohamed, Anne Waiguru Profiles | ||
Judi Wangalwa Wakhungu is a Kenyan who was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta as Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Regional Development Authorities on 25 April 2013. Prior to joining the Kenya cabinet in 2013, Prof Judi Wakhungu was the Executive Director of the African Center for Technology Studies (ACTS) in Nairobi, Kenya. She has been an Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Pennsylvania State University where she also served as the Director of the Women in the Sciences & Engineering (WISE) Institute. She has also served as an Energy Advisor to the Energy Sector Management Program of World Bank and Advisor at the Legatum Centre at MIT.
Prof Wakhungu was the first woman geologist in the Ministry of Energy and Regional Development, where her duties entailed exploring for geothermal energy in Kenya’s Rift Valley. Prof. Wakhungu was also the first female petroleum geologist in the National Oil Corporation of Kenya. She was also the first female faculty member in the Department of Geology at the University of Nairobi.
Prof. Wakhungu received a B.S. in geology from St. Lawrence University in New York, a M.S. degree in petroleum geology from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and her Ph.D. in energy resources management from Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include energy resources management; materials; energy policy and development; science, technology, and development; and gender issues in science and technology policy.
Prof. Wakhungu has served on many boards and committees, both nationally and internationally. She was the Research Director of the Global Energy Policy and Planning Program of the International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study (IFIAS), which is based in Toronto, Canada. She has served as the Project Leader of the Renewable Energy Technology Dissemination Project of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
Prof. Wakhungu also has the distinction of being the “designated energy expert” for the United Nations Commission of Science and Technology for Development (Gender Working Group). She has also served as the Executive Director of the African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) Network.ng
Prof. Wakhungu is the daughter of former Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori