Prof judy wakhungu biography

The former Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Professor Judi Wakhungu, was appointed to the Board of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Currently serving as the Kenya Ambassador to France, Wakhungu's new duties will be to protect wildlife across the globe.

The IFAW primarily focuses on via lobbying governments at the highest level with an aim of securing sustainable solutions for animals as well as people living alongside animals.

“We have had the pleasure of working with Prof. Wakhungu for many years and she has been present for some of IFAW’s biggest milestones in East Africa," IFAW’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Azzedine Downes divulged.

Ranked as a leader in global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organization, IFAW's other board members include global household names such as Leonardo Di Caprio and Pierce Brosnan.

The former CS was responsible for the largest ever ivory and rhino horn destruction in recent history, where over 100 tonnes of the contraband was burned to ash.

"We share an equal dedication and passion for wildlife and are thrilled to welcome her to the Board of Directors," Downes disclosed.

Wakhungu's passion for environmental conservation is unrivalled, having championed the cause to ban polythene bags in Kenya.

The Professor is also tied to the Giants Club, an organization which assembles exceptional leaders from across the world to support the protection of elephants.

IFAW on their part have been constantly involved in various projects across Kenya, has secured close to 26,000 acres of wildlife ensure safe passage for elephants plying the route between Amboseli and Kilimanjaro National Parks.

Kenyan politician

Judi Wangalwa WakhunguEGH is a Kenyan politician, diplomat, and geologist who was appointed by the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, as ambassador to France on the 26th of January 2018. Immediately prior to her present position, she served as the cabinet secretary for environment and regional development authorities from 25 April 2013 until 17 January 2018.

Background and education

Professor Judi Wakhungu is the daughter of Grace, a manager at Kenya Reinsurance and Consolidated Bank, and the Late Mathew Wakhungu. Her uncles are former Vice President Moody Awoori and Kenya's first kidney specialist, Professor Nelson Awoori. She was interested in science from an early age, eventually leading her to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from St. Lawrence University in New York in 1983. She also holds a Master of Science degree in petroleum geology from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, awarded in 1986.

Wakhungu later obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in energy resources management from Pennsylvania State University in 1993. Wakhungu credits her alma mater, Pennsylvania State University, for teaching her skills on how to make policies on a scientific basis.

Career before politics

Before her political career, Wakhungu worked as 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 and Engineering (WISE) Institute, which was created in partnership with several colleges of various engineering and environmental sciences. Upon returning to Kenya, Wakhungu joined the Ministry of Energy and Regional Development as its first female geologist to study the geothermal energy found in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. She was also the first female petroleum geologist to

“Penn State provided the opportunity to achieve and do so much,” she said. Professor Wakhungu still keeps in touch with those who mentored her, as well as those she has mentored herself, to this day. Even though Penn State is a big university, there are still hubs and centers for people to connect, grow and nurture, she said.  

Her most impactful memories came from her time in such hubs, such as her time as a graduate student among a diverse graduate student body. She described the Kern Graduate Building as a “mini-United Nations.” 

“We connected over our research, our geographic origin,” she said. “I still rely on the networks that I created then to this day. It expanded my horizons to think globally.” 

Another such hub was the Women in Science and Engineering Institute, of which Professor Wakhungu served as director. WISE, as it is called, was created as part of a partnership between the colleges of engineering, science, Earth and mineral sciences, agricultural sciences, and information sciences and technology(which was new at the time). 

“It was a wonderful experience because many women lack role models in the STEM fields,” she said. “Penn State provided the opportunity to come together and share challenges, successes, experiences.” All of the women who pass through the institute have gone on to great success in their fields, she said. 

Professor Wakhungu seems a fitting choice to lead an institute focused on trailblazing women, as she herself is a woman of “firsts.” She was the first woman hired as a geologist in the Ministry of Energy and Regional Development in Kenya; she was the first female petroleum geologist to serve in the National Oil Corporation of Kenya; and she was the first woman faculty member at the Department of Geology at the University of Nairobi. 

From 2013 to 2018, she served as Kenya’s minister of environment, water, and natural resources – also the first woman to serve in this capacity