Kenya don joins elite club

A lecturer at a Kenyan university has joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.

Professor Shem Oyoo Wandiga, who teaches chemistry at the University of Nairobi, joined the RSC Fellowship for his outstanding contribution in the field of chemistry in May.

The society, with 46,000 members, is the largest in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences.

A letter announcing his admission as a Fellow of RSC was signed by Dr David W Barr, the Membership and Qualification manager of the society. “As a Fellow of the RSC, you are entitled to use the designatory letters FRSC (Fellow of the RSC) after your name,” Dr Barr wrote.

“The designatory letters of AMRSC, MRSC, and FRSC signify to all that the holder is a professional chemical scientist, well qualified and subject to a rigorous code of conduct.

“Holders of these letters are committed to the advancement of the chemical sciences and maintaining high standards of competence and ethical behaviour,” the society says on its website, www.rsc.org.

Prof Wandiga, 70, was born on September 22 1939 at Simbi Village in Rachuonyo District.

He is a professor of chemistry at the department of chemistry, University of Nairobi. He also serves as a director of the Centre for Science Technology Innovations in Nairobi. He has been a lecturer at the university for the last 28 years, and is author of several papers in these areas.

He has a PhD from the Case Western Reserve University, USA. He was also Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration and Finance) of the same university. He credits his success to the opportunities provided to him through the Africa Airlift project which was organised by the late Tom Mboya in 1959, together with the African-American Students Foundation in the United States.

The airlift programme benefited 81 Kenyan students in the 1960s.

EDITORS' NOTE: In an earlier version of our web story, we erroneously reported that Prof Wandiga was in line to be Knighted by the Queen Elizabeth II of England for his exemplary service in the field of chemistry.

We have since established, through a letter from the Royal Society of Chemistry, that this is not the case. The error is regretted.

We reproduce the letter here:

“The Royal Society of Chemistry expresses its deep regret for the administrative error made in a letter sent to Professor Shem Wandiga of the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Owing to a data entry error, Professor Wandiga was referred to as “Professor Sir S O Wandiga” in a letter confirming his Fellowship of the RSC.

This has led to a misunderstanding about Professor Wandiga being offered a knighthood by the Queen. The RSC apologises unreservedly to Professor Wandiga for the error that led to these unfortunate circumstances, and for any resulting misrepresentation.”