PHOTO: Former Technical University of Mombasa Chancellor, Prof Douglas Odhiambo, during the institution's first graduation ceremony on October 24, 2013 | NATION MEDIA

The late Prof. Douglas Odhiambo is credited for initiating the germ of Moi University, Kenya’s second oldest university. Prof. Odhiambo was a member of the Mackay Commission that was appointed by the late President Daniel Arap Moi on January 21, 1981, to prepare detailed plans and recommendations for the establishment of a second university in Kenya.The commission was headed by the Canadian Scholar, Dr. Colin B. Mackay.

This saw the birth of Moi University in 1984 with Prof. Odhiambo as its first Vice-Chancellor. Prof. Odhiambo became head of a virtually non-existent Institution as it did not have a single student, staff or structures. He took 83 students from the University of Nairobi’s Department of Forestry, put them on a bus and drove down to Eldoret and pitched three tents on the lawns of Kaptagat Hotel on the outskirts of the town. This is how he started Moi University. With two tents serving as lecture rooms and one becoming his office, Prof. Odhiambo started teaching his cherished students deep in Kaptagat Forest.

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From here, Moi University moved to Kesses to sit on 3,000 acres of land. In Kesses, Prof. Odhiambo superintended over colossal infrastructural projects including construction of Mackay Building and Ngeria Hostels, Technology Building, Moi University Primary School, Administration and Senate Building, Cheptiret-Kesses-Moi University Road, Staff Houses, Graduation Pavilion and playground. He also initiated commercial horticulture and diary projects for the University.

PHOTO: The first Vice Chancellor's office in 1985 | MOI UNIVERSITY WEBSITE 

The University was, therefore established with an intention of making it a science, technology and development oriented institution which would focus on problems of rural development in its training and research programmes.

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Prof. Odhiambo was indeed a masterclass in the world of academics in Kenya. He was part of the team that structured the 8-4-4 Model of education aimed at equipping school leavers at Class Eight and Form Four with adequate skills. He went to Maseno School and Alliance High School before proceeding to Makerere University, Uganda, where he studied Education between 1948 and 1950. He then went to Bristol University in London, where he did his PhD in Chemistry. During his early years as a teacher, he taught Kisii School for six years.

Apart from tremendous success in education, Prof. Odhiambo also ventured in farming, in his farm in Mariwa, Migori County, where he majored in sugarcane and tea farming. He passed away on Monday June 18, 2018 at Avenue Hospital, Kisumu City. He died from a stroke. Moi University will always remember Prof. Douglas Odhiambo, for making it what it is.