Prof. Otieno
Deputy Vice-chancellor at Durban University of Technology
– Recent U.N. Representative to SA
“One of the highest ranking expatriate academics chats to us about the rise to the top and dealing with cancer...”
rofessor Fred Otieno studied civil engineering at the University of Nairobi (UON) completing his degree with an upper second class honours in 1979. He proceeded to join a consulting firm known as Gordon Melvin and Partners which was then the premier firm of consulting engineers in Kenya. “I was involved in a number of significant projects such as the construction of Nolfolk Towers and the Pan Afric Hotel,” Otieno recalled in an
interview held at the family home in Hurlingham, Sandton.
where he joined Kenyatta University as a research fellow to set up a technology research centre.
“1980, I saw a British Council scholarship for a masters degree in water engineering advertised in the local newspapers. As I had begun to find the job I was doing a bit boring and monotonous, I applied for the scholarship and subsequently pursued the qualification at the University of Newcastle.”
“It was our research team that developed the energy saving stove which is lined with clay (jikos). Prior to this, people used jikos that were made out of metal which used up much more coal as heat would escape from its sides,” Otieno said.
On completion, Otieno was placed on a six month internship at a water research project in Portsmouth. He returned to Kenya in 1982
Otieno worked at the research centre until 1986 when he returned to Newcastle to pursue a doctorate in engineering. By this time, he had wedded wife Florence (who today is CEO of Sandton’s Tara Hospital) and the couple had young children. Thankfully, the scholarship for the doctorate provided for him to take his family with him to the UK. “I returned to Kenya in 1990 and joined UON as a lecturer and also opened up my own firm known as Environmental Management Consultants. Unfortunately there was a prolonged lecturers’ strike that began in 1992 which I found very frustrating. I responded to an advertisement for a senior lecturer position at the former University of Durban Westville.” After applying for the position and subsequent interviews, Otieno was the successful candidate and he and his family moved to Durban after the first democratic elections in 1994. He continued to actively participate in research projects and as a result