Prof Ali Mazrui: He Attended The Best Universities & Lectured in 5 Continents!

Kenya was robbed of a great scholar, Prof Ali Alamin Mazrui. The literary giant passed away in Binghamton, New York in the United States at the age of 81. The scholar lectured in five continents and documented history in films, public lectures and writing.

Born in 1933, Mazrui studied at schools in Mombasa and obtained his B.A. with Distinction from Manchester University in Great Britain in 1960. He later undertook his M.A. from Columbia University in New York in 1961, and later his doctorate (DPhil) from Oxford University in 1966.

Dr. Mazrui had also been appointed Chancellor of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya – an appointment made by Kenya’s Head of State- where he served from 2004 and resigned in 2009.

For ten years (1963-1973) he was at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, where he served as head of the Department of Political Science, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences as well as Dean of the Faculty of Law. He once served as Vice-President of the International Political Science Association.

“At the time of his death he was the director of the institute of Global Cultural Studies at the Albert Schweitzer Institute of Humanities. He also held a senior teaching post at the state university of New York at Binghamton among other academic position,” reads the daily nation.

The late professor had his research interests in African politics, international relations, comparative politics and political theory. He published over 40 books and hundreds of articles in major scholastic journals and for public media.

He has also served on the editorial boards of more than 20 international scholarly journals. Mazrui was widely consulted by heads of states and governments, international media and research institutions for political strategies and alternative thoughts.

In addition to his written work, Mazrui was also the creator of the television series The Africans: A Triple Heritage, which was jointly produced by the BBC and the Public Broadcasting Service (WETA, Washington) in association with the Nigerian Television Authority.

Mazrui has also been a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, The University of Chicago, Colgate University, McGill University, National University of Singapore, Oxford University, Harvard University, College, Ohio, and at other institutions in Cairo, Australia, Teheran, Denver, London, Baghdad just to mention a few.

In 2005, Ali Mazrui was selected as the 73rd topmost intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by Prospect Magazine (UK) and Foreign Policy (United States

According to the Daily Nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta sent his message of condolence to the family of the late Mazrui, whom he described as “a towering academician whose intellectual contributions played a major role in shaping African scholarship”.

President Kenyatta said Prof. Mazrui’s literary works, debates and relentless cultivation of a global view of Africa have helped to tell the continent’s story.

He is survived by a wife and six children.

Fare thee well Professor.

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