- UoN, like other public universities, is facing financial problems.
- Verkooijen said part of his immediate work will be to bring the university partnerships that can bring money and support research.
Image: COURTESY
Newly-appointed University of Nairobi chancellor has responded to critics of his appointment last month.
Prof Patrick Verkooijen, a Dutch climate advocate, formally took up his role as the UoN chancellor on Thursday.
He becomes the first foreign chancellor of a public university in Kenya.
“To those who feel it should have been a Kenya, I understand you, I understand your scepticism because there are great Kenyans who could have been chancellor. But the culture of academia is that we look at different views,” he told the media at the university.
He said he already knew his appointment would draw scepticism. “It’s because it’s historic. This is the first non-Kenyan, non-African chancellor not just of this university but across the continent. This triggers different views,” he said.
However, Prof Verkooijen said he had received overwhelming support from the university senate, the council and the students.
He also explained why he is fit for the job. “I believe I have a lot in common with the people of Kenya. I also bring something different, an asset of global network. For those sceptical, thank you because it makes me more focused, I want to be judged from my actions.”
He said his work in Kenya has made him more resilient, and has also humbled him.
“This country is gifted with the most humble, most respected, most modest people I have ever met. Modest people are the most resilient, adaptive people. These qualities are given by the natural forces around us,” he said.
UoN, like other public universities, is facing financial problems.
Verkooijen said part of his immediate work will be to bring the university partnerships that can bring money and support research.
“I believe this university can succeed in a changing world. I'm impressed by the level of commitment, creativity and resilience that I have seen going around the faculties,” he said.
Verkooijen, 54, is currently the CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, an international organisation dedicated to the challenge of adapting the world to the global climate emergency.
He works closely in this role with Ban Ki-Moon, the 8th UN Secretary General and architect of the Paris Agreement and chair of the GCA.
Before this role, he was the World Bank Special Representative for Climate Change where he once served as its head of climate smart agriculture.
The Chancellor also serves as the Distinguished chair of The Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi, and as the chair on Climate Adaptation Governance at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.
Verkooijen also managed the Global Commission on Adaptation chaired by Ban and co-led by Kristalina Georgieva and Bill Gates.
Between 2012 and 2018, Verkooijen was also a Professor of Practice of Sustainable Development Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in Massachusetts.
Born on May 21, 1969, Verkooijen holds a PhD from Wageningen University, an MPA from Harvard University, a Master of Science degree in Social and Political Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam and an environmental engineering degree from HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.