WARDA News Release

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
November 2003

WARDA Names New Director of Research

Dr Shellemiah Okoth Keya has been named as the new Director of Research at WARDA -The Africa Rice Center, with effect from 15 January 2004.

Dr Keya brings a wealth of experience to the job, with an impressive track record spanning over three decades of top-level research management and administration, university teaching, scientific publishing, and research consultancies. Dr Keya has been the Board Chair or Board Member of over 30 different research institutions.

No stranger to CGIAR, Dr Keya was the Executive Secretary to the CGIAR Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), from 1996 to 2000, and to the Interim Science Council (iSc) from 2001 to 2003. Before joining the CGIAR, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Moi University, Kenya, from 1988 to 1994. 

Dr Keya has won several distinguished local and international awards, including the African Academy of Sciences / Ciba-Geigy Gold Medal and Soka Gakkai Awards of Highest Honour. He received a BSc degree in 1968 in Agriculture from Makarere University, Uganda, and an MSc (1970) and a PhD (1974) in Soil Science from the Cornell University, USA. 

Dr Keya is a Kenyan national and is married with five children.