Osmund Mwandemele

Education

Ph.D., University of Sydney M.Sc., University of Dar es Salaam B.Sc. (Hons), University of Dar es Salaam

Biographical Statement

Professor Mwandemele is Pro-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research at the University of Namibia. He was the Founding Director of the Sam Nujoma Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre — a UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) Operating Unit whose Board he chairs — at Henties Bay, Namibia, and Founding Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Namibia.  He has held academic and administrative positions at Egerton University in Njoro, Kenya, and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Among his awards and recognitions, Professor Mwandemele is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding; a Founding Member of the College of Research Associates of the United Nations University Institute of Natural Resources in Africa; an Honorary Professor at the Czech University of Agriculture Prague; and former Scientific Advisor to the International Foundation for Science.  He also chairs the Steering Committee of the Southern Africa Network of Biosciences (SANBio) and is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of South Africa.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Action for Development; and Chairman of the Steering Committee of Biosciences-Finnish-South Africa (BIOFISA) Project coordinated by SANBio, based at CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa.  As Pro-Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research at the University of Namibia, Professor Mwandemele chairs a number of Senate Committees which include the Academic Planning Committee, Staff Development Committee, Admissions and Examinations Committee, Staff Appointments Committee, etc., as well as Vice Chairperson of the University Senate. Professor Mwandemele is the author or co-author of numerous scholarly articles.