M.A. (Aberdeen), PhD (London), Dip.ED (EA & Edin), F.R.G.S.

Prof. Ominde was born at Nyahera, Kisumu District in 1924. After his early education at Alliance High School he joined Makerere College in Uganda where he obtained Diploma in Education. He obtained a M.A. degree in Geography at the University of Aberdeen. He obtained another Diploma in Education at the University of Edinburgh in 1955 and joined Makerere University College, Geography Department. In 1963. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree by London University. He transferred to the University College Nairobi in 1964 where he was appointed Professor in the Geography Department, thus becoming the first indigenous professor in the University of East Africa. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and as a member of the University of Nairobi Council. In 1976, he founded the Population Studies and Research Institute of the University of Nairobi and was appointed its first Director. Prof. Ominde was a member of many national and international societies and commissions. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (F.R.G.S.) of Britain. Prof. Ominde was one of the world renowned authorities in Geography, but more specifically in the area of demography where, indeed, he was the leading authority in Kenya. He was a prolific writer and authored over 70 publications including some seven books. He authored Land and Population Movements in Kenya, Population of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania and edited Studies in East African Geography, Population Growth and Economic Development in Africa and Population and Development in Kenya. Prof. Ominde passed on in the year 1995 and is post-humously honored.