Maasai Mara University has appointed Dr Kennedy Onyiko as its Director of Research, Innovation and Outreach, in a move expected to strengthen the institution's research capacity, innovation agenda and international academic partnerships.
Dr Onyiko brings more than 12 years of university administrative experience and has been a member of the University Senate since 2016. Before his latest appointment, he held several leadership positions at the institution, including Director of Gender, Equity and Culture, Director of Quality Assurance, Dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Creative Industries, and Chairperson of the Department of Social Sciences.
He joined the university in January 2015 as a Tutorial Fellow in Social Work and was promoted to Lecturer in July of the same year after being awarded his doctorate. In October 2022, he rose to the rank of Senior Lecturer. He has also played a central role in designing and reviewing Diploma and Bachelor's degree programmes, as well as in developing Master's and PhD programmes in Social Work.
Dr Onyiko has contributed to attracting and managing research funding exceeding Sh60 million through three competitive grants.
He previously served as Principal Investigator of the four-year Character and Thriving among Kenyan Youth project, which received USD249,999 from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. The initiative focused on developing a character measurement tool for young people across rural, urban and street-connected communities, and trained five Graduate Research Assistants.
He is currently a Co-Investigator in two international research projects. The first is the Templeton World Charity Foundation-funded Catalyzing Ecosystem Change for Greater Equity in Research Partnerships, which received USD249,999 and runs from December 2025 to April 2027. The second is the British Academy-funded HEKIMA_Maasai Project, valued at £199,974.01, which seeks to address cardiovascular health inequalities among the Maasai community in Kenya.
His research interests cover equity, non-communicable diseases, positive youth development, character development, child protection and care-leaving.
Dr Onyiko has also established collaborations with international institutions. During the 2025 Spring Semester, he co-designed and co-taught a Collaborative Online International Learning module titled Global Health and Wellbeing: Challenges and Trends with Dr Mary Gitau of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the United States.
He also served as a lecturer for International Perspectives: Kenya at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam in Germany during the 2024/2025 Winter Semester, where he facilitated learning on social work practice involving street-connected children.
He holds a PhD in Social Work, a Master of Science in Social Work and a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare and Social Work, all from St Elizabeth University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Online Teaching from The Open University in the United Kingdom and is pursuing a Master's degree in Online Teaching at the same institution, with completion scheduled for 2027.
The university has congratulated him on his appointment and expressed confidence in his ability to provide strategic leadership and advance its research and innovation agenda.
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