Ahmad Kaweesa Ssengendo is a Ugandan

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, academic, and

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the Faculty (academic staff), faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint ...

. He is the former Rector of the Islamic University in Uganda, a private university that was accredited by the

Uganda National Council for Higher Education The Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE) is a semi-autonomous government regulatory agency, responsible for the regulation of higher education in Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. UNCHE is also respon ...

(UNCHE) in 1988. He was appointed to that position in 2004.

Background

He was born in Bukanga Village,

Isingiro District Isingiro District is a district in the Western Region of Uganda. The town of Isingiro is the district's main municipal, administrative, and commercial center. Location Isingiro District is bordered by Kiruhura District to the north, Rakai Distr ...

on 6 February 1959 to Yunus Kaweesa and Zuhurah Kaweesa.

Education

He attended Kyaluhambura Primary School for his elementary education. He attended Old Kampala Secondary School for his O-Level studies, from 1973 until 1976. For his A-Level education, he relocated to

St. Henry's College Kitovu St. Henry's College Kitovu (SHACK), is a boys-only government-aided boarding middle and high school in Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. Location The school campus is located on Kitovu Hill, elevation:, situated in ...

, where he studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, and subsidiary mathematics. He was admitted to

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

, the largest and oldest public university in Uganda. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

. He followed that with a Diploma in education. Later, he obtained a Master Arts in education, also from Makerere University. From 1985 until 1987, Ssengendo attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, obtaining a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in education degree.

Work history

While pursuing his Diploma in Education, he taught at Nyamitanga Primary School and at Nyamitanga Secondary School in

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, Nyakay ...

, Mbarara District, Western Region. After obtaining the diploma, he joined the Department of Botany at

as an assistant lecturer. To augment his income, he concurrently taught at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School, his alma mater, and at Bilal Islamic Institute. When he returned to Uganda after his PhD studies in 1987, he re-joined Makerere, but this time, in the School of Education. After barely one year, he left to join eight other educators, who teamed up to start the Islamic University in Uganda in 1988. Starting out s a

Lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

at IUIU, Ssengendo rose through the ranks to become University Secretary. In 2001, he was requested to start IUIU's Kampala Campus. From 2003 to 2004, he served as Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academics. In 2004, at the age of 45, he was appointed Vice Chancellor of IUIU.

Other consideration

Ahmad Ssengendo is married to two wives. He is the father of 13 children, four daughters and nine sons. He is of the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

faith.

References

External links