Joining trailblazing African women to pitch Africa positively on the global map, following the appointment of Professor Patricia Kingori a sociologist to a full professorship, she has become the youngest ever, first black woman to be awarded a full professorship at Oxford Cambridge University, rewriting the 925-year history.
Kingori’s sister Vanessa Kingori, is the first female publisher in British Vogue’s 102-year history.
She currently leads a team of researchers exploring the evolving concerns around “Fakes, Fabrications, and Falsehoods in Global Health.”
In response to attaining the feat, the professor who is a research fellow at Somerville College, said: “To have my body of work recognised in this way is a great honour, and I am grateful many people who have inspired and supported me so far.”
Kingori, born in Kenya to a Kenyan father and Caribbean mother is a British African sociologist based at Ethox Centre and the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities in London, UK.
Somerville’s Principal Baroness Jan Royall, who moved a vote of confidence in her favour, said,
“Patricia has moved many mountains and shattered countless glass ceilings to secure this historic achievement,” said Jan Royall, the principal baroness at Oxford’s Somerville College, which was created for women in the late 1800s, when most universities refused them entry. “In the truest tradition of Somerville, she is a woman of firsts, a trailblazer. And yet, I have no doubt that where Patricia leads with such determination, implacable good humor, and brilliance, others will follow.”
A Senior Research Fellow, Kingori has during her eight years at Oxford, consistently obtained large and competitive funding grants, written frequently cited and impactful publications, supervised numerous DPhil candidates, and taught hundreds of students, the university said.
She has racked up notable awards and achievements
As well as has served as an adviser to multiple organizations including the World Health Organization, Save the Children, Medecins San Frontières, the Nuffield Council of Bioethics, and the Obama administration’s White House Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in Africa Initiative.
“She is currently the recipient of the prestigious Wellcome Senior Investigator award and leads an interdisciplinary team of researchers exploring global concerns around Fakes, Fabrications, and Falsehoods in global health,” Somerville highlighted.
Born in Kenya to a Kenyan father and Caribbean mother, she spent her childhood in St Kitts, before relocating with her family to the UK during her early teens. Kingori graduated from the Royal Holloway, University of London, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
