Her proud husband sent her an email after their conversation to further congratulate and confirm her appointment.

"It never occurred to me that the President had me in mind when Maseno nearly delayed its graduation last year because there was no chancellor," she says.

It was during the Maseno graduation ceremony which President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga presided over on December 17, last year, when she was officially named chancellor.

"I was still in the US during the graduation ceremony but requested my husband to represent me at the graduation."

This appointment is the latest accolade for the academician, coming 14 years after former president Daniel Moi awarded her the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya in recognition of her academic feats. Recently, Italian publication Science, Women and the Developing World christened her ‘Educational Warrior’.

Karani believes the appointment befits her. "I did not lobby to be appointed chancellor of a public university as my academic records over the past 50 years speak volumes."

She says her 29-page Curriculum Vitae that details her academic achievements is proof that she has what it takes to be on top.

Karani can claim many firsts in the academia. Her appointment to Maseno makes her the first woman Chancellor in Kenya. Previously, she was the first woman Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC) of a public varsity — University of Nairobi. The professor says she did not have to behave like a man to excel in the male-dominated arena.

"I have never elbowed my way to get an appointment in the male dominated academic field but worked at my best."

"I do not think gender is relevant to a job. What counts is doing the job to perfection. I intend to work at Maseno in line with the Act that established it eight years ago," she says.

The professor of education, who worked at the University of Nairobi for 39 years prior to her new appointment, has grown from a humble village girl in Vihiga District who defied insurmountable odds to scale the heights of academia.

Karani, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968, says her education almost came to a halt after she completed her masters degree at the University of Nairobi in 1974.

Prof Karani with her husband, Hiram Karani, and daughter. Photo: courtesy

At this point family called. She had been married four years earlier to Hiram, an economist and banker at the Central Bank of Kenya and she wanted to concentrate on raising her children.

"I knew that I had to put my family first when I won the African American Graduate Scholarship for a Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in 1975."

Since she had decided her fate, she resolved to turn down the scholarship. But Hiram would have none of it.

"My husband offered to look after our three children and encouraged me to proceed to the University of Pittsburgh in the US in the late 1970s," she recalls.

He reminded her that she would not achieve her dreams as a scholar unless she had a PhD.

"I was convinced and took up the scholarship," she says.

Balancing her studies and making several phone calls from the US to confirm that her family was fine at home was tough and expensive. But she had to do it for her peace of mind.

She attained her PhD in 1979 following the completion of her dissertation ‘Application to the Training of Pre-service Teachers in Kenya’.

"It is not easy as a woman to progress in academia if you don’t have a husband who is supportive and volunteers to help at home."

Again, it is not easy to be anything unless your parents give you an opportunity. Karani’s parents gave her the chance to start her quest to become a scholar at Ebukhaya Mwitukho village, Emakunda sub-location in Vihiga.

"I believed in my books, research and hard work that saw me top my class from a little girl at primary school," she says.

Her late parents Rev Bernard Opaka Amayamu Okwemba and Rev Jessica Eshinali, who were pioneer teachers in Western Province, inspired her.

"I never knew that other girls were not going to school until I reached upper primary and realised that I was usually the only girl in class."

There were no female teachers in primary schools then apart from her mother who encouraged her to read on.

"I excelled in class and extra-curricular activities before I moved to Butere Girls’ Secondary School," says the second born in a family of nine.

And she was among the 13 African girls to be admitted to the prestigious Alliance Girls’ High School in 1962. The others included Lady Justice Effie Owuor, Mary Okello, the founder of Makini Schools and Elizabeth Masiga, the first woman Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Education.

While studying for her masters degree, she ensured that her education did not compromise family values.

"I went home early to ensure my children and husband had my attention and even cooked before I delved into books," she says.

The academician, who still pores over books todate says she set her weekends aside for outings with her family.

She says that her educational achievement and support from her family encouraged her three children to follow her footsteps.

"My two sons are engineers and my daughter is a doctor. They are all in the US and want to further their studies," she says.

Karani counts her contribution to improve education in the country as among her major achievements in life.

"I am proud to have been the founder principal of the University of Nairobi’s Kikuyu Campus in 1986. My pioneer students are successful today," she says with pride.

She helped start it from scratch and was a role model to several girls who did not let her down. She encouraged them to complete their education even after some fell pregnant.

"Students come to campus when they are young and naÔve. Some fall pregnant."

She wants this trend to end because couples that got children in college found it difficult to cope with increased expenditure.

She wants her students at Maseno to be careful and not to over indulge. They should be disciplined as their ‘core objective is to study’.

Karani, who was appointed the first woman Deputy Vice Chancellor in 1994, says admission to university should now be competitive because recent studies show girls do not need affirmative action.

As we leave her office, we can’t help but agree with her. She is a woman whose dream of getting to the highest pinnacle in the academia has been achieved four years after her contract as DVC expired. And she didn’t need affirmative action to get there.