Reuben Olembo

Professor Reuben James Olembo (1937–2005) was a prominent Kenyan academic, scientist and environmentalist. He was a deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which he played a pivotal role in helping found, and served as United Nations Assistant Secretary General from 1994 to 1998. He became the Acting Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), after his retirement from UNEP.

Early life Reuben Olembo was born on November 28, 1937, in Bunyore in the then Vihiga District of Kakamega in Western Province, Kenya. He excelled in his studies at Kima Primary School, and then Maseno School, both of which were mission schools. Faith played a key role in his early family life and education. His parents were both ministers in the Church of God, established in his village by American missionaries.

Olembo was among the first cohort of students airlifted to the US in 1959 as part of the Kennedy- Mboya airlifts, having rejected an opportunity to study at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He attended Purdue University in Indiana and between 1961 and 1965 he was awarded his bachelor's (Biology and Chemistry), master's and doctoral degrees (genetics, with minors in biochemistry and statistics). His academic accomplishments were notable because "he did not come from a scientific background and had no laboratory experience." He introduced new, rigorous courses in genetics at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Olembo was a strong advocate for education in Kenya and neighboring countries. He served as an examiner for the Cambridge University School Certificate, a chief examiner for the East African Examinations Council, and an external assessor for university degrees in Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania.

He wrote and was widely published on genetics, ecology and environmental policy.

International career

Olembo was a member of the African delegation to the 1972 Stockholm Conference that led to the creation of UNEP. He joined the organisation in 1974 as a Senior Programme Officer. He played key roles in strengthening a number of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAS) such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), where he was interim Secretary-General between 1998 and 1999; the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Olembo served as a national government advisor on environmental affairs to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. He developed the blueprint for what became the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). He was then appointed a managing trustee of the Kenya National Environment Trust Fund. He joined the Board of Directors of the Kenya Seed Company in 2003, where he served until his death in March 2005 after participating in a company strategic planning retreat.

Recognition Purdue University honored Olembo in 1994 with a Distinguished Alumni Award for Agriculture. He was also a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, a Fellow of the Kenya Academy of Sciences (secretary) and a member of the International Genetics Federation (executive committee).