Ratemo W. Michieka
Director-General of the National Environmental Management Authority, Kenya

Ratemo W. Michieka is a longtime leader in education and agricultural policy in eastern Africa. In 1971, at age 18, Dr. Michieka entered Cook College (now the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences). He later earned a master's degree in agricultural education and vocational technical agriculture and a doctorate in weed science at Rutgers. He returned to his native Kenya, where he taught and later became chairman of the department of crop science at the University of Nairobi.

In 1994, he was named vice chancellor of The Jomo Kenyatta University, a center of excellence in agriculture, engineering, architecture, applied sciences, and marine and mining sciences, and held that position until April 2003, when he was named to his current post. Dr. Michieka chairs the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, considered the finest of its kind in Africa, and the Kenya Education Network.

He has held administrative positions at the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Program, and consulted for CARE and the Swedish International Development Agency. In 1997, the Cook Alumni Association awarded him the George Hammell Cook Award for Distinguished Alumni.