Busitema University’s physics lecturer Dr Angela Karoro has died of a blood clot, a close family member has said.

“The post-mortem report has just indicated that she got a sudden blood clot in the legs which traveled to the lungs and killed her. She was in her late 30s and not yet married,” the family member told New Vision on Wednesday.

Karoro, who has been a full-time lecturer and the niece of senior presidential advisor on public relations Mary Karoro Okurut, died on May 30 in Tororo district. 

Tribute

Prof. William Bazeyo, a member of the Busitema University Council and chairperson of its appointment board, paid tribute to her life and work.

“I am so sorry about her death. I have seen a lot of good messages about her. I didn’t know her. I have only been there (Busitema University) for just one year. Young and brilliant, very big loss to family and the nation,” he said in a brief message.

Karoro will be laid to rest at her father Prof. Emmanuel Karoro’s home in Bushenyi-Ishaka municipality on Friday.

Her father is a renowned educationist, who pioneered the teaching of Kiswahili when he was still a director at Kakoba National Teachers Colleges in Mbarara.

At school and university, the late Karoro always passed her Mathematics examinations with flying colors.

In 2016, she was among the five winners of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards.

The awards are presented every year to five outstanding women scientists – one per each of the following regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America - in recognition of their scientific accomplishments.

UNESCO, which is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, says on its website that each scientist has had a unique career path combining exceptional talent, a deep commitment to her profession, and remarkable courage in a field still largely dominated by men.

Reports indicate that Karoro’s research path began with an MSc Physics research program at Makerere and Busitema Universities, where she was working with undergraduate Physics programs.

She was actively involved in renewable energy projects and this brought her in contact with a well-known researcher, Professor Ernst Van Groningen.