First Maths professor in East, Central Africa

Apr 19, 2004

DRESSED in a grey pair of trousers, short-sleeved pink shirt and a pair of sneakers, Prof. Paul Edward Tebakyagenda Mugambi looks as flexible as a twenty-year-old

It is a myth! Everybody can do well in Mathematics — Prof. Mugambi

By Denis Ocwich

DRESSED in a grey pair of trousers, short-sleeved pink shirt and a pair of sneakers, Prof. Paul Edward Tebakyagenda Mugambi looks as flexible as a twenty-year-old. With 68 candles blown, you would expect him to be less active, but old age has not poured ice on his muscles.

Inside his four-by-six metres single-room office without a carpet, he is busy feeding coursework results of his students into a desktop computer.
The time is three minutes past 4.00pm.
The office, up the stairs of Makerere University’s Faculty of Science, has a filing cabinet, a big table and a wooden book shelve overflowing with literature—some looking older than Uganda’s Independence. On the wall directly in front of his desk is a chalkboard—typical of a Mathematician’s world.

Since he began teaching at Makerere University in 1963, Mugambi has never looked elsewhere.
From little-known Bukedea Primary School over 60 years ago, the father of five has become one of the best-known mathematicians in Africa.

In 1976, he was the first to become a Professor of Mathematics in East and Central Africa.
As of now, there are only two Mathematics professors in the country —Mugambi and his former student, Prof. Livingstone Luboobi, also of Makerere University.
“He is a great advocate of Mathematics education. He would like to see Mathematics properly studied and used,” says Dr. Fred Nabugoomu, the head of the Mathematics department at Makerere University.

Through his involvement with the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) and the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST), Mugambi has been a fervent mouthpiece for Mathematics.
Currently, he is the patron of the Uganda Mathematical Society, of which he was founder chairman in 1972. The main mission of the society is to promote Mathematics teaching in Uganda.

“Mathematics is an international problem,” he says, but hastens that it is a fallacy to think that people who do well in Mathematics are those naturally gifted in it.
“It’s a myth!” he dispels, “Everybody can do well in mathematics, as long as they have enough materials, relevant books at relevant levels with the right teachers.”

He, however, observes that most teachers do not inculcate a positive attitude among students towards learning Mathematics. “Teachers and parents are central...They should work together to help the children remove the negative attitude towards Mathematics. They should know that it is achievable, just like other subjects. They should be motivated.”

But he notes, the country is facing a problem of few not-well-trained Mathematics teachers.
“For instance, the students who go into Teacher Training Colleges have very poor grades.
“They don’t come (from O’ Level) with strong enough grades to be trained as teachers,” he observes. “New approaches in teaching Mathematics also need to be explored.”

Rubbing his hands on the chin, and pulling his chair forward, he implores: “The Government should find ways of attracting students, particularly females, into studying and promoting Mathematics.”
Now working on contract, Mugambi has won acclaim for being the brain behind the establishment of the Makerere University Institute of Computer Science (ICS), which evolved out of a small computer centre under the Mathematics department.

“It was through Professor Mugambi’s efforts that the ICS was born... His contribution is immeasurable,” Nabugoomu says.
“His greatest contribution was to hold this department together when the expatriates left in the 1970s.”
He exhorts: “The Government and Parliament need to come up with some way of recognising people like Mugambi who, despite poor pay, have served the university all their lifetime, and given it their best.”
A fellow lecturer, Dr. Syed Abidi, describes the bespectacled Mugambi, who is married to a fellow lecturer, Lydia Mugambi of the School of Education, as a man who is “lively, outgoing and down-to-earth.”

One thing that makes the professor humourous is his love for music.
Dating back to his olden days at secondary level, he has always had passion for music and piano.
“I have been a member of the singing group since the 1950s and I have sang in churches in Europe and America,” Mugambi recounts, exuding the aura of a dramactor.

To keep himself fit, Mugambi runs around Makerere Hill three times a week—on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. “I enjoy jogging because it is good for health. It freshens your mind and keeps you in good shape,” he explains.

FACT FILE
Born in Bukedea on August 25, 1935 to Mr. Ham (R.I.P) and Dinah Musisi, both primary school teachers then

Schools attended:
Bukedea Primary
Makerere College
King's College Budo
Makerere University,
Southampton University
University of Rochester (U.S.A)

Posts held:
Assistant Lecturer
Special Lecturer
Lecturer
Senior Lecturer
Founder chairman of the Uganda Mathematical Society
Associate Professor and Head of Mathematics Dept for 11 years
Dean of Faculty of Science for six years
UNESCO consultant on Assessment of Education Research in Basic Sciences and Science and Technology in Africa
Chairman of the National UNESCO Inter-governmental Informatics Programme.
Served as chairman of the taskforce of the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology for the National Information and Communication Technology Policy Framework
He has also been Mathematics examiner in many East African universities, as well as chairman, coordinator or executive member of several local and international science bodies and NORAD-funded projects at Makerere

Certificates & awards:
Kisosonkole Memorial Prize for the greatest contribution to King’s College Budo
Phyllis Manning Memorial Prize for Piano Players at King’s College Budo
Shell Exhibition Prize for being one of the best students in the faculty of Science in the University of London Intermediate Examinations
Received a medal at the Pan African Congress of Mathematics

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