Prof. Philliph Mutisya of Raleigh, NC, has started the work of Diaspora University at Diaspora University Town (DUT). His current goal is to have the first class join the university in September 2026. By then, all the requirements to kick off classes will be in place. This will be the first university started by Diaspora Kenyans in Kenya. Ndara B Community and other partners have so far joined the Diaspora Kenyans in achieving the university and a university town.
Prof. Mutisya left Kenya in 1983. He would join the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, and obtain his Master’s Degree in Education (M.Ed.) in International Education in 1985 and in 1989, obtaining his Doctorate Degree (Ed.D.) in Instructional Leadership with a focus on Curriculum Development in Multicultural and Bilingual Education.
He thereafter joined the academia sector in the U.S., where he worked for 37 years. He has taught in various USA institutions: North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Fayetteville, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His work included Instructional Leadership in Education that incorporated Instructional Training and Development, Curriculum Development (Policy and Research Evaluation, Program Design, Assessment, and Evaluation), and Professional Development for faculty and Education Professionals (K-20) at the National and International levels.
He joined what is today the Diaspora University Town Project in 2015. He has since put in time and resources to advance the Master Development Plan that was established to achieve a university and town. He has visited WPI University, where the ongoing plan was started by the late Professors Arthur Gerstenfeld and Raphael Njoroge started the university plan.
He is working to complete the documents to submit to the Commission of University Education (CUE) in Kenya as he applies to start the university. Thereafter, he will start all the plans that will lead to the university's opening and the first-class intake.
The Diaspora University academic plan aims to increase the number of students obtaining university education and advance job creation, especially by providing ready jobs for students who graduate from the university.
The university will collaborate with micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in its education and job creation plans. Prof. Mutisya, who has already visited Silicon Valley and Stanford University, is already writing the curriculum that will achieve this.
