Alumni
The Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Alumni Association was formed in 2015 as an offshoot of the celebrations to mark 50 years since the establishment of the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Nairobi. During the initiation stages, the association is grateful to the services of Samuel W. Kiiru, who served as the Chairman and Njeri Muhoro who served as Secretary. Jointly, they have been able to see the association grow to what it is today. Their names shall forever be engraved in the IDS Alumni Roll of Honour.
The IDS Alumni Association was greatly involved in organizing for the celebrations of IDS at 55 in 2020. Some of the benefits of being members of the association include networking and job placement sharing. The IDS Alumni Association is in advanced stages of negotiations with the Umbrella University of Nairobi Alumni Association (UONAA) for the acceptance as a chapter in the parent alumni association, emphasizing the essence of mutual benefit and co-existence of the two associations.
In terms of the Governance structure, the following are the Executive Committee officials of the Association:
- Chairperson
- Deputy Chairperson
- Secretary
- Deputy Secretary
- Treasurer
- Deputy Treasurer
- Co-opted Members [Based on Special Circumstances]
The IDS Director is the Patron of the Alumni Association. In the composition of the Steering Committee, each of the IDS graduated class has a representative in the IDS alumni. The IDS Alumni Association has engaged variously with the members and the IDS administration, and they have jointly noted that the key areas of involvement of the alumni are in the following:
- Production and sales of branded merchandise
- Invite past IDS Fellows like Joseph Stiglitz to Alumni activities
- Involvement in IDS PhD Clinics
- Inviting the Alumni to give talks on their areas of expertise – role of Alumni as Guest Lecturers
- Inviting the Alumni as part of the IDS Public Lecture Series.