KAMPALA – Prof. Sarah Evelyn Nabwire Ssali has officially assumed office as Makerere University’s First Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs (DVCAA).
The handover ceremony took place on September 30 , with University Director for the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, handing over the office to Prof. Ssali.
The ceremony was attended by top management led by Vice-Chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe, University Chaplain Lydia Nsaale Kitayimbwa, and members of Ssali’s family.
Ssali was appointed earlier this month by University Chancellor Dr Crispus Kiyonga on the recommendation of the University Council and Senate, succeeding Prof. Umar Kakumba, who handed over office in 2024.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nawangwe described Prof. Ssali as an “outstanding scholar, administrator, and leader whose service will further strengthen the University’s academic excellence.”
Prof. Ssali has served Makerere University for more than two decades, including as Acting Director of the Institute of Gender and Development Studies and as Dean of the School of Women and Gender Studies (2017–2024).
She also directs the Centre of Excellence in African Identities under the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).
An accomplished scholar, Prof. Ssali is a Professor of Gender and Development Studies with over 50 peer-reviewed publications, edited volumes, and book chapters.
Her research spans public policy, institutions, social transformation, gender, global health, health systems, and identity studies.
She has also contributed extensively to university governance, serving on the Makerere University Council since 2010, and chairing committees on Quality Assurance, Gender Mainstreaming, and ICT.
Ssali holds a PhD in International Health Studies from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, as well as a Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (Political Science and Public Administration) from Makerere University. As Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Prof. Ssali will oversee academic administration and policy direction, including teaching, learning, and research policy—functions central to Makerere’s role as Uganda’s largest public university.
She becomes the second woman to assume the office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs Prof. Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, who is currently a Justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda.
Prof .Tibatemwa was a pioneer in law and higher education, achieving several firsts for women in East Africa’s academic and legal fields.