Professor Nancy Booker has been appointed Dean, Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC), effective June 1, 2023.
A scholar of repute and seasoned media practitioner with two decades of experience, Professor Booker served as the Interim Dean of GSMC since January 2022. She has a wealth of scholarly experience as a researcher and faculty member, a substantial reputation in the industry, and has the added benefit of strong academic leadership wisdom.
While making the announcement, Dr Carl Amrhein, AKU Provost and Vice President, Academic said, “Acknowledging that media and communications industries are transforming globally, GSMC will need to pivot and adapt to accommodate these changes. After undertaking a series of discussions with regional stakeholders and university leadership, along with thorough consultations with the entire staff and faculty of GSMC, the resulting recommendation was that Dr Nancy Booker is best placed to oversee and implement future changes for GSMC."
In the short time that Professor Booker held the interim role of Dean, she reignited regional interest in and respect for GSMC's work in a way that no other Dean at AKU has been able to achieve in the last five years.
Professor Booker holds a PhD in Communication specialising in Media Studies and Health Communication from Daystar University, where she was the institution's first female doctoral graduate in Communication. In 2019, she obtained an Executive Education Certificate in The Art and Practice of Leadership Development from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also a certified Professional Mediator. Professor Booker maintains an active research portfolio, particularly in the fields of gender transformation, as well as digital media mapping, and sustainability in journalism.
Before joining AKU in 2017, Professor Booker was the Chair of the Journalism and Communication Department at Multimedia University of Kenya, a position she held for five years. In that role she worked closely with faculty to develop diploma, undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in journalism, media and communications. During her tenure, student numbers grew from under 500 to more than 1000 students. Prior to that, she taught for nearly 12 years at Daystar University, where she spent her formative years as an academic. Between 2009 and 2011, she was seconded to ABC University of Liberia to establish the University's Department of Journalism and Communication and became the first academic head for the programme in post-war Liberia.
Professor Booker's early professional skills were developed at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and the Nation Media Group, where she worked as a programmes producer and programmes researcher respectively. To this day, Dr Booker is a regular media commentator on industry matters. She is a member of the Kenya Editors Guild, where she has served on committees charged with Strategy, Innovation, and Ethics. She is also a member of the Association of Media Women in Kenya. At the regional level, Dr Booker serves on the Board of the East Africa Communication Association. At a global level, she has served on the International Association of Media and Communication Research's Clearing House for public statements. Professor Booker also serves on the Media Complaints Commission in Kenya, where she mediates and adjudicates complaints raised against journalists and media outlets. Part of her role in the Commission is to enforce adherence to journalism standards and the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya.
A long-time proponent of journalism excellence, Professor Booker has served as a juror for several media awards across the continent, including the Annual Journalism Excellence Awards for the Media Council of Kenya, the AMREF East Africa Health Reporting Awards and, most recently, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Local Journalism Awards for Sub-Sahara Africa. She has also provided consultancy services for eminent organizations such as The Open Society, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Thomson Foundation
Committed to community service, Professor Booker is a trustee of Amani Ya Juu – Kenya, a social economic enterprise committed to peace and reconciliation for women from several African nations and cultures.
