From the mountains of Kenya to Iowa State and back again -one ISU alumna whose crusade for equal opportunities has elevated her to prominence in African academics made her homecoming to Ames this week to share her story.

“I reflect on the background I came from,” reminisced Professor Leah Marangu, “and how it would have been a disabling environment.”

Marangu, one of this year’s recipients of the ISU Distinguished Alumni Citation, traveled halfway across the globe with her family to accept her reward and present her lecture, “A Long Journey Begins with a Single Step.”

Humble beginnings

Leah Marangu’s journey to education began when she was a young girl in the Meru community on the slopes of Mount Kenya. Her father was one of the most educated men in the community with his third-grade education. Leah wanted to emulate her father, but her path to school was not easy.

“The more I tried to go to school, the more I was challenged by my mother,” she told the several hundred people who went to her lecture Wednesday night .

While Leah was struggling for the opportunity to receive an education, Kenya was struggling to end British colonial rule. It was during the Mau Mau uprisings and rebellion that she went against her mother’s wishes and enrolled in school.

Leah earned a place in a boarding school after performing well on a national exam. She left the world of her village, walked to a new school 20 miles away, got an education and met her life partner, John Marangu.

Family support

Leah Marangu was working as a nurse when John Marangu left for the United States to pursue an undergraduate degree at Olivet University in Kanakee, Ill. Within a year, Leah joined him and began her undergraduate education.

Kimathi Marangu, John and Leah’s son, said coming to the United States and pursuing a degree was his mother’s most amazing accomplishment.

“As difficult as it is to go to school . it takes a certain amount of courage to pursue it halfway across the world,” he said.

Leah Marangu said she depends on the support from her family.

“I could not have done it without my husband and children,” she said. “I feel very blessed.”

During their seven years at Iowa State in the late 1960s and 1970s, John earned a doctorate in genetics and Leah earned a master’s in family environment and a doctorate in home economics education.

Makena Marangu was a young girl when her parents arrived in Ames to earn their degrees.

Growing up in their international home at Pammel Court, the Marangu children went to school in Ames and had friends from all over the world.

“The biggest thing she did, especially at Iowa State, was that she included us in her life in terms of what she was pursuing,” Makena Marangu said.

John and Leah Marangu returned to Kenya to help build a university system in the newly independent East African nation.

Donna Cowan, professor of International Programs in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, coordinated Leah Marangu’s nomination for the Distinguished Alumni Citation.

“The Marangus always go back to Kenya,” Cowan said. “They have always been of service to Kenya.”

Leadership at home

As department chairs at Kenyatta University near Nairobi, the Marangus encouraged their students to pursue doctoral degrees abroad, said Jane Rose Njue, an ISU doctoral candidate from Nairobi, Kenya.

“She was my professor and mentor at Kenyatta University,” Njue said.

“She encouraged us to come to Iowa State.”

Leah Marangu was the founder of the Home Economics Association for Africa, bringing together educators from all across the continent. She continued to advocate passionately for education for women and girls, challenging women “not to be flowers or butterflies . but to perform.”

Leah Marangu is the first woman in East Africa to be named a full professor, and she was presented with the Silver Star of Kenya, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Building a university

Leah Marangu’s newest challenge began when she was named the vice-chancellor – the equivalent of president – of Africa Nazarene University.

Africa Nazarene University provides a private alternative to public higher education. The six public universities do not have enough space for all the nation’s qualified high school graduates.

Leah Marangu hopes her legacy will be that a “Kenyan woman looks at herself, appreciating who she is as a woman, not imitating the male aspect of being. We must not apologize to be women.”

Today, Leah Marangu will be cited as a Distinguished Alumni, an honor recognizing a lifetime of work and a legacy of learning.

“As Kenyans, we are proud Iowa State University has honored her with this great award,” said Benard Kivunge, graduate student in mathematics from Nairobi.

Leah Marangu is as modest about her accomplishments as she is passionate about improving the lives of those around her.

“I have always inspired my students to go out and do likewise to others,” she said. “I tell them to start with something small, because they have so much to offer their home communities.”

For this ISU alumna, Homecoming week is an opportunity to reflect on her journey from a village near the mountain to a world of education.

“Women have blamed the system and men for our not so enabling environment,” she said. “But women are the custodians of culture . we are not downgraded in doing that.”