David Stern

David Stern grew up in Niger, in Francophone West Africa, returning to the UK and Germany for his university studies. For six years he worked as a lecturer in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences at Maseno University in Kenya. He is also coordinator of content development for the new e-campus of the University. Maseno University is in western Kenya with the claim to fame that the main campus straddles the equator.

David’s PhD was in pure mathematics but his interests encompass mathematics and statistics from the very applied to the purely abstract. A large part of the attraction of working in Kenya is the immense variety of challenges that need mathematical or statistical support. His postgraduate students have worked or are working on problems in climate change, road building, descriptive statistics and mathematics education as well as pure mathematics. Underlying these opportunities is the fact that the current education system is not producing enough people with the skills needed for the country’s development.

Technology is at the heart of Kenya’s current development as a nation and provides amazing possibilities for educational innovation. Much of David’s work in the past two years has been to develop a team to take advantage of these new opportunities, both for schools and universities.