Geoffrey William Griffin

Dr. Geoffrey William Griffin (June 15, 1933 in Eldoret – June 28, 2005) was the founding director of Starehe Boys Centre and School. He founded the school in November, 1959 with the help of the late Geoffrey Geturo and Joseph Gikubu, the current senior deputy director of the school. He also served as the founding director of the National Youth Service between 1964 and 1988, when he retired from the Kenyan Civil Service.

It is fitting to note that the successor to Dr. Griffin as Director of Starehe Boy's Centre & School is Prof. Jesse Mugambi a respected and renowned educationist in Kenya and previously professor of philosophy at the University of Nairobi.

Starehe offers a free, high-quality, education to many orphaned and poor African children (on a model similar to Christ's Hospital in UK's)). Many old boys are now prominent people in Kenya and the world. (Raphael Tuju, Cabinet Minister, Paul Ereng, Olympic gold Medalist, Dr Amrose Misore, Senior Deputy Director of Medical Services and Prof George Magoha, Medical Surgeon & Urologist who is the current competitively appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nairobi are just a few of the Old Stareheans).

Although Geoffrey Griffin had a humble educational background, he rose to become a pioneering educational leader and was awarded an honorary PhD in Education by Kenyatta University for developing Starehe Boys Centre and School to become one of the premier schools not only in Kenya but in Africa that is renowned the world over as a centre of educational excellence.

He was awarded the Moran of the Order of Burning Spear by President Kenyatta in 1970, the Moran of the Order of the Golden Heart by President Moi in 1986 and the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission in 2005 [http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=23985] .

External links

*Anonymous (18. Aug. 2005) [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1739371,00.html "TimesOnline" obituary] , The Times.
*Kwamchetsi Makokha (29. June. 2005) [http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/hm_news/news.php?articleid=23985 Starehe founder Griffin dies at 72] "The East African Standard"

Bibliography

*Geoffrey Griffin (1994) "School Mastery: Straight talk about boarding school management in Kenya", (Nairobi: Lectern Publications).
*Roger Martin (1978) "Anthem of bugles: the story of Starehe Boys Centre and School", (Nairobi, London : Heinemann Educational).
*Kennedy OA Hongo, Jesse NK Mugambi (2000) "Starehe Boys Centre: School and Institute. The first forty years 1959-1999" (Nairobi: Acton Publishers)