News & Events

Africa: The Next Decade (2005):

A New Book on Africa by WPI faculty: Dr. Arthur Gerstenfeld and Dr. Raphael J. Njoroge

This book is the authors' contribution to our understanding of Africa in addition to the variety of papers on Africa that the authors have already written. Two chapters of this book are included among these papers. Business Books International, the publisher of the book, has the following message:

Africa: The Next Decade

A timely book on an important subject. Co-authored by Massachusetts-based Worcester Polytechnic Institute faculty Arthur Gerstenfeld and Raphael Njoroge with impeccable academic credentials and extensive experience in Africa, this provocative study focuses on the steps needed to help the continent reach its full potential. Africa: The Next Decade is not merely a listing of ailments and suggested cures for a better world but a practical, realistic handbook for all those interested in seeing Africa reach its full potential. It is destined to become a useful source at libraries, in classrooms and at conferences. But Gerstenfeld and Njoroge did not write this book with only the academic world, government and the business sector in mind. It is also intend to help the individual who is seriously interested in the future of Africa to get a better understanding in the midst of all the mixed and confusing signals about the future of this vital part of the world. ISBN 0-916673-18-9

National Recognition

WPI has been accorded national recognition as a leading institution in the promotion of US-Africa relations. This recognition has been expressed in two ways:

• The Department of Education, Business and International Education (BIE) has funded the WPI Africa project thrice, from 2001-2003 then 2003-2005. and now 2005-2007. The new project will officially start in September 2005 and be completed in September 2007. See BIE's Web page about the project.
• Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Senator John Kerry, and U.S. Representative Jim McGovern announced in April, 2005, that Worcester Polytechnic Institute will receive a $197,000 grant under the "Business and International Education" program of the U.S. Department of Education. WPI will use the funds for a three-part project on South Africa to improve understanding of South Africa and its economy, to enable WPI students to study in South Africa, and to strengthen New England companies' involvement in that country

Media Recognition

The media has accorded recognition to WPI for its involvement in global projects especially in Africa as the following excerpt from April/May 2004 issue of The Africa Journal (a publication of the Corporate Council on Africa) states on page 19:

WPI's Global Perspective Program plays a key role in the university's project-based curriculum by overseeing society-technology projects at its global project centers. These project experiences are unique among engineering and science universities because they require students to go off campus, including remote locales. The projects, overseen by faculty advisors, count as a full term's academic credit. No other university sends more engineering and science graduates overseas. WPI's newest project center opened in Windhoek, Namibia in early 2002. WPI signed MOU's with two African universities, Kenyatta University of Nairobi and Polytechnic of Namibia. The university and the Corporate Council on Africa hosted the first-ever New England Africa Business Conference that same month.

The University in Africa - Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280
Phone: +1-508-831-5741 - Fax: +1-508-831-5720 - africa@wpi.edu