Florida Karani is the former Chancellor of Maseno University and a Kenyan woman educationist of firsts. Prof Karani was the first woman chancellor, the first woman university administrator as deputy Vice-Chancellor at theUniversity of Nairobi. She was the College Principal from 1988 to 1994 before being appointed DVC Academic Affairs. Additionally, in 1988 she became the founding Dean of the Faculty of External Studies.Florida Karani is an accomplished author and presenter with several peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations to her name. On the international arena, she has been involved in training of trainers for the UN Economic Commission for Africa and UNICEF. In 2002 she was appointed a member of the Africa Regional Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge.
Closer home, Prof Karani has held membership positions in the Inter University Council of East Africa and Kenya's Commission for Higher Education. In 1994 she received the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya (OGW) presidential award in recognition of her contribution towards improving the quality of higher education in Kenya.