Henry Wakhungu

Henry K. Wakhungu serves as Teaching Professor in the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, a position to which he was promoted in 2021 as part of the university's inaugural cohort of teaching professors. Previously a Senior Lecturer, he has dedicated his career to instructing hundreds of students each semester in statistical techniques through courses such as K300 Statistical Techniques and SPEA 427 Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making, delivered in face-to-face, hybrid, and fully online formats. His innovative teaching methods emphasize active learning, utilizing online resources including videos, study guides, case studies, homework problems, and self-assessments to foster deeper conceptual understanding, instant feedback, and authentic statistical problem-solving connected to students' interests. Wakhungu holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University (2004), an M.Sc. from the University of Sussex, Brighton, England (1984), and a B.Sc. from the University of Nairobi, Kenya (1983).

Wakhungu's research specializations encompass methods, econometrics, and data management; public management; development of growth simulation models for sustainable management of indigenous community forests; experimental designs in tropical forestry research; service-learning research; classroom action research on student active learning via group research projects in undergraduate introductory statistical techniques courses; and how pre-service teachers conceptualize mathematics indexed with their beliefs about learning and teaching. He has published “Inclusive Access and Student Engagement: How Inclusive Access Spurs Students to Own Learning in a High-Enrollment Statistics Course” (with Dina Yankelewitz, 2020) in Inclusive Access and Open Educational Resources E-text Programs in Higher Education, edited by T. Hurley (Springer); "Comparison of NAEP, PISA, and TIMSS-R" in East Asian Mathematical Journal 25(3): 279-297 (2009); and a co-authored contribution to a themed paper set on an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based pre-service teacher preparation program entitled Lunar Learning: Pre-Service Teachers Thinking like Scientists and Mathematicians. His teaching excellence is evidenced by awards including the Indiana University Trustees’ Teaching Award (2020), nomination for President’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2019), O'Neill Undergraduate Teaching Award (2017), Inaugural Most Inclusive Award, O'Neill Student Choice Awards (2015), IU Delta Academy Professor of the Year (2013) and Instructor of the Year (2015), and IU African Students’ Association Faculty Advisor Appreciation Awards (2012, 2015). He is also affiliate faculty in the African Studies Program.