78-Year-Old Woman Earns PhD Decades After Shelving Academic Dreams

Deborah Chepkisich Lotodo, born into a family of 14 in Kenya’s Mount Elgon region, earned a PhD from the Catholic University of East Africa at age 78. Financial hardship forced her to leave secondary school, but she later trained as a teacher, taught at several schools in West Pokot and established a primary school there. After her husband died, she returned to education and pursued psychological counselling, progressing through a diploma at Tangaza University College and a master’s degree at Mount Kenya University before graduating with her doctorate on October 23, 2026.