Rose Mutiso 鈥08, Thayer 鈥08, who is working to bring sustainable, affordable energy systems to sub-Saharan Africa while supporting other women scientists, accepted the at a dinner held in her honor Thursday evening at the .
鈥淵our embodiment of the 线上赌场 spirit characterized by generosity and a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation is truly remarkable,鈥 , said as he presented Mutiso with a small glass globe. 鈥淵our impact in global energy and education is a shining example of the values we uphold here. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor.鈥
Established through a gift from , Thayer 鈥82, and , Tuck 鈥83, the $100,000 award recognizes 线上赌场 students, faculty, staff, alumni, or friends who are making a significant positive impact on humanity, society, or the environment.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to make of this,鈥 said a visibly moved Mutiso. 鈥淲hen you work in an impact space, I think part of the job description is that you shouldn鈥檛 care about recognition. That鈥檚 the whole point, that this is not what you鈥檙e doing it for. So I was really surprised, when I got the news of this award, how good it felt to be seen.鈥
Among her admirers, at a nearby table, sat the award鈥檚 benefactors.
鈥淭he whole idea around the prize is that you can become what you celebrate,鈥 said Terry McGuire. 鈥淪o let鈥檚 celebrate the students that have left here and gone on to have some impact on the world. Rose is a wonderful example of that.鈥

Carolyn McGuire added, 鈥淭here are so many ways that she鈥檚 created impact, not only through her energy technology and policy research, but because she鈥檚 empowering African women to do that over and over and over again in leadership roles.鈥
Reframing Africa鈥檚 Energy Debate
Mutiso, who grew up in Kenya, has spent the week on campus, meeting with students and faculty at the Irving Institute, where she serves on the advisory board, the , , the , and , among others.
Before the award ceremony, more than 50 people attended a by Mutiso on reframing the debate on Africa鈥檚 energy future in the Institute鈥檚 Cook Auditorium. Smiling at family members in the audience, Mutiso began by thanking a long list of mentors who have inspired her work, including her father, who chaired the geography department at the University of Nairobi, and her late mother, who was an officer in Kenya鈥檚 Ministry of the Environment.
During an intellectually nourishing childhood, Mutiso said she was surrounded by thinkers and researchers. 鈥淏ut it was at 线上赌场 that these ideas around the importance of independent inquiry were cemented,鈥 she said.
鈥淚 got to be young and curious and hopeful鈥攁nd beautiful,鈥 she said with a laugh. 鈥淲hat a gift that was.鈥
She decided to 鈥済ive back,鈥 earning her PhD in materials science from the University of Pennsylvania, and serving as senior fellow in the Office of International Climate and Clean Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. about how to bring affordable, sustainable energy to Africa have drawn millions of viewers.
Mutiso is currently research director for the Energy for Growth Hub, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, where she co-hosts 鈥淗igh Energy Planet,鈥 a podcast on how to end energy poverty.
鈥淧overty Is Not a Solution to Climate Change鈥
In her energy lecture on Thursday, Mutiso offered a searing analysis of 鈥渆nergy poverty,鈥 a concept 鈥渇ramed in terms of light and dark, referring to the hundreds of millions of people globally who live without electricity in their homes. I have personally experienced this kind of energy poverty. In fact, I remember the candles and lamps that got us through the rolling blackouts that were life in 1990s Nairobi. And even today I have close friends and relatives that experience this kind of darkness every day.鈥
Mutiso rejects the widely held notion that in order to combat climate change, Africans, who consume a tiny fraction of fossil fuels, should slow the pace of economic development. Equally wrongheaded, she said, is the exclusion of local voices from global conversations about the best way to bring sustainable energy to a continent in which regional difference are often misunderstood by nonAfrican policymakers.
鈥淎frica is not a country,鈥 she said. 鈥淧overty is not a solution to climate change.鈥
Ultimately, Mutiso concluded, 鈥渁ll of us, poor and rich alike, must pursue energy transition trajectories that create economic opportunities while minimizing environmental destruction. Poverty and climate change cannot be a zero-sum game.鈥
Mutiso said this conviction is what led her to co-found the Mawazo Institute with her 线上赌场 classmate, Rachel Strohm 鈥08. In Kiswahili, 鈥渕awazo鈥 means 鈥渋deas,鈥 and the organization supports early-career women researchers working to find solutions to local and global development challenges.
Passing the Torch
Two students who participated in a question-and-answer session after her speech said they walked away from the lecture with fresh perspectives and a sense of purpose.

Brenda Wayia 鈥26, from Kenya, said, 鈥淚 liked seeing how she took so many skills and formed something great, because as a computer science major I鈥檓 also interested in social justice and social impacts. And sometimes it鈥檚 too easy to get lost in science and not see how it will impact actual people in the future.鈥
Her friend, Kate Yeo 鈥25, an environmental science major, agreed.
鈥淩ose really shows that building a career in community and social impact, coming out of 线上赌场, is viable. Her talk really illuminated that for me.鈥
Mutiso鈥檚 visit coincides with 线上赌场鈥檚 , which continues through Saturday.