Mafazy ’02 to Receive Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award

Sept. 20, 2019

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Munib Said Mafazy ’02 will be honored with the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Nursing’s 2019 “Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Nursing” during Homecoming festivities, in acknowledgement of his leadership and innovation within the nursing field.

He will deliver the keynote address “Healing in the Dark: Stories from Lamu, Kenya” on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 9 a.m. in the Wilson Atrium of the Center for Natural Sciences. Tours of the School of Nursing will be available after the presentation.

Mafazy is the president and a founder of the Lamu Center of Preventative Health, a nonprofit clinic that delivers free healthcare to the peoples of coastal Kenya. Mafazy has devoted his life to advocating for impoverished communities in Lamu County, Kenya, by improving access to healthcare by collaborating with Rotary International and the Kenya Ministry of Health.

Mafazy began his nursing education at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he earned a BSN in 2002, and later earned an MSN and a Ph.D. from Illinois State University. Mafazy is a board certified family nurse practitioner (FNP) with 11 years of experience in neurology. His current position is with Advocate Medical Group Neurology in Bloomington, Illinois.

In addition to his role as a clinician, Mafazy has authored numerous peer reviewed publications and book chapters on his research on Swahili conceptions of health and illness, diabetes, global health, and ethnography.

By John Twork