Josephine Ahikire is a Ugandan academic, researcher and African feminist. She is the professor, and the former Dean at the School of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University. She served as the Principal at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University.
She attended her primary education at St Joseph's Primary School and completed it in 1979. She completed her Advanced level in 1986 before joining Makerere University in 1987 to pursue a degree in Social Sciences.ÃÂ She holds a PhD.
She previously served as the associate professor at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies formerly known as the School of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University before becoming the Professor. She served as the Acting Deputy Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences before becoming the Principal at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, a role she held until May 2024. In 2024, she was succeeded by Helen Nkabala as the Principal of the school on the 31st May 2024.
Josephine has been a visiting professor through Universities internationally including being a member of Senate, the University Academic Organ since 2015. Josephine has been teaching for the past two decades in the field of feminist theory, gender and politics, livelihood and cultural studies. She served as the chair of the Gender theme for the African Studies Association 2015 (USA), also served as the Dean at School of Women and Gender Studies.
She is currently a senior lecturer at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies. She is also the Executive Chair of the Centre for Basic Research (CBR) in Kampala, a member of the National Governance Council for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and a board member of the Uganda National NGO Forum.
She is an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Advancement of Non racialism and Democracy (CANRAD) Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. This followed an appointment by professor A Govindjee, the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Innovation and Internationalization at the Nelson Mandela University on February 1, 2020. The Honorary Professor appointment title also recognises the level of distinction commensurate with the status of a Professor and is conferred on persons with an associative relationship with the university. Her appointment was a recognition of her intellectual and scholarly accomplishments in the development and application of knowledge that has a transformative impact on society.