The law professor who looks like ‘Jesus’

Dr Isaac Rutenberg received a dual Bachelor Science degree in Chemistry and Mathematics/ Computer Science from Colorado School of Mines. He also has a PhD in Chemistry from California Institute of Technology.

He’s currently a director at Strathmore University Law School’s Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology law (CIPIT).

He is a lecturer as well, teaching technology law, social media law and competition law, is a practising patent agent in the US and also in Kenya. His PhD advisor won the Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry in 2005.

“I guess, academia agrees with my introverted personality,” he said when I met him in his office at campus.

He’s a very tall man —about 6’5’’ — and has a searing and introverted sense of humour— his bow ties notwithstanding.

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One of my editors sent me a message yesterday saying, “Have you interviewed the Strathmore professor who looks like Jesus?” I texted back, “Have you seen Jesus before to know how He looked like?” Prof, do you think Jesus had long hair and blue eyes?

{Laughs} I’m Jewish, but I know that Jesus did not have blue eyes and long hair. Well, maybe long hair but blue eyes no. He was dark-skinned. That’s what most of the experts say nowadays, and I believe that. I also know he didn’t look like an actor from Hollywood. When people say I look like Jesus, I chuckle because I don’t know what Jesus looked liked and I doubt anyone does.

Do you get that a lot, that you look like Jesus?

All the time. {Chuckles} Students sometimes call me Professor Jesus. {Shakes head} I get random people in streets, matatu drivers yelling out, “Jesus!” {Laughs} I once had kids in Westlands roundabout follow me saying, “Jesus! Jesus!”

Isn’t that just saddening!

{Sighs} Well, you know I’ve more recently come to the conclusion that I much rather one day hear someone say, “You act like Jesus,” rather than saying I look like Jesus.’’

To be fair to Jesus, I don’t think he would have worn a bow tie like that…

{Chuckles} Probably not. Talking of which, do you know Consolata Shrine’s mural of Jesus?

Yeah.

It was done by Nani Croze of Kitengela Glass. She had asked me to be a Jesus model as she created it, fortunately she didn’t make it exactly like this. It’s a bit of everlasting. That’s how crazy this Jesus impression is, but I have to say that I’m not that guy who has been spotted in Nairobi walking barefoot and in robes.

What’s your relationship with religion?

{Long pause} I’m a scientist by training and I look at the world and the universe as something that could not possibly have come into existence as it is, without some higher power work. It’s just too convenient. It’s more of a leap of faith to say this is random, than to say, “Yeah, there’s a God out there. That he or she has a lot of influence or some influence.” How much influence? I don’t know. But I think it’s impossible to look at the world and come to the conclusion to that there’s no God. The more science I learn, the more I learn about people, about how the universe works and the more I’m convinced that there is God. To me science and religion are completely comparable.

What motivates you to acquire more academic knowledge, is it dictated by the demands of the job and market or it’s more personal?

I started out not as an academic, but as a practitioner. I practised patent law in California for a little while, in the Bay area, San Francisco. There I learnt a lot about entrepreneurship and about how to create. I observed the society that was just exciting and exuberant.

The energy in the Bay area is unparalleled. I was able to appreciate a lot of that because my education and my training both as a scientist and as a lawyer. I was able to look at that from a relatively unique perspective. Not unique but relatively unusual. My work here is really to contribute to that development, into whatever it is that becomes. Whether it’s a Silicon Valley or not.

Tell me about your childhood and what stood out for you.

I grew up in Colorado. My childhood was, uhm, comfortable. {Chuckles} I grew up in a very nice bubble for a child to grow up in. It was a very typical American suburb. Well, I’m glad I’m no longer in that bubble. I’m in my own bubble for sure, but I’m not in that bubble that was extremely homogeneous in the sense of, most of my high school friends didn’t leave Colorado.

They didn’t even travel very far. Very few relatively leave the country and that narrows their vision substantially. And I don’t think you can ever be a complete human without having contact with people who are different from you.

How do you find academia, is it something you truly love doing or you just find yourself here?

I absolutely love it. I like being a practitioner, I think I like being in academia even more. I think I will try maintain both aspects for as long as I can. I thrive in an environment where I am academically and intellectually challenged and there is always another thing to study, particularly here. You know, in the US, it’s more difficult to find a niche, I think. But here, everything needs to be studied.

Married to someone in the same field?

Well, married to my wife— Dr Wanjiru Kamau, she’s the director of African Women in Agriculture Research and Development. We met in Colorado where she went to high school.

High school! That’s a while back! What attracted you to her?

{Pause} She’s just brilliant; she has a PhD in political science, very sharp mind, intimidating sharp mind, I would say. She’s passionate and compassionate and just an incredible sense of fairness in her place in the world. A sense of how the world should work and a desire to make it happen. I’m drawn to that about her.

When you sit socially at a table with people having a discussion, do you sometimes have someone turn to you and ask, “Well, professor, what’s your take on that?”

{Chuckles} Uhm not in that way…thankfully! But you know I try to offer my opinion.

Is there any truth in the adage, the more you learn the less you know?

Absolutely! Yeah! There’s a saying that as you go through school, you learn just how much you don’t know. I’m completely in that position and getting more and more overwhelmed every day, seemingly. The world is changing rapidly, and in many ways, and when you think you understand something, it changes, or you realise that you didn’t really understand it after all.

How old are you now?

I’m 39. I plan to be 39 for the next couple of years.

So what’s the one thing you’ve learnt in your 30s?

I think failure is not valued enough in society. People are so afraid to fail. I learnt the importance of failure and I knew this in theory going into my 30s, I just didn’t understand it. Because I had spent time in the Bay area, the Silicon Valley, it’s essentially a rite of passage to fail. If you haven’t failed on two or three startup companies, nobody takes you seriously.

I lived a fairly a comfortable existence without much failure but you learn a lot from failing, it builds your character, you learn an awful lot about yourself and about your surroundings. If you’ve never failed you’ve never pushed your boundaries and that’s not a life worth living.

What has been your most profound failure?

{Long pause] I don’t know if I want to go there…I didn’t get the Chief Justice position that I had applied for last year, and I’m okay with that, obviously. I love my job but it was a failure and it did shape me in a many ways, I guess.

Do you find intellect to be handicap sometimes?

{Long pause} Yes, in some cases, especially when you over-analysing an issue. It separates you from the more basic facts of a situation...the way other people might interpret it.

What are your interests beyond academia?

I play the oboe. I play in the Nairobi Orchestra. I also read a lot of science fiction books and exercise a lot, I’m a very avid cyclist in the US, but cycling here…{Laughs} is like taking your life in your hands.

Who’s the last person you met whose intellect blew you away?

{Pause} Professor Patricia Kameri-Mbote of the University of Nairobi School of Law, former dean. Brilliant lady. Absolutely brilliant, and an absolute role model for me in the legal profession.

What’s with the bowtie, by the way?

{Pause} Personal style? I don’t know. I first wore a bowtie to my college interview and I’ve worn them ever since.

How many of those do you have?

Well over 100. My mother makes them. I try to wear a different one every day I teach. I have bowties for different occasions, like Halloween bowties, Christmas bowties...

I’d love to be a fly on the wall and listen to your conversations with your wife, it must get heavy most times...

The irony is it’s absolutely not. You’ll be shocked to hear we talk about the most mundane things. {Laughter} We watch a lot of trashy TV like the Kardashians and horrible things. But that’s to escape, neither of us likes to talk about work because work is so intense.

Kids?

Yeah. I have two boys.

How long do you intend to grow that hair?

That’s a good question. This one is almost three years old. I started growing it out about a decade ago, I always had very short hair and I wanted to see how it would look long. So I grew it out then I heard about a cancer charity called Locks for Love that makes wigs for patients who have lost their hair after undergoing chemotherapy. I have been donating my hair to the charity for a while now.