Maasai warrior, teacher author, and member of Kenya’s Parliament: Joseph Lekuton '91.  Joseph left his native Kenya for the first time when he traveled to St. Lawrence to study economics and government.  He earned his master’s degree at Harvard University and became a history teacher at the Langley School in northern Virginia. In his native nation’s recent elections, Joseph took his seat as a member of the Kenyan Parliament, and he remains actively involved in community development projects in rural Kenya.

Through his work with several non-profit organizations, more than 100 nomadic children have received education scholarships and constructed a water system delivering clean water to a dozen villages in northern Kenya. He is the youngest recipient of Kenya's Order of the Grand Warrior, given by the president for exemplary service to the country. National Geographic is the publisher of Joseph’s short memoir:  Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna is a book of cultural encounters as he recounts growing up in a traditional nomadic way of life in Kenya (where "facing the lion" is both a metaphor and a vivid memory).

St. Lawrence honored Joseph with its Sol Feinstone Award for Humanitarian Service in 2005.