Odera Oruka was the founder-president of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK); the founding-director of the International Institute of Environmental Studies(IIES), Nairobi; a member of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS); the secretary-general of African Futures Studies Association (AFSA); the secretary-general of the Afro-Asian Philosophical Association (AAPA); vice-president of the Inter-African Council of Philosophy (IACP); a member of the Executive committee of both the Federation International de societe philosophique (FISP) and World Futures Studies Federation. On June 3, 1993, he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Humanities from Uppsala University.