in 1980 at Southern Illinois University with a thesis titled Aspects of Chichewa derivational phonology and syllable structure.
[2] Mtenje joined the University of Malawi as a Lecturer in 1980 and rose to the rank of a full professor of African languages and Linguistics in 2000.
His research has focused on the phonology of the Bantu languages of Malawi, particularly prosodic aspects including the interface between tone on the one hand and morphology and syntax on the other.
[10] Notable projects initiated during his time as director include, firstly, publication of a Linguistic Atlas for Malawi.
The project culminated in the production of the first linguistic atlas for the country in which detailed technical information about the language situation in Malawi was provided.