Prof Bulelwa Nguza-Mduba is a distinguished academic leader and higher education executive with an extensive career spanning more than three decades, underpinned by a robust suite of qualifications, including a Doctor of Business Administration, multiple master’s degrees in business leadership and education, and a postgraduate diploma in higher education management from the University of Bath. Her career reflects sustained excellence in commerce, education, and public administration, with a strong commitment to transforming higher education and advancing scholarship. She currently serves as the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management and Public Administration Sciences at the Walter Sisulu University, where she leads strategy development, academic innovation, research advancement, community engagement integration, and institutional partnerships across a multi-campus environment.

Before her current role, Prof Nguza-Mduba served as acting Rector of the Butterworth Campus, providing strategic, academic, and operational leadership across portfolios such as teaching and learning, research, student affairs, governance, ICT, finance, and infrastructure. Over the years, she has held several senior leadership positions – including Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences and Director of the Economic and Management Sciences School – where she managed diverse academic programmes, strengthened research output, improved student success rates, and cultivated collaborative and transformative academic cultures. She has also served on numerous internal and external committees, contributed to national higher education initiatives, and provided leadership within professional bodies such as SAAPAM, EDHE, and HELM.

A committed scholar, Prof Nguza-Mduba has produced impactful research in entrepreneurship, tourism, small business sustainability, competitive intelligence, and public administration. She has presented at international conferences – including EduLearn, INTED, ROGE, and IPADA – and has published journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Her work consistently advances knowledge on entrepreneurship education, SME performance, and higher education transformation. Beyond academia, she is deeply engaged in community development, working on projects ranging from youth empowerment and inmate rehabilitation to supporting local municipalities, schools, and NGOs. Through substantial third-stream income generation, extensive supervision and examination experience, and a passion for developing future leaders, Prof Nguza-Mduba continues to make a profound contribution to higher education, research, and societal development in South Africa.