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Prof Stef Coetzee, former Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), passed away in the Mediclinic Cape Gate on Saturday 27 October 2018.
Prof Coetzee assumed duty as the 11th Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS on 1 April 1997. He will be remembered for his drive to promote transformation at the UFS. During his time as Rector and Vice-Chancellor, he initiated a revitalisation process (turnaround strategy) which was ultimately finalised by his successor, Prof Frederick Fourie.
Among others, he established a Broad Transformation Forum (BTF) and transformation office to draft a new political framework for the UFS. He strived to manage the university as a business enterprise and was focused on developing the academy in an entrepreneurial manner. His legacy includes the establishment of the BTF, the revitalisation process (turnaround strategy), academic revitalisation, growing student numbers, and increased research outputs. He stepped down as Rector at the end of 2002.
“The turnaround strategy initiated by Prof Coetzee during his term as Rector and Vice-Chancellor is still evident today in the management approach of the UFS. On behalf of the executive management and the university community, I wish his family, relatives, and former colleagues all the best during this difficult and sad time. I hope that they will find comfort in his significant contribution to various sectors in the country – especially at the UFS,” said Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.
Prof Stef Coetzee obtained his MA degree in Economics at Stellenbosch University in 1973, and a DPhil in Development Economics at the University of the Free State (UFS) in 1980. He is a former Executive Officer of the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut and was also associated with Unisa and the North-West University.
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Zakes Mda honoured at UFS Summer Graduation
2013-11-21
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| The awarded author, Dr Zakes Mda, received his honorary doctorate at the University of the Free State at the December Graduation Ceremony. Pictured here with him is Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS. |
Live streaming will be available: http://www.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming/
On Thursday 5 December 2013, the University of the Free State (UFS) will award more than 300 degrees and qualifications during the Summer graduation at the Bloemfontein Campus.
The graduation will take place during two ceremonies in the Callie Human Centre, where master’s and PhD degrees will be awarded during the first ceremony at 10:15 and diplomas, certificates and undergraduate qualifications awarded to students from the School of Open Learning and the Faculty of Health Sciences at 14:30.
An honorary doctorate from the UFS will also be bestowed on the author, Dr Zakes Mda, during the morning ceremony.
Dr Mda is a South African literary icon and public intellectual with extraordinary local and international influence. Mda’s contribution to world literature and contemporary South African public life resonates powerfully with some of the fundamental principles of the Academic and Human Projects articulated in the strategic thrust of the University of the Free State, which makes him an ideal candidate for an honorary doctorate from our university.
Some of his most famous works include Ways of Dying, Heart of Redness, The Madonna of Excelsior, The Whale Caller, Cion, Black Diamond and his recent memoir: Sometimes There is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider.
The Springbok rugby player, Jannie du Plessis, will address graduandi during both ceremonies.