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17 August 2020
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Story Nitha Ramnath
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Photo istock
Within the next five years, 60% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. Urban living comes with large-scale economic advantages and society benefits from economies of scale. But, COVID-19 is challenging urban living. We have introduced the term ‘social distancing’ and some policy analysts have even argued for the de-densification of cities.
Join us for a discussion where our panellists will analyse this perceived conflict.
Date: Thursday, 27 August 2020
Time: 14:00 to 15:30 (South African Standard Time – GMT +2)
Please RSVP to Elelwani Mmbadi at
mmbadiE@ufs.ac.za no later than 25 August, upon which you will receive a Skype for Business meeting invite and link to access the webinar.
Speakers:
Prof Ivan Turok
Dr Geci Karuri-Sebina
Mr Thiresh Govender
Moderator:
Lochner Marais
Prof Jonathan Jansen elected as new ASSAf President
2016-10-28

Prof Jonathan Jansen, former Vice-Chancellor
and Rector of the UFS, has been appointed
President of the ASSAf.
Photo: Supplied
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) has elected former Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Jonathan Jansen, as its new President for the next four years. He succeeds Prof Daya Reddy. Distinguished Professors Brenda Wingfield and Barney Pityana were elected ASSAf’s new Vice-Presidents.
The minds that shape tomorrow
The academy’s directive is to advise and provide the government with evidence-based solutions to national problems; inspiration, and examples of how science and technology can be applied for the benefit of society. ASSAf represents scientists in South Africa but also represents the country in the international community of science academies.
Prof Jansen, who is currently a Senior Research Professor at the UFS and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, is also a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, and President of the South African Institute of Race Relations.
The great achieve greatly
Prof Jansen’s book, Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past won the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize, the largest award from the British Academy for Social Sciences and Humanities, for its contribution to scholarly excellence and transcultural understanding.
In 2013, he was awarded the Education Africa Lifetime Achiever Award in New York and the Spendlove Award from the University of California for his contributions to tolerance, democracy and human rights. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Vermont and Cleveland State University.
Plans for the future
His recent books include Leading for Change, which was published this year. He is completing a new book explaining the current crisis in, and future prospects of, South African universities, due for release in mid-2017.