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27 August 2021 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)
Transforming the South Campus to a digitised university, Dr Maria Madiope is a resilient and strong guardian of the future generations.

Dr Maria ‘Marinkie’ Madiope, who grew up in Garankuwa Pretoria, is not your average professional woman. Her academic record speaks of vigilant style and resilient independence. Dr Madiope is currently the South Campus Principal at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

What is the best thing about your job?
It has given me the opportunity to transform the South Campus to a digitised university. I cannot express the feeling I have when welcoming students to the UFS and then presenting qualifications to them, especially to students who have gone through very traumatic home, personal, or academic times. 

What is the best and worst decisions you have ever made?
The best decision I have ever made was embracing education and making sure that I am not only certificated but learn to empower others in a very humble way. I don't want to think about my worst decisions. There's too much regret in everyone's lives to maintain our wavering joy.

What does the word woman mean to you?
It describes a proud warrior. A resilient and strong guardian of the future generations. The archetypal matriarch who is fearless and also tender, powerful but not afraid to demonstrate weakness, and self-sufficient yet dutiful. She is everything and anything, because she knows that she in control of whoever she wants to be. Her entire being is guided by this knowledge and self-love.

Which woman inspires you, and why?
My mom inspires me. She always had a smile on her face no matter how hard she worked, and she loved everyone. Her greatest strength is her ability to let nothing, and no one, remove her crown. “Strong winds may blow, but a QUEEN will bobby pin that thang in place and persevere because she is more than a conqueror.” I am also inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise about the struggle to overcome prejudice and injustice. It is one of Maya Angelou's most popular poems. When read by victims of wrongdoing, the poem becomes a kind of anthem, a beacon of hope for the oppressed and downtrodden.

News Archive

Council approves two senior appointments
2012-03-13

 

Dr Choice Makhetha and Prof. Hendri Kroukamp
13 March 2012

 

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Choice Makhetha as Vice-Rector: External Relations, and Prof. Hendri Kroukamp as Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Both appointments were approved on Friday 9 March 2012 by the UFS Council during its quarterly meeting at the Bloemfontein Campus.
 
“Dr Makhetha is an experienced administrator in higher education and has spent time shadowing the Presidents of Harvard and Spelman Universities in the USA, where she gained invaluable experience in positioning universities for world-class impact,” said Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Her portfolio will entail external linkages, partnerships and strategic alliances of the university with national and international stakeholders.
Previously, Dr Makhetha was the Special Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor. Before that she was acting Dean: Student Affairs, also at the UFS. She has served as acting Vice-Rector: External Relations since February 2011.  
 
Dr Makhetha obtained a Master’s degree in Political Science from the UFS in 2000 and a Ph.D., also in Political Science, in 2003. She was named the UFS’s Dux student for 1998/99. Dr Makhetha has received many awards for her work and she serves on various boards and committees in South Africa and abroad.
 
In 2010 and 2011 she was a fellow at Harvard University and Spelman College as part of Higher Education South Africa (HESA)’s Higher Education Leadership and Management programme.
 
“Prof. Kroukamp is a distinguished academic in the field of Public Administration and a highly experienced manager and leader of academic departments. He has been serving as acting Dean of his faculty since September 2010,” said Prof. Jansen.
 
Prof. Kroukamp holds a B.A. (Hons.) degree in Public Administration from Stellenbosch University and an M.A. degree from the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE). In 1993 he obtained a qualification in Project Management from the World Bank. He completed a D.Phil. in Public Administration at UPE in 1996, where he was a lecturer. Prof. Kroukamp joined the UFS in 1999 as a professor and Chairperson of the Department of Public Management.
 
He is the referee of various national and international publications, serves on various publication boards and is a member of various national and international boards and committees.
 
Prof. Kroukamp, who is a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher, has received many NRF awards. Amongst these are NRF Overseas International Conference Awards in Turkey, Korea, Poland and France. He has also received a UFS Top Research Award in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.
 
Both appointments apply retrospectively on 1 March 2012.
 

Media Release
13 March 2012
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: +27(0)51 401 2584
Cell: +27(0)83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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