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10 November 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Prof Abdon Atangana was recently elected a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Prof Abdon Atangana, Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), was recently elected a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

He also received the World Academy of Sciences Award for Mathematics (TWAS -Mohammad A. Hamdan, 2020) on 1 November 2021.

TWAS, described as the voice for science in the South, is working towards the advancement of science in developing countries and supports sustainable prosperity through research, education, policy, and diplomacy. 

Outstanding contribution to science

Prof Mohamed HA Hassan, President of TWAS, congratulated Prof Atangana on this prestigious achievement, “Your election as fellow is a clear recognition of your outstanding contribution to science and its promotion in the developing world. We will be honoured to have you among our members.”

Candidates elected as TWAS Fellows are scientists whose contributions to their respective fields of science meet internationally accepted standards of excellence, and they must have distinguished themselves in efforts to promote science in developing countries. 

Prof Atangana is known for his research to develop a new fractional operator, the Atangana-Baleanu operator, which is to model real-world problems. With this operator, he not only describes the rate at which something will change, but also account for disrupting factors that will help to produce better projections.

Among others, his models can advise people drilling for water by predicting how groundwater is flowing in a complex geological formation. Furthermore, his work can also be applied to predict the spread of infectious diseases among people in a settlement, forecasting the number of people who will be infected each day, the number of people who will recover, and the number of people who will die. 

These are only two examples of how his work can be applied to better the lives of people.

Promoting science in the developing world

Besides promoting science in the developing world, Prof Atangana’s work also contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – the global goals as set in 2015 that call for ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring that all people enjoy prosperity and peace.

Prof Atangana says the election as fellow is a clear recognition of his outstanding contribution to science and its promotion in the developing world. “My work over the past five years has made a great impact in all fields of science, technology, and engineering.”

To be elected as TWAS fellow in mathematics, made him the second South African researcher to be elected in the field of mathematics (the first person elected was Prof Reddy Batmanathan Dayanand, who was elected in 2003). This also placed him as the sixth African mathematician to be elected as a TWAS fellow.

Very recently, he also ranked number one in the world in mathematics, number 186 in the world in all the fields, and number one in Africa in all the fields, according to the Stanford list of 2% single-year table.

He was also named among the top 1% of scientists on the global Clarivate Web of Science list. Less than 6 200 or 0,1% of the world's researchers were included on this list in 2020, with no more than 10 of the scientists hailing from South Africa. 

Prof Atangana is also editor of more than 20 top-tier journals of applied mathematics and mathematics, and for some of these journals he was the first African to be selected as editor. 

News Archive

Prof Dennis Francis delivers keynote address at colloquium on homophobia and transphobia
2013-11-29

Prof Dennis Francis
Prof Dennis Francis, Dean of the Faculty of Education, delivered the keynote address at a colloquium focusing on homophobia and transphobia in schools.

The UNESCO and Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA) is hosting Transforming Classrooms, Transforming Lives: Combating Homophobia and Transphobia in Education, at the University of Johannesburg.

Looking specifically at the Southern African context, this multi-disciplinary event builds on the highly successful 2012 Colloquium on Challenging Homophobia and Transphobia in South African Schools.

The colloquium allows educators, policy makers, researchers and activists from across Southern Africa to discuss the scope and impact of homophobia and transphobia in the education sector. It also creates a space for delegates to present new research, to discuss recent front-line activities, to reflect on good practices and to workshop future interventions.

Prof Francis’ paper on challenging heterosexism and heteronormativity in a South African school, was recently published in the South African Journal of Education.

For his research, Prof Francis looked at how learners understand and portray gay and lesbian characters and heterosexism by means of Participatory Theatre. He also did research on how teachers in South African schools position themselves on teaching about sexual diversity.

Prof Francis’ research papers also points out how schools promote compulsory heterosexuality and that homosexuality is something to be hidden and kept separate from teaching, learning and daily school life.

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