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Prof Philippe Burger appointed as Dean: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at UFS

26 November 2021 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Prof Philippe Burger as Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences for a five-year term during its quarterly virtual meeting on 26 November 2021.

He is Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Poverty, Inequality and Economic Development, as well as Vice-Dean (Strategic Projects) of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and Professor of Economics at the UFS.

Extensive experience

Prof Burger was a 2016/17 Fulbright exchange scholar at the Center for Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University in the United States, with Prof Jeffrey Sachs as his Fulbright host, where he wrote a book titled Getting it right: a new economy for South Africa. The book was launched, with presentations at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and RAND Corporation in Washington DC, among others. In addition, he is a member of the Fiscal Policy and Financial Markets Task Team of the Lancet Commission on COVID-19. Co-chaired by the Head of the IMF’s Department of Fiscal Affairs and a former Minister of Finance of Chile, the task team of 11 members comprises economists from across the world, including two Nobel prize winners.

From September 2012 to October 2014, Prof Burger was President of the Economic Society of South Africa. His publications include three more books and numerous academic articles on fiscal rules and fiscal sustainability, public-private partnerships, and macroeconomic and economic development policy. Together with IMF staff, he co-authored two IMF working papers. In 2009, the IMF invited him to spend a month at the IMF as a visiting scholar in the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD), researching public-private partnerships and the Global Financial Crisis. For two months each in 2007, 2010, and 2012, he was seconded to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, to work on public-private partnerships and capital budgeting, while in October 2011 he joined an OECD mission to Indonesia to conduct a regulatory review of Indonesia.

Prof Burger was a member of the Panel of Experts of the South African National Treasury, in which capacity he co-authored a 20-year review of South African fiscal policy since 1994. From 2013 to 2018, he was a member of the South African Statistics Council, which oversees the work of Statistics South Africa. From 1 February 2018 to 31 January 2019, he acted as dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the UFS, and from 2002 to 2019 he was Head of the UFS Department of Economics.

“With more than 27 years of experience in the higher-education sector, Prof Burger will bring a wealth of expertise, extensive networks, and partnerships, nationally and abroad, to the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and the UFS. His experience in the positions held at the university, as well as his extensive knowledge and understanding of the South African and global economy, places him in good standing to lead the faculty to be a formidable and impactful academic force nationally and abroad,” said Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor.

“Prof Burger has the competencies required as dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, leading it to exploit opportunities and deal with the challenges that the rapidly changing world presents to the UFS,” said Prof Petersen.

Vision for the faculty

In response to his appointment, Prof Burger said, “I am humbled by this appointment and look forward to taking on this wonderful challenge. The faculty has a strong team of academics and administrative staff. With this team, I know we will create wonderful pathways for our students into the future and into the complex world of work. I also look forward to strengthening our research position and building the faculty as a nationally and internationally recognised research-strong faculty, as well as a faculty with a very strong Global South presence.”

Prof Burger succeeds the current Dean, Prof Hendri Kroukamp, who will be retiring at the end of February 2022.

News Archive

UFS experimental farm to be redesigned as a training facility

2004-10-25

Back fltr:
Dr Léan van der Westhuizen, Manager: UFS Sydenham Experimental Farm; Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS and Councilor Thami Stander, Chairperson: Mangaung Municipal Portfolio for Agriculture and Rural Development

Front fltr:
Mr Hanz Nketu, Chairperson: Free State Legislative Committee on Agriculture and Mr Peter Frewen from the Free State Legislature

The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the University of the Free State will soon sign a tri-partite cooperation agreement with the National African Farmers Union (NAFU) and the Mangaung Local Municipality with the aim of providing training and mentorship to small-scale and emerging farmers, including those recently settled under the on-going land redistribution programme.

The agreement is part of the Faculty’s strategic plan to support the on-going reform process in the country, of which Black Economic Empowerment in Agriculture (Agri-BEE) is an important part. The Free State Provincial Department of Agriculture is also actively supporting this initiative.

Under the plan, the Faculty is redesigning its experimental farm, located about 12 kilometers south of Bloemfontein, as a training facility to build up skills in among others broiler and egg production, dairy farming, animal husbandry, piggery, sheep and goat production. The idea is to introduce a comprehensive package that empowers the small and emerging farmers and the local communities adjoining the farms through simultaneous investments in research, extension, and practical agricultural training.

Learnerships are also being drawn up to provide productive skills in order to contribute to addressing the national skills gap and enhancing opportunities for both self and wage employment.

The residents of the adjoining informal settlement known as Mangaung Phase II where unemployment is currently at extremely high levels are primary targets of this component of the project. The Faculty intends for this project to service the farming communities of the Free State Province and gradually spread to other Provinces in the country.

Having recognised this training programme as a potential instrument for achieving “a united and prosperous agricultural sector”, the Free State Legislature has shown considerable interest in the programme.

Following a preparatory visit to the farms by the Agriculture Committee of the Free State Legislature a request was made to the Faculty to host a larger visit by the Legislative Committees of the Free State, North West and Eastern Cape Provincial Legislatures on Monday 25 October 2004 and present details of the training programme.

The President of NAFU in the Free State Province, Mr Nox Nonkonyana, the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, the Chair of the Mangaung Municipal Portfolio for Agriculture and Rural Development, Councilor Thami Stander, and the Chairperson of the Free State Legislative Committee on Agriculture, Mr M Nketu, will address the Legislators during the occasion.

Prof Herman van Schalkwyk

Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

University of the Free State, Bloemfontein

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
25 Oktober 2004

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