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14 December 2022 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied
Prof Serges Kamga
Prof Serges Kamga, newly appointed Dean: Faculty of Law.

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Prof Serges Kamga as Dean of the Faculty of Law for a five-year term during its quarterly meeting on 25 November 2022. 

Prof Kamga is a full Professor of Law currently working at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs (TMS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA).

“Prof Kamga’s excellent research reputation nationally and internationally, his extensive networks and partnerships will contribute to further raising the profile of the Faculty of Law nationally, on the continent and globally.  As an established NRF-rated researcher, he will also be able to enhance the research output of the faculty,” says Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor. 

“Prof Kamga will lead and manage the Faculty of Law in support of the UFS’ Vision 130 and the ultimate intent for the coming years to be a research-led, student-centred, and regionally engaged university that contributes to development and social justice through the production of globally competitive graduates and knowledge, and that impactfully supports societal development,” says Prof Petersen.  

Prof Kamga is co-director of the Cross-Cultural Human Rights Centre at the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. At times, he has acted as head of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute currently Thabo Mbeki School at UNISA and has had engagements at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Young African Leaders Initiative, and as managing consultant at African Legal Sources at the University of Pretoria. In 2021, he received the prestigious Ali Mazrui Award for Scholarship and Research Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin in the USA.

He holds an LLD degree in Human Rights Law from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Prof Kamga has also worked as a researcher at the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC). As a researcher, he has published in accredited journals and presented papers at various national and international conferences. 

“Prof Kamga’s experience in these positions, as well as his extensive knowledge and understanding of the South African and global law fraternity, places him in good standing to lead the faculty to become a formidable and impactful force nationally, on the continent, and abroad. He will also lead the faculty to exploit opportunities and deal with the challenges that the rapidly changing higher-education environment has to deal with,” says Prof Petersen.

Prof Kamga will assume duty on 1 February 2023.

News Archive

UFS appoints Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector
2016-12-02

Description: Prof Francis Petersen  Tags: Prof Francis Petersen  

Prof Francis Petersen

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to announce that it has decided to appoint Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.

Announcing the decision to appoint Prof Petersen today (Friday 2 December 2016) during the quarterly Council meeting on the Bloemfontein Campus, the Chairperson of the UFS Council, Judge Ian van der Merwe, said the university was fortunate to be able to appoint a candidate of such good quality to the position.

Prof Petersen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Institutional Innovation at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Prof Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic at the UFS, were in line for the position. The university’s Selection Committee expressed equal preference for both and the two candidates were therefore recommended to Council for the position.  
 
“It has been a truly participatory and transparent selection process, which has assisted in the Council being able to make this decision. The higher-education sector has been through a difficult and challenging time during the past few months and the Council is thankful that a leader like Prof Petersen can head the university in 2017 and beyond,” said Judge Van der Merwe.

In his statement of intent, which was submitted earlier as part of the application for the post, Prof Petersen indicated that it is important to imagine the UFS’s location in South Africa and Africa, to realise the challenges within this context, now and in the future, so as to sharpen the university’s focus to become a more inclusive, academic excellent institution, embedded in a culture of innovation. “Therefore, the ideal of academic excellence must be supported by an institutional framework of diversity and inclusivity. The Academic Project should focus on a unique educational experience for every UFS student, the enhancement of student throughput-rate in academic programmes through dedicated academic support, graduate attributes, and curriculum change and renewal,” he said. He furthermore stated that research and innovation must focus on impact and international visibility. “It is thus not only the increase in research and innovation output, but the quality and impact thereof.” 

Prof Petersen was previously the Dean of Engineering and the Built Environment at UCT. He brings to the position of Vice-Chancellor and Rector his extensive experience of management in both the industry and academic sectors. He has been the executive head of strategy at Anglo American Platinum and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Cape Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University of Technology). He is a member of the UCT Council, non-executive director on the Board of Pragma Holdings, non-executive director on the Board of the Unlimited Group, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Seedcap (Venture Capital) Trust. Among others, he previously served as member on the Board of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the National Advisory Council on Innovation, and the Council of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

He graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BEng (Chem Eng), MEng (Metal Eng), and PhD (Eng) degrees and completed a short course on Financial Skills for Executive Management. He is a recipient of the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award for research excellence, and was visiting professor at the Cape Technikon and extraordinary professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stellenbosch University. He is a regular reviewer of journals, and member of a range of editorial boards for international journals.

Prof Petersen is also a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa and a Fellow of both the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the South African Academy of Engineers. 

Prof Petersen succeeds Prof Jonathan Jansen, who stepped down as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS on 31 August 2016. An international executive search agency specialising in academic appointments has assisted the UFS Council in its search for top-quality candidates.

 

Released by:

Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

 


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