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22 February 2022 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Sonia Small (Kaleidoscope Studios)
Dr Nicholas Pearce
Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of the Department of Surgery, and recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal.
At a meeting held on 26 November 2021, the Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the awarding of the UFS Chancellor’s Medal for outstanding service to Dr Nicholas Pearce, Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

Heading the Free State Province COVID-19 Task Team 

Dr Pearce completed his undergraduate medical studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2002 before pursuing an MMed, FCS (SA) in Surgery and a Vascular Fellowship at the UFS. Since 2003, he has been employed at the Universitas Hospital in various capacities and was the Head of the Department of Surgery at the UFS, before heading the COVID-19 Task Team at the Universitas National Hospital in Bloemfontein and sitting on various national and provincial COVID-19 task teams. 

From the onset of the pandemic, Dr Pearce was one of the champions who worked with a team of colleagues to address the COVID-19 needs of the UFS community, Bloemfontein, and the Free State. His leadership and drive during the initial stages of the pandemic, and continuously thereafter, ensured the successful roll-out of treatment plans and the training of staff and students for the comprehensive management programme (vaccination, treatment, screening, etc.) in the Free State.

Dr Pearce was convinced that it was critical to vaccinate not only front-line healthcare workers, but all members of society as well as the university community, to prevent staff members from getting ill and reducing the workforce behind the fight against the virus. He has also been instrumental in finalising clinical environment policies for hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), patient visits, referrals, and procedures in various clinical environments. Dr Pearce visited all the Free State health institutions to provide expert advice on readiness to accommodate COVID-19 patients, resources and equipment, dedicated wards, and overall plan implementation.

Advisory role to Free State and Northern Cape governments on COVID-19
Dr Nicholas Pearce played a key role in establishing and implementing the Free State vaccination programme.

Dr Pearce played a key role in establishing and implementing the Free State vaccination programme by training staff in PPE use, high care, theatre, and intensive care unit protocols. In addition, he advised the MEC for Health in the Free State on field hospitals and assisted the Northern Cape Province with advice. During a period of high demand and low supply, Dr Pearce ensured the acquisition of masks, sanitiser, gloves, and visors for hospital and faculty staff and students who worked in clinical areas. 

The university recognises and commends his valuable contribution and outstanding service at community, local, and national level. His dedication has optimised the safety of health-care workers as well as the patients they care for.

“Thank you to the university community for this great honour; I feel humbled by receiving such a prestigious acknowledgement. It would be amiss if I did not acknowledge the teams that I have led and the support I received from the University of the Free State, the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Department of Health in the Free State in my endeavours. With teamwork, so much can be achieved – our endeavours are summed up in the concept of the Batho Pele (People First) approach,” said Dr Pearce.

The Chancellor’s Medal will be presented to Dr Pearce during a graduation ceremony in 2022.

News Archive

UFS welcomes Prof Francis Petersen as new Vice-Chancellor and Rector
2017-04-02

 

Prof Francis Petersen takes up office as the 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State today.
 
“On behalf of the UFS Council and the university community, I would like to welcome Prof Petersen to the university. He brings to the UFS a distinguished academic record, confident leadership, innovative thinking, and an understanding of the extent of the challenges being experienced by universities in the broader South African context,” says Mr Willem Louw, Chairperson of the UFS Council. 
 
“I am excited to join the UFS and look forward to meeting the university community, to get to know the three campuses, and to engage with staff and students. In a way, it was a natural progression for me to be appointed in this position, having been Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and then Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Institutional Innovation at the same university.  On the other hand, I believe that universities in South Africa need strong and innovative leadership. I would like to make a contribution to the higher-education system in this regard.  Moreover, I regard the UFS as a very good university, and see my challenge in taking the UFS to the next level,” says Prof Petersen.
 
“Challenges and making a difference motivate me – whether complex or simplistic, the opportunity to be able to provide solutions and taking people with me while developing these solutions, is what ultimately motivates me.”
 
“It is important that different viewpoints are respected. The UFS must be a place where everyone feels welcome. There must be a strong sense of belonging; staff and students must feel they are making a contribution to the university,” he says.
 
According to Prof Petersen, the major challenge for the university is its institutional climate.  “My focus would be to strive towards creating an institutional climate of inclusivity, respect for one another, valuing diversity in all its forms, and to make the university a welcoming place. The UFS is in the process of developing an Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) that will serve as the road map to address the institutional climate challenge, but will also assist (if implemented effectively) in excelling the UFS in areas of teaching and learning, research and innovation, and community engagement through scholarship,” says Prof Petersen.

“I am a good listener, I am outcome-based, and my vision for the university includes diversity, inclusivity, and academic excellence,” he says.

Prof Petersen was born in Oudtshoorn and grew up in Malmesbury in the Western Cape, where he also matriculated. 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. He 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.

 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). 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.

 Prof Petersen is married and has two sons. He was appointed by the UFS Council at the end of 2016 after Prof Jonathan Jansen stepped down as Vice-Chancellor and Rector on 31 August 2016, serving in this position since July 2009. Prof Nicky Morgan, Vice-Rector: Operations at the UFS, has been acting Vice-Chancellor and Rector since 1 September 2016.

 

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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