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18 May 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
Jon Kehrer
Jon Kehrer is a prolific academic and scholar. He also spent a few years teaching English in the Middle East.
It was a former professor who influenced American scholar Jon Kehrer to further his academic journey with the Department of Hebrew at the University of the Free State (UFS). And it was at the UFS where he recently graduated cum laude with a master’s degree in Hebrew, and was named recipient of the Dean’s Medal. 

Although he never expected to receive the Dean’s Medal, he is very glad – and somewhat relieved – that his dissertation made it through the examiners. “I never anticipated receiving this award. It makes me even more grateful for the strong Hebrew Department at UFS, and their rigorous standards for their students,” Kehrer says. 

“I wish I had been able to attend the graduation ceremony, but the circumstances of the semester just did not allow it.” Kehrer is currently teaching in the areas of the Old Testament and Biblical Languages at the Ozark Christian College (OCC) in Missouri, USA. In addition to his UFS qualifications Kehrer also holds a Bachelor of Theology qualification from the OCC. “I love the opportunity to invest in students and help them see new perspectives,” he says. 

UFS Hebrew a firm foundation for a solid academic career  

“I was looking for a high-quality and challenging programme that was flexible, especially since I work full-time and have a large family,” Kehrer says, as he recalls how he initially decided to become part of the UFS. He remembers fondly how Dr Kevin Chau, senior lecturer in Hebrew at the UFS, motivated and supported him when he first enrolled for the BA Honours programme. 

It is also a testament that the Department of Hebrew has made an impact internationally for the quality of its academic offerings. “Dr Chau helped me to think about how what I was learning would have an impact on my research and teaching in the future, and he was always quick to provide thorough and constructive feedback on my work,” Kehrer says.  

Once enrolled for the master’s programme it was initially difficult to know which direction to pursue and what topic to research, but the guidance and support of his two advisors, Prof Cynthia Miller-Naude and Prof Jacobus Naude, was “very helpful”.

“They never dictated what paths I should pursue, but they listened carefully and provided expert guidance to help me choose the path that would best suit my interests and the needs of the field,” he says. 

It was this support from the Department of Hebrew and its excellent reputation that came full circle when Kehrer was named Dean’s Medal recipient for achieving the highest marks of any student in a master’s qualification in the UFS Faculty of The Humanities. 

Dissertation a closer look at verbs in Biblical Hebrew 

His dissertation focused on Biblical Hebrew and how the object of a verb appears in various ways. “Sometimes an object appears by itself, but sometimes it can have a preposition or a two-consonant Biblical Hebrew particle along with it. Many Bible translations treat all these objects the same,” he says. “I wanted to try to understand why these variations occurred, so I looked at how different sentence elements might contribute to the variation. It was a fascinating study!” 
 
Kehrer believes it is important for university students to continue studying classical subjects like Hebrew. “I think we can all learn much from those who have gone before us, and so much wisdom and insight is connected to these ancient Biblical Hebrew texts, texts that would be inaccessible to us without translation,” he says. 

“I also think classical disciplines can help train students to think well and to read critically – essential skills for living in today’s ever-changing world.”  

News Archive

Faculty of Law establishes unique panel of advisors
2005-11-11

Photo: Stephen Collett

Some of the panel members who attended the Collegium Iurisprudentium of the Faculty of Law at the UFS were from the left His Honorable Judge of Appeal Lex Mpati (Vice-President of the Supreme Court of Appeal), His Honorable Judge of Appeal Joos Hefer (former Chief Justice of South Africa), His Honorable Judge of Appeal Frits Brand (Supreme Court of Appeal) and Mrs Alet Ellis (lecturer at the UFS Faculty of Law).

At the back from left were Prof Johan Henning (Dean: Faculty of Law at the UFS), His Honorable Judge Faan Hancke (High Court of the Free State and chairperson of the UFS Council) and Adv Jannie Lubbe Sc.

The Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) has established a panel of advisors comprising of all the honorary and extraordinary professors of the faculty.

“The faculty has been known for its excellent practice-orientated training as well as the involvement of law practitioners in the training of LL B-students,” said Prof Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS.

“The faculty was greatly dependent on the services of advocate lecturers, full-time members of the Bar and Side Bar who lectured on a part-time basis at the faculty.  For this reason lecturing in the faculty was mainly done after-hours to part-time students,” said Prof Henning. 

With the shift in emphasis to full-time lecturing and the appointment of full-time lecturers, especially because of the increasing student numbers, the full-time LL B-programme and the increasing pressure on students for quality research inputs, a greater need for meaningful contributions of judges and senior law practitioners to the faculty was experienced.

“To comply with this urgent need, three honorary professors and nine extraordinary professors were appointed.  This group of experts deliver an indispensable contribution to the practice orientation of the faculty by means of formal lectures, public inaugural lectures and guest lectures, direct lectures to graduate and post-graduate students, participation in research projects and the  constant evaluation of lecturers, modules and the content of modules and learning material. The international exposure of students and lecturers is also promoted by their contribution,” said Prof Henning.
“A need to have the involvement of this special class of professors structured in a more organised way was identified and a decision was made to establish an advisory panel called Collegium Iurisprudentium.  It is a privilege to us that all the honorary and extraordinary professors accepted the invitation,” said Prof  Henning. 

The panel will provide the faculty with continuous, distinguished, practice- orientated capability and capacity as well as international expertise, not only for direct inputs to students but also to advise lecturers about the curriculum, the compilation of the content of the LL B and M module, learning material and others, as well as to strengthen the research capacity of the faculty.

“The panel will also deliver a decisive contribution to the faculty’s preparation for the constitutional audit of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council for Higher Education (CHE) that will take place in October 2006,” said Prof Henning. 

The Collegium Iurisprudentium, which has been formally constituted, comprises of:

Appeal Court Judge J J F Hefer,
Appeal Court Judge L Mpati
Appeal Court Judge F D J Brand
Appeal Court Judge I G Farlam
Prof B A K Rider
Judge S P B Hancke
Judge A Kruger
Judge D H van Zyl
Adv S J Naudé
Adv J Lubbe Sc
Prof M M Katz
Prof R J Cook
Mr S van de Merwe
Mr W van der Westhuizen
Mr D C M Gihwala

Media release
Issued by:Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:  (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
11 November 2005

 

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