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04 May 2022 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Ian Van Straaten
Honorary doctorates
Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke and Ms Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS and an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The University of the Free State conferred six honorary doctorates during its April 2022 graduation ceremonies. Two of these were conferred at the Qwaqwa Campus ceremonies on 29 and 30 April to Justice Dikgang Moseneke, Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa and justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and Ms Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS and an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

A champion for social justice, Byanyima was honoured with a Doctor of Letters (DLitt [h.c.]) during the afternoon session on 30 April. Elected for three terms and serving for eleven years in parliament, Ms Byanyima led Uganda’s first parliamentary women’s caucus, championing ground-breaking gender equality provisions in the county’s 1995 post-conflict constitution. She is also significantly involved in efforts to end the Aids epidemic in Africa.

Addressing graduates during her acceptance speech, Byanyima said it was education that enabled her to leave her small rural village in Uganda to serve on national and global platforms.

“But that power that education has given me never makes me proud in itself. It makes me responsible for what I must do to uplift others, to make this world equal and just. My pride is in what I am able to do with others in order to make the world more just. The qualifications are mere tools to achieve a purpose.”

Byanyima challenged students to be proud South Africans who embrace and serve the continent. Go out there, knowing that we have one history as a continent, and we have one destiny as a continent. And serve your continent and make the most of it.

“Across the continent and across the world, South Africa has been a beacon for movements that are joined up, resisting racial inequality, embracing gender equality, and embracing equality for LGBTQ people. It is these inclusions that make a world free. So, continue to be that beacon – as a country and as a student and alumni community. Challenge stigmatisation, challenge criminalisation. Use the power that your education has given you. Use it to demand
accountability and rights for yourselves and for others.”

UFS a crucible for formation of young people

Likewise, Justice Moseneke was anchored on hard work, dedication, and honesty and fidelity being the driving tools for making society better. Justice Moseneke received a Doctor of Laws (LLD [h.c.]) during the afternoon session on 29 April. He was recognised for his vast contribution to the legal fraternity over the past 40 years. This is his 14th honorary doctorate. 

“We may not desecrate these high and noble aspirations at the altar of power, greed, and self-importance.  We have to create that idealised just and equal society, and national treasures like the University of the Free State sit at the heart of that historic project.”

Justice Moseneke said the UFS remained an indispensable crucible for the formation of young people, and therefore of the future.

“The most powerful tool for transforming society is excellent education and training.  It is a lie that mere numbers and populism will make our world better. Those who are bent on changing society need exact and appropriate skills to accomplish that – not bombast. It is right to bemoan a difficult past.  But it is even better to harness past anguish in the service of a progressive future.

Icon8_ YouTube Watch recording of the Graduation ceremony below:



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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