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12 December 2023 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied
Prof Anthea Rhoda
Prof Anthea Rhoda, newly appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has appointed Prof Anthea Rhoda as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic from 1 March 2024.

Prof Rhoda is currently Dean of the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (CHS) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). She holds a Professorship in the Department of Physiotherapy at UWC and has completed a BSc and a PhD in Physiotherapy at UWC. She also completed a BSc Honours in Physiotherapy (Neurology) and an MSc in Medical Sciences (Rehabilitation) at Stellenbosch University.

She is an established leader and scholar as an NRF C1-rated researcher and brings a wealth of expertise, extensive networks, and local and international partnerships to the UFS. Her research activities have been supported by grants awarded by both the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF). She conducts research in faculty development and interprofessional education. Her research output includes publications in international and local journals and books, as well as presentations and conferences both locally and abroad.

“Prof Rhoda is regarded as a trailblazer in her field of specialisation. Her more than 30 years of professional industry and higher education experience in previous roles, among others as a full professor and Dean of the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences at UWC, and various academic roles since 1988 at the UWC, Stellenbosch University, and the Western Cape Department of Health, places her in good standing to elevate the academic portfolio, aligned to the UFS’ Vision 130,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS.

Prof Rhoda’s interest in building capacity in African scholars has seen her supervise a number of PhD and master’s students from across the African continent. Prof Rhoda is dedicated to developing a critical mass of next generation emerging academics through her Capacity Building Programme for Associate Lecturers and a Mentoring for Academics Programme she facilitates at UWC. She is an associate editor for the African Journal of Health Professions Education and completed her term as Chair of the South African Committee of Health Sciences Deans. 

Prof Rhoda completed a number of fellowships, including the Sub-Saharan Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI) fellowship programme for health professionals as well as a Strategic Management Programme at the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

“Prof Rhoda’s excellent standing among national peers and her unique experience and networks, as well as her knowledge and understanding of the South African, African, and global higher-education environment, research systems, and breadth of community engagement are deep and extensive. We wish her well in the new portfolio and look forward to working with her,” says Prof Petersen. 

“I am looking forward to my new role as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, contributing to achieving the university’s Vision 130, driving the agenda of impacting society through transdisciplinary approaches, and graduating students for the changing world of work,” says Prof Rhoda.

News Archive

Two academics will be sorely missed
2013-04-02

  

Prof Andrew Marston and Prof Bannie Britz
Photo: Supplied
02 April 2013

The staff and students of the University of the Free State (UFS) are deeply saddened by the recent passing in Bloemfontein of two of the university’s most esteemed and renowned academics, Prof Bannie Britz and Prof Andrew Marston.

Prof Britz was the Head of the Department of Architecture from 1992 to 2000. He was renowned in his field, winning numerous prizes for Architecture, including the Gold Medal for Architecture from the South African Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“As professional architect and urban designer, Prof Britz was a much awarded architect who received numerous award of merit from the South African Institute of Architects for buildings erected in South Africa over the years,” said Martie Bitzer, Head of the Department of Architecture.

Apart from his acclaim elsewhere, Prof Britz also played a major role in the day-to-day activities of university’s staff and students. He was responsible for the design of the many walkways on campus and the refurbishment of the Main Building on the Bloemfontein Campus. For the many contributions in his field, Prof Britz was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the UFS in 2007.

Prof Andrew Marston, a specialist in natural product chemistry and methods associated with the isolation and analysis of medically important chemicals from plants, was appointed from Geneva, Switzerland in 2009 under the UFS Strategic Cluster for Advanced Biomolecular Research.

He obtained a B-rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF) in 2011, and was consequently appointed as a senior professor in die UFS Senior Professor Programme. “He has made valuable contributions to the UFS in terms of teaching and postgraduate supervision, as well as research. In his short stay at the UFS, he already co-authored more than ten papers in international chemistry literature,” said Prof André Roodt, Head of the Department of Chemistry.

His research group was part of a multilateral agreement in the European Union (EU) with a number of African and three European universities. He obtained new research funding from the Seventh Framework Programme of the EU for the Building Sustainable Research Capacity on Plants for Better Public Health in Africa project, from the Norwegian Research Council for bioprospecting and the isolation and structure determination of compounds from plants and algae, and from the South African Rooibos Tea Council.

The memorial service for Prof Britz took place on Friday 5 April 2013 in the Berg-en-Dal Dutch Reformed Church in Bloemfontein. The service for Prof Marston took place in the Trinity Church, Charles Street, Bloemfontein.

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