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24 February 2023 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo iFlair Photography
Prof Francis Petersen
Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Prof Francis Petersen at the Sci-Ed Science Education Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus hosting and thanking donors for continued support and sharing plans to grow the institution.
Speaking to donors at the Donor Sundowner Cocktail event held at the Sci-Ed Science Education Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus, Professor Francis Petersen Rector and Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS) said, ‘the university has a voice to make an impact on things important to South African citizens.’

The event hosted by the Department of Institutional Advancement was attended by the CEOs and Corporate Social Investment officers from the organisations involved with UFS faculties of  Education, Law, Health Sciences, Natural and Agricultural Sciences, the Business School and support services departments. 


The event was marked by the UFS acknowledging the contribution made by existing donors and focused on building new relations and sharing plans, highlighting the role this played in changing the narrative of the university and the lives of the student community. 

Prof Petersen thanked the donors for their contributions to the institution. “Financial and in-kind contributions make an immense difference to the university,” said Prof Petersen.  He iterated the appreciation of the UFS to the donors, and noted that the ongoing relationship building with existing and new donors and partners is integral for the university.  

Re-connect to achieve success

Guests in attendance were also given insight into the recently launched Vision 130 – a 12-year strategy taking the university to 2034 commemorating 130 years. “We want to be a university that has a student population of 35 000, and do more research and development work that can impact locally, nationally, and internationally,” said Prof Petersen. 

Prof Peterson highlighted the need for the university to reshape the proportion of undergraduate to postgraduate students and to open more time for staff to do research work that answers to the needs of industry and the private sector. “We must understand that the university is not the only custodian of knowledge. Some knowledge sits amongst yourselves,’ added Prof Petersen.

Mapping the way forward to greater heights

‘The aspiration for the university is to be among the top 600 universities in the world and amongst the top five in the country and to do that, we need to change the shape of the university, by improving qualifications of academic and support staff. We need to get quality skills into the system,’ he said. 

Prof Petersen said the university also needs to get ‘quality students into the system and a proxy to that using the National Senior Certificate and Admission Policy Score (APS), we have made a commitment that by 2034 at least 60 percent of students entering the university should have an APS of 35 and higher’.  Prof Peterson emphasized the commitment of the UFS that staff and students that come to the university ‘be diverse racially, ability and intellectually.’

The Department of Institutional Advancement is planning a similar event to be held in Cape Town in April, and another in Gauteng later in the year. 

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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