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03 January 2023
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Photo Evert Kleynhans
Dr Dolf van Niekerk.
The University of the Free State (UFS) would like to express its condolences to the family and friends of South African author, Dr Dolf van Niekerk, on his passing.
Dr Van Niekerk, the recipient of an
honorary doctorate from the UFS, passed away on 31 December 2022. The UFS awarded a Doctor of Letters to Dr Dolf van Niekerk during its April 2021 graduation ceremony.
Dr Van Niekerk was a celebrated author who also achieved fame as a dramatist and radio presenter. An alumnus of the UFS, he received a BA degree from the university cum laude in 1949. He also played a role in academia and was an emeritus professor at the University of Pretoria until his retirement in 1994. His work includes 27 books in philosophy, poetry, fiction, drama, and memoirs, for which he has received numerous awards. These include the
Eugene Marais Prize, the MER Prize, and the Scheepers Award for Youth Literature.
“Dr van Niekerk is a Kovsie alumnus with a deep connection to the Free State. He played a significant role in the country’s literary history, and it was an honour for the university to award him with an honorary degree. A wordsmith of note, Dr van Niekerk’s contributions to South African literature, radio, and stage will live on," says
Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor.
Geologist delivers paper at international conference
2008-08-31
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An Associate Professor in the Department of Geology at the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof. Marian Tredoux (pictured), delivered a paper at a recent four-day conference at the Sunwa River Lodge, near Parys in the Free State. Prof Tredoux’s paper was about the global mass extinction which happened 65 million years ago (in which the dinosaurs were eliminated) and which is ascribed to the Chicxulub impact in Mexico. The conference focused on large meteorite impacts throughout the solar system and included discussion on the large ones that happened on Earth, such as at Vredefort (Free State), Morokweng (Northern Cape), Sudbury (Canada) and Chicxulub. It was organised by the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, USA, and attended by about 100 delegates from around the world, of which only five were from South African universities. The South African Mint produced a limited issue gold coin to commemorate the conference and the Vredefort World Heritage Site.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe
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