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03 January 2023
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Story Lacea Loader
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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.
Student’s study accepted in top anti-microbiotic journal
2008-10-28
Part of the study of Ruan Els, 'n M.Sc. student at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology was recently accepted for publication in one of the top anti-microbiotic journals, "Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy". With this he became the first M.Sc. student at the UFS whose research as first author is published in such a high-impact journal. The part that was published is about a possible way of improving the functioning of drugs that kill fungi which cause diseases in humans. By combining the drug with a fatty acid, less of the drugs that can sometimes be poisonous to humans, can be added to kill the fungus. Here he is with his study leader, Dr Carlien Pohl.
Photo: Lacea Loader