Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
03 January 2023
|
Story Lacea Loader
|
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.
UFS appoints Dr Khotso Mokhele as Chancellor
2010-06-04
 |
| Dr Khotso Mokhele |
|
The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) appointed Dr Khotso Mokhele as Chancellor during its quarterly meeting held on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein today.
“It is an honour for the Council to appoint someone of this stature as Chancellor of the UFS. With his solid academic background and high profile in the business world, Dr Mokhele is a great asset to the UFS,” said Judge Ian van der Merwe, Chairperson of the UFS Council.
Dr Mokhele is a graduate of the University of Fort Hare and did his postgraduate studies at the University of California in the USA. He is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University in the USA. Dr Mokhele has eight honorary doctorate degrees from South African tertiary institutions – among others the UFS – as well as an honorary doctorate degree from Rutgers University in the USA. He holds post doctoral fellowships from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, both in the USA.
Dr Mokhele was founder president and chief executive officer of the National Research Foundation (NRF), as well as founder president of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
He holds non-executive positions on the boards of several national companies, among others as the Chairman of Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd, non-executive chairman of Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd and non-executive director of both African Oxygen Ltd and Tiger Brands Ltd.
He is currently Chairperson of the selection committee of the Rhodes Scholarships for Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, member of the Committee on Developing and Transition Economy Countries of the International Social Sciences Council (ISSC) and member of the Review Committee assessing VW Foundation research funding in Sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Central Asian/Caucasus Republics.
Dr Mokhele received the Lifetime Achievement Technology Top 100 award in 2009 for his vision and major contribution in securing the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), constructed outside Sutherland in the Northern Cape.
Dr Mokhele’s succeeds Dr Franklin Sonn, who retired as Chancellor of the UFS at the end of 2009.
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
4 June 2010 |