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03 January 2023 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Evert Kleynhans
Dr Dolf van Niekerk
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.

News Archive

Core herd established on the UFS Experimental Farm
2006-05-24

Seven of the foremost stud-farmers of the Afrikaner Cattle Breeders Society of South Africa, in cooperation with the University of the Free State (UFS), established a core herd on the UFS Paradys Experimental Farm outside Bloemfontein.

Each stud-farmer donated five heifers to the project.  In return, each farmer will annually receive a performance tested bull or semen of a performance tested bull out of the core herd.

With the establishment of the herd, the UFS wants to create a genetically outstanding herd to be used for the training of students, research as well as information sessions for farmers.  All the animals that cannot be used by the herd or the stud-farmers will be made available for auctioning at the UFS Paradys Experimental Farm.  

The herd will be kept under commercial conditions to ensure that only those animals who have adapted can be made available to the industry.  For more information Prof Frikkie Neser can be contacted at (051) 401-9595.

In front from the left are Mr Julian Balt (stud-farmer from  Carletonville), Prof Johan Greyling (Departmental Chairperson: Department of Animal- and Wildlife- and Grassland Sciences), Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences) and Mr Neels van Rooyen (stud-farmer  from Zastron). At the back from the left are Mr Willem Kooij (stud-farmer  from  Potchefstroom), Messrs Johan and Estian Cronjé (stud-farmers from  Winburg), Mr Willie Cloete (stud-farmer from Vryburg), Prof Frikkie Neser (lecturer at the UFS Department of Animal and Wildlife and Grassland Sciences) and Mr Schalk de Jager (stud-farmer from  Vryburg).

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