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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.
UFS main campus and Vista campus students’ simultaneous graduation a first
2004-12-01
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Altogether 284 students from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) main campus and the Vista campus will for the first time graduate during the same ceremony on Thursday 2 December 2004, following the incorporation of the Vista campus into the UFS in January this year.
The ceremony will mainly comprise of the graduation of students from the UFS’s Faculty of Health Sciences. Students from the Vista campus who will be graduating include those from the Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, Humanities, Law and School of Education. One doctorate will be awarded to a student from Vista campus’ School of Education.
During the ceremony, the first group of students who completed the five-year programme for the MB ChB-course will be receiving their degrees. The last group of students who completed the six-year programme of the same course will also be receiving their degrees. The six-year programme of the MB ChB-course will be fully converted into a five-year programme as from next year.
Prof Stewart Petersen, from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, will receive a shield of honour from the UFS’s School of Medicine for his outstanding contribution to, and input in the medical curriculum 2000 that is used for the training of medical students in this school. Prof Petersen’s advice, ideas and recommendations have helped the School of Medicine to put together a medical programme that is currently considered one of the most innovative teaching and training programmes for medical students in South Africa. He is also involved in the Health Professions Education Programme where he acts as co-supervisor for Ph D students at the School of Medicine.
The ceremony will take place at 14:30 in the Callie Human Centre on the UFS main campus.
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Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
1 December 2004 |