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Guest lecture: the role of higher education in strong democracies

05 April 2024 | Story DR NITHA RAMNATH

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State, Prof Francis Petersen, has the pleasure of inviting you to a guest lecture presented by H.E. Dr Reuben E Brigety, the United States Ambassador to South Africa.

Date: Tuesday 23 April 2024

Time: 15:00-16:00

Venue: Centenary Complex, Bloemfontein Campus

RSVP here by no later than 19 April 2024.

About the speaker

Reuben E Brigety II was confirmed as the 29th United States Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa on 21 July 2022.

Previously, he served as the 17th Vice-Chancellor of the University of the South and Mayor of Sewanee from June 2020 until December 2021, and as the Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs of the George Washington University from 2015 to 2020. Ambassador Brigety’s most recent diplomatic assignment was serving as the US Representative to the African Union and US Permanent Representative to the UN Economic Commission for Africa from September 2013 to September 2015. Previously, Ambassador Brigety served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Ambassador Brigety also held appointments as Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University and at the School of International Service at the American University between August 2003 and April 2009. In addition, Ambassador Brigety was a researcher with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) from August 2001 to May 2003, where he conducted research missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before joining HRW, Ambassador Brigety was an active-duty US naval officer and held several staff positions in the Pentagon and in fleet support units.

Ambassador Brigety is a 1995 Distinguished Midshipman Graduate of the US Naval Academy, where he earned a BSc in Political Science (with merit), served as the Brigade Commander, and received the Thomas G Pownall Scholarship. He also holds an MPhil and a PhD in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, England, as well as a Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa) from Old Dominion University. Ambassador Brigety is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a recipient of the council’s International Affairs Fellowship, and a fellow of the American Academy of Diplomacy.He is married to Dr Leelie Selassie, and together they have two sons.

News Archive

Quantity Surveying celebrates many firsts

2014-10-20

From the left are: Pierre Oosthuizen, Prof Kajimo-Shakantu and Dr Stephan Ramabodu
Photo: Ifa Tshishonge

The Department of Quantity Surveying at the University of the Free State (UFS) has much to be proud of. With Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu as Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying, the department is celebrating several firsts.

For the first time, the department has four academics with PhDs. This includes Prof Kajimo-Shakantu, Dr Stephan Ramabodu, Dr Timothy Froise and Dr Benita Zulch. It is also the first time that this department is managed by a woman.

Furthermore, the Department of Quantity Surveying has performed very well at this year’s national Quantity Surveying Conference held in Pretoria, where they walked away with four of the seven awards.

The awards were:

•   Best presenter: Pierre Oosthuizen (lecturer)
•   Most innovative presenter: Pierre Oosthuizen (lecturer)
•   Best paper on engineering projects: Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu
•   Best academic paper: T Monyane (postgraduate student) and Dr Stephan Ramabodu (lecturer)

The South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP) also presented two prestigious life achievement awards. One of these were bestowed upon Prof Basie Verster from the UFS for his contribution to quantity surveying since the 1970s.

The university is especially proud of Dr Stephen Ramabodu, lecturer in the Department of Quantity Surveying, who completed his PhD this year. This makes of him the highest qualified quantity surveyor in the department and one of only a few holders of a quantity surveying PhD in the country. Dr Ramabodu is also registered with the South African Council for Quantity Surveying Professionals.

Prof Kajimo-Shakantu said the following of Dr Ramabodu. “Since 2002, Stephan was appointed as a lecturer in a programme called Grow Your Own Timber at the UFS. Later on, he went to Cape Town to gain some commercial experience, where he worked for Davis Langdon in 2005. In 2008, he returned to the Free State, where he established Ramabodu & Associates. Later on in the same year, he returned to the UFS as a lecturer to complete all the remaining milestones of the Grow Your Own Timber programme.

“The university looks forward to Stephen’s increased responsibilities and contributions, not only in teaching and learning, but also in research, mentoring and community engagement.”

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