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01 February 2024
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Photo SUPPLIED
Prof Prince Ngobeni, newly appointed Campus Principal of the UFS Qwaqwa Campus.
The University of the Free State (UFS) has appointed Prof Prince Ngobeni as Principal of the Qwaqwa Campus as from 1 February 2024.
Prof Ngobeni completed his first qualification in Analytical Chemistry at the then Technikon North-West before furthering his studies at the then Technikon Pretoria. He completed a DTech in Chemistry at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in 2003. In 2016, he enrolled for a Doctor of Business Administration in Higher Education at the University of Bath in England.
His lecturing career began at TUT in 1995 where he progressed from Head of Department: Chemistry in 2003 to Associate Dean: Faculty of Science in 2010, before being appointed as Executive Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at TUT in 2015 – a position he held until 2023. He also served as Interim Campus Rector of TUT’s Pretoria Campus from 2018 to 2020.
“With extensive years of academic leadership experience, Prof Ngobeni has the experience required to guide the Qwaqwa Campus towards the university’s Vision 130. The campus is already recognised as a leader in some of its unique research fields, and Prof Ngobeni’s strong research background will be valuable in this regard,” says Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS.
Prof Ngobeni is a member of several professional bodies in his field of expertise, including MatTEK at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Chemical Institute (SACI), the Society for Atomic Spectroscopy, and the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP). During his career, he has also secured research funding for individual projects and international partnerships. Prof Ngobeni also initiated chemistry practical sessions for local schools and participated in the Technology Station in Chemicals project, which offers a wide range of services designed to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the chemical sector.
His substantial list of publications in journals and books covers a range of chemistry-related and managerial topics. He is also a well-versed presenter at local and international conferences.
“The Qwaqwa Campus has experienced major developments in recent years; I look forward to further contributing to the growth of the campus and to support the university in achieving its Vision 130,” says Prof Ngobeni.
Two OSM students selected for KZN Philharmonic Youth Concerto Festival
2016-06-13
Kamu Magou has been an occasional
studies student in violin performance
for the last four years at the Odeion
School of Music.
Photo: Supplied
Two students from the
Odeion School of Music (OSM) at the University of the Free State have been selected as soloists to be part of the
KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra National Youth Concerto Festival.
The cellist Chris van Zyl and violinist Kamu Magou will be part of the festival taking place on 29 September 2016 in the Durban City Hall. The KZN Philharmonic presents the festival annually, with the aim of providing gifted young musicians an opportunity to rehearse and perform with a professional orchestra. The orchestra will be conducted by Lykele Temmingh.
Cricketer playing cello since age of six
Chris, who is under the tutelage of Prof Anmari van der Westhuizen from the Odeion String Quartet, is a first-year student at the OSM. He will perform Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62, for cello and orchestra.
He started playing the cello at the age of six, under the tutelage of Michael Haller, a respected cello pedagogue and cellist of the then Odeion String Quartet.
Although a gifted musician, he also loves cricket, and, as a youngster, his mother had to bribe him by bowling plastic cricket balls in the lounge in exchange for five minutes of cello playing.
Violin student in residence in Amsterdam
Kamu has been studying violin under Sharon de Kock from the Odeion String Quartet, her violin lecturer at the OSM, since high school. She has been an occasional studies student in violin performance for the last four years.
Kamu, who is pursuing a BCom degree at Unisa, was in residence for a week recently at the acclaimed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. She and the Bloemfontein double bassist, Siyolise Nyondo, were part of an initiative by the South African Youth Orchestra Foundation.