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08 May 2024
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The Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Paul Oberholster, has the pleasure of inviting you to the inaugural lecture of Prof Dirk Opperman.
Date: 21 May 2024
Time: 17:30
Venue: Equitas
Click here to RSVP before Wednesday, 15 May 2024. Alternatively, contact Christelle van Rooyen on +27 51 401 9190.
About Prof Dirk Opperman
Prof Dirk Opperman obtained his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of the Free State in 2008. This was followed by postdoctoral research on directed evolution with Prof Manfred T Reetz at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research (Germany). In 2010, he was appointed in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry. He subsequently established structural biology at the UFS, and his current research focus lies at the interface of evolutionary and structure-function relationships of biocatalysts, and their application in green chemistry. He is an NRF B-rated researcher with co-authored papers in Science, Nature Communications, and Angewandte Chemie.
His research has been funded by both local and international organisations, ranging from industries such as SASOL to the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF, UK). He has a long-standing collaboration with researchers at the Delft University of Technology (TUDelft, the Netherlands) and is currently part of a European Research Area Network Cofund (ERA-NET Cofund) partnership on Food Systems and Climate (FOSC) that develops biocatalysts for upcycling waste.
Mathatha Tsedu to deliver King Moshoeshoe lecture
2009-06-29
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| Mathatha Tsedu |
The former Editor of City Press, Mathatha Tsedu, will deliver the Second King Moshoeshoe Memorial Lecture at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, 9 September 2009.
The King Moshoeshoe Memorial Lecture series are an initiative of the University of the Free State to honour the leadership legacy of King Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Basotho nation. The lecture series aim to provide a platform for debate about the key challenges of nation-building, reconciliation and leadership facing our country and the African continent.
In 2004 the UFS produced a documentary on the life of King Moshoeshoe I as part of the project to pay tribute to this great African leader. The documentary was screened numerous times on SABC TV.
Later in 2006, the inaugural King Moshoeshoe Memorial Lecture was delivered by Prof Njabulo Ndebele, former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town.
Mr Tsedu is one of South Africa’s foremost journalists and social commentators. He will speak on the topic, “When globalisation ties the fate of the Maluti to that of the ice caps on the Alps, what does Morena Moshoeshoe teach us about leadership today?”
Mr Tsedu has received several awards, including the Nat Nakasa Award for Courageous Journalism in 2000 as well as the Shanduka Lifetime Achievers Award in 2007.
A graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, he started his career in journalism as a bureau reporter for the Sowetan in 1978 responsible for the then Northern Transvaal. Later Mr Tsedu became Political Editor of the Sowetan, the Deputy Editor of The Star as well as the Deputy Editor of the Sunday Independent and Deputy Chief Executive of SABC News.
He has also been the Editor of two major Sunday newspapers, the Sunday Times and City Press and is currently the Head of the Journalism Academy at the Media24 group.
Mr Tsedu is the Chairperson of The African Editors Forum and a Council Member of the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF). He has addressed various organisations on journalism in South Africa, including the International Federation of Journalists; the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; the Botswana Journalist Association; the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists; the Kenya Union of Journalists; and the Union of African Journalists.
He was an active trade unionist and national executive member of the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa. He was detained several times, banned and restricted to Seshego in the Northern Province from 1981 to 1986.
Mr Tsedu is also a short story writer with several of his stories published in various magazines. He was awarded a prestigious Nieman Fellowship in 1996/97 to study at Harvard University in the United States of America.
Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
29 June 2009 |