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Celebrating 25 years of the UFS Business School

29 November 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Tania Allan

Business School 25 Year Celebration — Some of the guests and staff members of the UFS Business School who attended the 25th anniversary celebration of the school.

To commemorate its 25^th anniversary, the Business School at the University of the Free State (UFS) held a celebratory event on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 22 November 2024.

Prof Frans Prinsloo, acting Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the UFS who attended the event, said, “The occasion is not just a celebration of the passing of time, but it’s also an opportunity for us to reflect on the values, achievements, and aspirations that have shaped the journey of the UFS Business School.” The event, which was regarded as a ‘momentous milestone’, was also attended by Prof Nicolene Barkhuizen, Director of the UFS Business School, Prof Frederick Fourie and Prof Bennie Anderson – founding members of the Business School, as well as Prof Tienie Crous and Prof Hendri Kroukamp, who are former deans of EMS.

A walk down memory lane

In his opening address, Prof Prinsloo reflected on the growth of the Business School over the past 25 years and highlighted some of the achievements of the staff that make up the Business School. However, the highlight of the event for many in the audience was the trip down memory lane by the founding members of the Business School as well as the former deans of the faculty.

In their address, Profs Fourie and Anderson shared some of their fondest memories and experiences as they worked towards putting together the Business School. For instance, Prof Fourie indicated that in order to ensure that the syllabus was of high quality, the founding members had to travel overseas and learn from several institutions, such as Harvard Business School.

In addition, Profs Fourie and Anderson spoke extensively about their pride in the Business Management and Leadership (BML) programme, offered by the Business School. According to Prof Fourie, the degree was the brainchild of Prof Anderson, who for several reasons wanted to consider working adults who might not have had experience in school learning. As such, they consider the BML programme as one of their most special achievements, given its impact. Furthermore, Prof Crous and Prof Kroukamp also shared their memories of being part of the institution, and specifically the Business School.

Forging ahead for another 25 years

In the pursuit of 25 more years, Prof Barkhuizen indicated that the school is aiming to achieve success with several projects. These include staff and student exchanges in order to optimise the experience of both stakeholders. “Even though we have a global reach, it is important for us to apply it locally,” she said. In addition, Prof Barkhuizen highlights that for the Business School to continue serving the needs of its unique student clientele, it needs to become more agile. As such, it will continuously reinvent its programmes with the input of its stakeholders. For instance, she indicated that the school is looking at implementing joint qualification offerings, among other things.

As the event ended, Prof Barkhuizen said that she was, “so proud of the progress made by the Business School; it has been a journey to get here, but this function today taught me to never give up hope and not to give up on one’s dreams”.

News Archive

Carbon dioxide makes for more aromatic decaffeinated coffee

2017-10-27

The Inorganic Group in the Department of Chemistry
at the UFS is systematically researching the utilisation
of carbon dioxide. From the left, are, Dr Ebrahiem Botha,
Postdoctoral Fellow; Mahlomolo Khasemene, MSc student;
Prof André Roodt; Dr Marietjie Schutte-Smith, Senior Lecturer;
and Mokete Motente, MSc student.
Photo: Charl Devenish

Several industries in South Africa are currently producing hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide a year, which are released directly into the air. A typical family sedan doing around 10 000 km per year, is annually releasing more than one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The Inorganic Chemistry Research Group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the University of Zurich in Switzerland, has focused in recent years on using carbon dioxide – which is regarded as a harmful and global warming gas – in a meaningful way.

According to Prof André Roodt, Head of Inorganic Chemistry at the UFS, the Department of Chemistry has for the past five decades been researching natural products that could be extracted from plants. These products are manufactured by plants through photosynthesis, in other words the utilisation of sunlight and carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and other nutrients from the soil.

Caffeine and chlorophyll
“The Inorganic group is systematically researching the utilisation of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants through chlorophyll and used to make interesting and valuable compounds and sugars, which in turn could be used for the production of important new medicines,” says Prof Roodt.

Caffeine, a major energy enhancer, is also manufactured through photosynthesis in plants. It is commonly found in tea and coffee, but also (artificially added) in energy drinks. Because caffeine is a stimulant of the central nervous system and reduces fatigue and drowsiness, some people prefer decaffeinated coffee when enjoying this hot drink late at night.

Removing caffeine from coffee could be expensive and time-consuming, but also environmentally unfriendly, because it involves the use of harmful and flammable liquids. Some of the Inorganic Group’s research focus areas include the use of carbon dioxide for the extraction of compounds, such as caffeine from plants.

“Therefore, the research could lead to the availability of more decaffeinated coffee products. Although decaffeinated coffee is currently aromatic, we want to investigate further to ensure better quality flavours,” says Prof Roodt.

Another research aspect the team is focusing on is the use of carbon dioxide to extract chlorophyll from plants which have medicinal properties themselves. Chemical suppliers sell chlorophyll at R3 000 a gram. “In the process of investigating chlorophyll, our group discovered simpler techniques to comfortably extract larger quantities from green vegetables and other plants,” says Prof Roodt.

Medicines
In addition, the Inorganic Research Group is also looking to use carbon dioxide as a building block for more valuable compounds. Some of these compounds will be used in the Inorganic Group’s research focus on radiopharmaceutical products for the identification and possibly even the treatment of diseases such as certain cancers, tuberculosis, and malaria.

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