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06 January 2025 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Supplied
Prof Solomon Werta
Prof Solomon Werta, UFS alumnus and Vice-President: Administration and Development at Dire Dawa University, continues to inspire as one of Ethiopia's youngest leaders in higher education.
Throughout the progression of his career, the UFS alumnus, Prof Solomon Werta – Vice-President: Administration and Development at the Dire Dawa University (DDU) – has been the ‘youngest’ to occupy positions of leadership in several instances. 

In fact, the DDU appointed Prof Werta as Vice-President: Research and Community Service in 2020, making him the youngest vice-president of any public university in Ethiopia. According to Prof Werta, when it comes to senior management roles in universities and government, the norm is that the positions are held by middle-aged, mature leaders. However, after a unanimous vote by senate members at the university, he assumed that role at the age of 31. “Holding such a senior position at that age makes me a role model not only for a generation of young people, but for those at the University of the Free State who may be following my career,” Prof Werta stated. 

What the role entailed 

As Vice-President: Research and Community Service, he was responsible for driving research, innovation, technology transfer, community engagement, and growth within the institution and the community at large. As such, some of his highlights within this role include establishing a university community radio station to serve both the university and the Dire Dawa community, establishing new university journals such as the Harla journal, and establishing a nationally accredited institutional review board, among others. 

He occupied this role until November 2023 when he was promoted to his current role as Vice-President: Administration and Development at the DDU. Prof Werta credits this most recent promotion to the dedication and hard work he put into his previous role, as well as the knowledge and experience he acquired during his time at the UFS. 

In recognition of his work as a researcher within the Department of Physics at the DDU, Prof Werta was also promoted to Associate Professor in Physics. As a result, he indicates that he can be regarded as the youngest associate professor of physics in Ethiopia. Therefore, he continues to contribute to his institution and beyond on these accounts. 

What the future holds 

Prof Werta indicated that he plans on continuing to make strides as his career progresses, particularly in his role as Vice-President: Administration and Development. “I’d like to focus on increasing the university’s internal revenue, particularly through urban farming and other businesses using our academics,” said Prof Werta. In addition, he would also like to work on changing the university’s internal business practices, particularly the automation and digitalisation of the university system and the implementation of a contemporary university property management system, among others. 

News Archive

Call for campus review and participation into renaming and renewal of statues, signs, and symbols on UFS campuses
2016-08-25

 

The leadership of the University of the Free State (UFS) is issuing a Call for the renaming and renewal of statues, signs, and symbols on the three campuses to staff, students, and alumni.

In line with the founding statement and guidelines of the Naming Committee of Council, The Call will seek to retain the best representations of the history and identity of the UFS over more than a century, while committing to the transformation imperatives of our new democracy so that the totality of statues, signs, and symbols give credence to both the past and the future, all in line with the values of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Submissions should be made to the
SSSC between 21 July 2016 and 31 August 2016.
Proposals can be delivered to the
office of the Director: Communication and
Brand Management at Room 49,
Main Building, Bloemfontein Campus, or
via email to sssc@ufs.ac.za.

The ‘Guiding Principles’ of the Naming Committee, approved by Council on 8 March 2013, are transformation, reconciliation, excellence, distinctiveness, leadership, comprehensiveness, balance and sensitivity. The Policy of the UFS on Naming and Renaming is available here: http://bit.ly/2aeTLUz; and the Remit of the Naming Committee of the UFS is available here: http://bit.ly/29NXESC.

The Call will give special attention to creative submissions from staff, students, and alumni, such as signs and symbols that reflect our entangled past and place rival memories in critical conversation. Whatever is proposed, our commitment to the Academic Project and the Human Project remain foundations on which inspirational proposals could be based. In the end, a campus that is richly diverse, inclusive, and just in its symbolic infrastructure, would give visible meaning to the university’s commitment to social justice and reconciliation.

All submissions should be made to the Statues, Signs, and Symbols Committee (SSSC) between 21 July 2016 and 31 August 2016. Proposals could be delivered in hard copy to the office of the Director: Communication and Brand Management at Room 49, Main Building, Bloemfontein Campus or via email to sssc@ufs.ac.za.

Proposals will be reviewed by the SSSC, which is a subcommittee of the Naming Committee.

Final proposals will be submitted to Council for consideration at its final meeting of the 2016 academic year. In other words, new statues, symbols and signs – those approved by Council – will be implemented from January 2017.

Submissions could include, but are not limited to, the following: the renaming of streets and buildings; the proposal of new statues and other symbols on campus; the renewal of artwork collections; the reconfiguration of existing statues and symbols; the introduction of memorial gardens; the instatement of new galleries, sculptures, and literary collections; the establishment of prominent academic chairs or annual academic lectures in the name of illustrious figures, etc. Particular attention should be given to new buildings in the process of being built, such as residences.

Finally, it is important that the views and recommendations of all staff, students, and alumni be considered in submissions and that every campus citizen, past and present, has a sense of being able to participate fully and freely in the process.

Released by: Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Tel: +27 51 401 3422/2707 or +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

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