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UFS Thought-Leader series sparks national dialogue on employability and sustainability in higher education

18 June 2025 | Story Onthatile Tikoe | Photo Kaleidoscope Studios

Prof Hester C. Klopper, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, will facilitate the UFS Thought-Leader Series discussion titled Reimagining Higher Education for Employability and Sustainability.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is proud to announce the next instalment of its prestigious Thought-Leader Series, titled Reimagining Higher Education for Employability and Sustainability. This highly anticipated event – held in collaboration with the Free State Arts Festival - will take place on Thursday, 17 July 2025, from 12:00 to 14:00 at the Albert Wessels Auditorium, UFS Bloemfontein Campus. Attendance is free and open to the public.

Now in its seventh year, the UFS Thought-Leader Series has established itself as a dynamic platform for robust public dialogue on pressing local and global issues. The series brings together influential voices from academia, industry, and civil society, reflecting the university’s continued commitment to thought leadership, public engagement, and transformative impact.

Rethinking the purpose of Higher Education

This year’s theme comes at a critical time. South Africa faces escalating youth unemployment, rapid technological change, and the complexities of a shifting global economy. Against this backdrop, questions around the purpose of higher education and its alignment with employability and sustainability have become increasingly urgent.

The panel will explore how universities can better integrate their teaching, research, and community engagement to address the real-world needs of graduates and society at large.

Prof Hester C. Klopper, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, will serve as the facilitator. With her extensive leadership experience and academic expertise, she is well-positioned to guide what promises to be an insightful and forward-thinking conversation.

Meet the panellists

The session will feature an esteemed panel of thought leaders from the higher education landscape:

Dr Max Price

Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Dr Max Price brings deep insights into leadership during transformative moments in South African higher education. A medical doctor and Rhodes Scholar, he holds postgraduate qualifications in public health. His recent memoir, Statues and Storms: Leading through change, reflects on steering a university through turbulent times and fostering dialogue on contested transformation issues.

Dr Phethiwe Matutu

As CEO of Universities South Africa (USAf), Dr Phethiwe Matutu leads national initiatives shaping the future of higher education. A mathematician by training, she has held strategic leadership roles at the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology. Her work is rooted in advancing equity, innovation, and access within the post-school education system.

Prof Paul E Green

Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning at Sol Plaatje University, Prof Paul E Green is a specialist in systems thinking and higher education quality. Holding a PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, he has served in senior academic positions across several institutions. His research centres on integrating education, innovation, and community impact to meet contemporary challenges.

Prof Pamela Dube

Prof Pamela Dube is the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Central University of Technology (CUT) - the first woman to be appointed to this role in the Free State. A distinguished academic and visionary leader with extensive global experience, she has served in senior positions across several universities and national institutions. Her work spans a wide range of fields, including student development, postcolonial studies, gender equity, and the evolving interface between technology and humanity. Known for her commitment to inclusive transformative education, Prof Dube has received numerous awards and international recognition for her contributions to higher education and leadership.

Event Details

Venue: Albert Wessels Auditorium, UFS Bloemfontein Campus

Date: Thursday, 17 July 2025

Time: 12:00–14:00 (90 minutes)

Click here to RSVP before 15 July 2025

News Archive

Africa the birthplace of mathematics, says Prof Atangana

2017-11-17

Prof Abdon Atangana from the UFS Institute for Groundwater Studies.
Photo: Supplied

Prof Abdon Atangana from the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State recently received the African Award of Applied Mathematics during the International conference "African’s Days of Applied Mathematics" that was held in Errachidia, Morocco. Prof Atangana delivered the opening speech with the title "Africa was a temple of knowledge before: What happened?” The focus of the conference was to offer a forum for the promotion of mathematics and its applications in African countries.

When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture to be disorganised and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet.

Africa is home to the world’s earliest known use of measuring and calculation. Thousands of years ago Africans were using numerals, algebra and geometry in daily life. “Our continent is the birthplace of both basic and advanced mathematics,” said Prof Atangana.

Africa attracted a series of immigrants who spread knowledge from this continent to the rest of the world.

Measuring and counting
In one of his examples of African mathematics knowledge Prof Atangana referred to the oldest mathematical instrument as the Lebombo bone, a baboon fibula used as a measuring instrument, which was named after the Lebombo Mountains of Swaziland. The world’s oldest evidence of advanced mathematics was also a baboon fibula that was discovered in present-day Democratic Republic of Congo.

Another example he used is the manuscripts in the libraries of the Sankoré University, one of the world’s oldest tertiary institutions. This university in Timbuktu, Mali, is full of manuscripts mainly written in Ajami in the 1200s AD. “When Europeans and Western Asians began visiting and colonising Mali between the 1300s and 1800s, Malians hid the manuscripts in basements, attics and underground, fearing destruction or theft by foreigners. This was certainly a good idea, given the Europeans' history of destroying texts in Kemet and other areas of the continent. Many of the scripts were mathematical and astronomical in nature. In recent years, as many as 700 000 scripts have been rediscovered and attest to the continuous knowledge of advanced mathematics and science in Africa well before European colonisation.

Fractal geometry
“One of Africa’s major achievements was the advanced knowledge of fractal geometry. This knowledge is found in a wide aspect of Africa life: from art, social design structures, architecture, to games, trade and divination systems.

“The binary numeral system was also widely known through Africa before it was known throughout much of the world. There is a theory that it could have influenced Western geometry, which led to the development of digital computers,” he said.

“Can Africa rise again?” Prof Atangana believes it can.

He concluded with a plea to fellow African researchers to do research that will build towards a new Africa.

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