The contributors
The chapters of Let’s Talk About Varsity were written by the following contributors.
Estian Calitz is a professor of economics at the University of Stellenbosch and a former Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Science and an Executive Director: Finance of the same university. During South Africa’s period of political transition to full democracy he served (from 1993 to June 1996) as Director General of Finance of the National Government.
Eugene Cloete is the dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Stellenbosch. He is the former head of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria, and former chairperson of the School of Biological Sciences at UP. Prof Cloete is the founding director of the UP Water Institute, and past vice-president and board member of the International Water Association (IWA). He has eight patents to his name, of which four are international, and has published 120 scientific papers in leading academic journals.
TT Cloete studied at several South African universities and received the degree D.Litt. et Phil. from the University of Amsterdam in 1953. He was Professor of Afrikaans Literature and Literary Theory at the Potchefstroom University from 1953 until he retired in 1982. He is the author of many books and articles on literary criticism as well as eight volumes of poetry, two volumes of short stories and one play. TT Cloete received many awards, inter alia the Hertzog Prize for Poetry 1987 and again 1993, the State President Order for Meritorious Service [Gold] and several awards for research from the HSRC.
Stef Coetzee holds an MA (economics) and D.Phil (economics) from the Universities of Stellenbosch and the Free State respectively. He is currently the executive director of the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI). Previously he was rector and vice-chancellor of the UFS and director policy analysis at the Development Bank Southern Africa (DBSA). His fields of expertise include development economics, leadership and change management. He is a professor-extraordinaire at the USB.
Joseph Diescho is a Namibian author and political analyst. He read law and political science at the University of Fort Hare and, on account of protesting against the apartheid system, he was imprisoned at Peddie and East London while studying. In 1984, he became a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University in New York, where he received his PhD in political science. His book, Born of the Sun, was first published in the USA in 1988 while his second, Troubled Waters, was published in 1993.
Theuns Eloff graduated in both Law and Theology from Potchefstroom University (now North-West University), and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by the London South Bank University. As Executive Director of the Consultative Business Movement he headed the administration of South Africa’s Multi-Party Negotiations Process in 1993. As CEO of the National Business Initiative he received international recognition for his role in this process, when the World Economic Forum named him in 1995 as one of 100 “Global Leaders for Tomorrow”. He also received the Junior Chamber International’s Award as one of the “Ten outstanding Young Persons of the World”. He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the NWU in 2004, and was reappointed for a second term of five years in 2009. He is Chairperson of Higher Education South Africa as well as the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
For 24 years, Willie Esterhuyse was professor in Philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch. Until 2004, he was also visiting professor of Business Ethics and Corporate Governance at the Stellenbosch Business School and guest lecturer at the UCT Business School. He was the non-executive director of Murray & Roberts, Metropolitan and Medi-Clinic and is currently chairperson of the council of Barinor Pty Ltd.
Jonathan Jansen is current Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Orange Free State. He is a recent Fulbright Scholar to Stanford University (2007-2008), former Dean of Education at the University of Pretoria (2001-2007), and Honorary Doctor of Education from the University of Edinburgh. Prof Jansen is a former high school Biology teacher and achieved his undergraduate education at UWC (BSc), his teaching credentials at UNISA (HED, BEd) and his postgraduate education in the USA (MS, Cornell; PhD, Stanford). His most recent books are Knowledge in the Blood (2009, Stanford University Press) and has co-authored Diversity High: Class, Color, Character and Culture in a South African High School (2008, University Press of America). In these and related works he examines how education leaders balance the dual imperatives of reparation and reconciliation in their leadership practice.
Nico Koopman is professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology at the University of Stellenbosch. He is also warden of university residences Huis Marais and Huis Visser. Over many years he is involved in research, teaching and community interaction with regard to themes like unity and reconciliation, justice and human dignity.
Ruda Landman has been a journalist for more than thirty years, working in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She has published a collection of essays on her experiences as co-anchor of M-Net’s Carte Blanche, where she spent 19 years. She chaired the Board of Directors of Helpmekaar Private School for five years and the Board of Trustees of Project Literacy for about the same period. Currently she serves on the Board of Media 24.
Johann Meyer was a Student Counsellor at Stellenbosch University’s Bureau for Student Counselling for twenty years, where amongst others he was responsible for the first- year-mentor programme in university residences. In 1988 he moved on to the academic Department of Psychology where he lectured in Vocational- and Developmental Psychology before retiring as associate professor in 2006. He is currently a practising Counselling Psychologist.
Tim Noakes is Professor in the Discovery Health Chair of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Cape Town. He is also Director of the UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine and co-founder of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. He was the team doctor for the Proteas Cricket Team in the 1996 Cricket World Cup and assisted long distance swimmer, Lewis Pugh, in cold water swims in the Arctic and Antarctic and at the North Pole. In 2008 he received the Order of Mapungubwe, Silver from the State President for “excellent contribution in the field of sports and the science of physical exercise”. He has authored many books and papers over the years including his book Lore of Running which is in its 4th edition and which has been published in countries worldwide. His latest book is The Art and Science of Cricket which he co-authored with Bob Woolmer and which was published in 2008.
A graduate of UCT and London University, Howard Phillips is a professor in the Department of Historical Studies at UCT where he has taught and researched global, European and medical history for over 30 years. Among his books is a history of UCT from 1918 to 1948 and a history of Groote Schuur Hospital.
Arnold Schoonwinkel’s career path commenced with 15 years in the petrochemical process control and aerospace industries. He joined the Stellenbosch Engineering Faculty in 1993 where he progressed to professor in Computer and Control Systems. He was a core team member for the development of SUNSAT, South Africa’s first satellite in space and co-founder of SunSpace, one of the first spin-off companies from Stellenbosch University. Since 2002 Prof Schoonwinkel is the dean of the Stellenbosch Faculty of Engineering.
Eon Smit is Director of the Stellenbosch Business School. A statistician and economist by training, he is editor of three academic journals, international visiting professor at Reims Management School in France and is involved to a significant degree in international quality control in business schools. He has published about a hundred research papers in accredited academic journals.
Wynand van der Merwe qualified as medical doctor and subsequently also completed his postgraduate education and training as a specialist in Anaesthesiology at Stellenbosch University. He was appointed as associated professor in Anaesthesiology in 1998. In 2001 he was appointed as professor and as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University. Since then he has been significantly involved in regional and national planning structures and processes related to education in Health Sciences.
Anton van Niekerk is professor and chairperson of the Philosophy Department and Director of the Centre for Applied Ethics at Stellenbosch University. He has published widely in the fields of Bioethics and the Philosophy of the Human Sciences. He is chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Ethics Institute of South Africa, a director of the the International Association of Bioethics, and a former member of the Council of Stellenbosch University.
Marinus Wiechers attended the Afrikaans Boys’ High School in Pretoria and obtained the degree BA (Law), LLB and LLD at the University of Pretoria. In 1966 he was appointed the Chair of constitutional and public international law at the University of South Africa, a position which he held until the end of 1993, when he became the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of that institution. He studied in France, the United States, Germany, England and Spain. In 1990 he co-drafted the Namibian Constitution and in 1993 he was a member of the constitutional technical committee which was responsible for the drafting of the Interim Constitution at the Kempton Park Multi-Party Conference. He wrote a number of books and articles on SA constitutional and administrative law as well as on international law.