Stellenbosch University to honour foremost thought leaders

This year Stellenbosch University (SU) will bestow honorary doctorates on four thought leaders who have made an exceptional contribution to society both internationally and in South Africa: a famous South African documentary photographer, artist, activist and historian; a prominent medical researcher who has carried out pioneering research on an HIV vaccine; a former judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa; and a born-and-bred Stellenboscher who has had a huge impact worldwide in promoting more sustainable societies.

The recipients to be honoured in this way are Mr Omar Badsha and Professors Glenda Elisabeth Gray, Mervyn Eldred King and Markus A Reuter. The Council approved the honorary doctorates at its meeting in September and the degrees will be awarded at the institution’s Graduation Ceremonies in December 2017 and in March 2018.

“It is a privilege for us to honour the recipients in this way. They have made it their life’s work to enrich the lives of others. Now it is time to recognise them as excellent role models to us all,” says Prof Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor.

SU confers honorary doctorates to acknowledge excellence in a variety of fields as well as to identify the individuals concerned as role models for the University community.

More on the recipients

Mr Omar Badsha (72), who is being awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil), honoris causa, had already become engaged in the trials and tribulations of South African society as a schoolboy, when he became politically active after Sharpeville in 1960 and later, among other things, became a member of the Natal Indian Congress.

It was his political activism that spurred him on to take up photography – this was a combination that eventually led to his being acknowledged as one of the country’s foremost documentary photographers. He has been capturing images of South Africa’s history for decades already. The first of his many publications, a collection of photographic essays entitled A Letter to Farzanah (1979), produced with the late Fatima Meer, was immediately banned at the time. His second book, Imijondolo (1984), was a photographic record of his work in the Inanda area in Durban.

As a pioneer in his field, he was responsible for a number of firsts. In the 1980s he was a founder member of Afrapix as well as of the Centre for Documentary Photography at the University of Cape Town. He was head of the photography unit of the Second Carnegie Commission on Poverty and Development, and in 1999 he founded the highly successful and award-winning history project, South African History Online (SAHO), the largest history website on the African continent.

He still manages SAHO, holds exhibitions locally and abroad , and in 2015 he was awarded the Arts and Cultural Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual Arts by the Department of Arts and Culture.

Prof Glenda Elisabeth Gray, Chief Executive Officer and President of the South African Medical Research Council, is being awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa.

Gray, an alumnus of the Medical School of the University of the Witwatersrand, is a world-renowned researcher whose pioneering work in the prevention of mother-to-child transfer of HIV has already saved thousands of lives. She was recently described by the international news magazine Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Among her achievements are the establishment in 1996 of the Wits Perinatal HIV Research Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. Her dedication to her work led to her becoming the co-recipient of the Nelson Mandela Health & Human Rights Award for research on mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Her work is also recognised by the international community – she is the co-recipient of the ‘Heroes in Medicine’ award from the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care.

She was head of the clinical development of the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative’s HIV vaccines and conducted the first tests in South Africa and the USA.

Gray’s research shows her to be an example of dedication to the improvement of the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS. Her global influence is borne out by her mention in Time. As a woman, she has excelled in a male-dominated field. As a scientist, Prof. Gray deserves the highest honour of an honorary doctorate from Stellenbosch University.

Prof Mervyn King (80), a Senior Counsel and former judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa, is being awarded the degree of Doctor of Law (LLD), honoris causa.

As chairman of the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa, his name has become synonymous with corporate governance both locally and abroad. The King reports have changed the landscape of corporate governance in South Africa and have been acknowledged worldwide as representing best practice. The reports have played a major role in the shift towards supporting a more inclusive, stakeholder-based concept of corporate governance as opposed to the more traditional and exclusive focus on shareholders.

King is still highly regarded internationally and is the author of four books management, sustainability and reporting. He is, among other things, chair of the International Integrated Reporting Council, member of the private sector group that advises the World Bank on corporate management, and was chair of the United Nations Committee on Governance and Oversight. He has also been chair, director and chief executive of several companies listed on the stock exchanges in London, Luxembourg and Johannesburg; he has been involved in consultations in more than 60 countries and received many awards from international bodies.

Some of the innovations recommended in the Third King Report in 2009 include a more comprehensive focus on ethical leadership, corporate citizenship and well as sustainability reporting and integrated reporting.

Prof Markus A Reuter (58), Director at the Helmholtz Institute for Resource Technology in Freiberg in Germany, will be awarded the degree Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa. He has already made several outstanding contributions to the science and technology of the production and recycling of metals, as well as to the integration of academic research and practice. His work on recycling, design for recycling, and resource efficiency has contributed towards the creation of processes and tools to develop a sustainable society.

Reuter obtained the degrees BEng in Chemical Engineering cum laude, MEng, PhD and DEng at Stellenbosch University as well as a Dr.habil from RWTH Aachen in Germany. He has been attached to several prominent tertiary institutions not only in South Africa, but also in Europe, China and Australia; he has supervised 130 postgraduate students, published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed subject journals, and has more than 200 publications in reviewed international conference proceedings.

He also worked in industry where he was Chief Technology Officer of Ausmelt in Australia and a Director in the Finnish company Outotec.

He regularly appears as speaker on the most important international platforms and has received many awards including an honorary doctorate from Liege University in Belgium.

Reuter, holding 37 patents in 5 patent families, was the main author of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Report on Recycling (2013). This report was downloaded 400 000 times between April 2013 and October 2015.

Through his work in academia, industry and government he reaches and inspires key role players at all levels, and empowers young engineers, industrialists and policy makers to make informed decisions to help society apply scarce resources more sustainably.

Source Stellenbosch University