Biographical Sketch: John BUTLER-ADAM
Institution: Ford Foundation
Country: South Africa
John Butler-Adam
Program Officer
John Butler-Adam is the Program Officer for Higher Education in the Office for Southern Africa. His grant making aims to support the emergence of a new and more equitable generation of academics; assure that the region has the skilled people it needs to bring about social and economic development; create a more diverse and integrated post-secondary education system in the context of limited choices faced by young people leaving school; and finally to support research that promotes an understanding of higher education and its role in Africa. This work operates in the intersection of further and higher education and focuses on both practical and policy matters – areas in which John has considerable knowledge and experience.
Before joining the foundation, John was the Chief Executive Officer of a consortium of eight higher education institutions in the South African province of KwaZulu Natal, where he was responsible for initiating, managing and monitoring academic and administrative programs that strengthened cooperation between the institutions. These programs were aimed at sharing skills and resources across institutions, improving the delivery of education and reducing costs. Prior to that, John was the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Durban-Westville, with responsibilities for research and faculty matters, library services and human resources. He came to that position from the Directorship of the University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research where he managed twenty social science researchers and undertook research projects that dealt with the provision of housing and with tourism and the economy. He has taught in the Universities of Natal and Durban-Westville and worked from time to time in the University of Cape Town. John holds a BA(Hons) form the University of Natal and a PhD in Geography from the Pennsylvania State University where he was a Ruth Young Boucke Fellow.
Program Officer
John Butler-Adam is the Program Officer for Higher Education in the Office for Southern Africa. His grant making aims to support the emergence of a new and more equitable generation of academics; assure that the region has the skilled people it needs to bring about social and economic development; create a more diverse and integrated post-secondary education system in the context of limited choices faced by young people leaving school; and finally to support research that promotes an understanding of higher education and its role in Africa. This work operates in the intersection of further and higher education and focuses on both practical and policy matters – areas in which John has considerable knowledge and experience.
Before joining the foundation, John was the Chief Executive Officer of a consortium of eight higher education institutions in the South African province of KwaZulu Natal, where he was responsible for initiating, managing and monitoring academic and administrative programs that strengthened cooperation between the institutions. These programs were aimed at sharing skills and resources across institutions, improving the delivery of education and reducing costs. Prior to that, John was the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Durban-Westville, with responsibilities for research and faculty matters, library services and human resources. He came to that position from the Directorship of the University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research where he managed twenty social science researchers and undertook research projects that dealt with the provision of housing and with tourism and the economy. He has taught in the Universities of Natal and Durban-Westville and worked from time to time in the University of Cape Town. John holds a BA(Hons) form the University of Natal and a PhD in Geography from the Pennsylvania State University where he was a Ruth Young Boucke Fellow.