Biographical Sketch: Loyiso NONGXA
Institution: University of the Witwatersrand
Country: South Africa
Professor Loyiso Nongxa serves as the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand (known as Wits University) in Johannesburg, South Africa, a position that he has held for over five years. His strong leadership skills coupled with his dynamic vision for the future has initiated an impetus that continues to strengthen Wits as a leading institution in higher education on the world map.
Prof Nongxa made history in 1982 when he became South Africa�s first African Rhodes Scholar to graduate from Oxford University with a doctoral degree in mathematics. Born in Indwe in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, he schooled at the famed Healdtown College in the Eastern Cape, where he achieved distinction as the top student in South Africa in 1969 (Junior Certificate) and 1972 (Senior Certificate). He then completed his BSc and BSc (Hons) and MSc at the University of Fort Hare. His contemporaries at university include many of South Africa�s current political and business leaders. In 1976 Loyiso Nongxa received the University of Fort Hare Council Prize for the best performance by an undergraduate student at the university since its inception in 1916 and in 1978, he travelled to Oxford to take up his Rhodes Scholarship, completing his D. Phil in 1982. On his return to the continent, he lectured at the University of Lesotho (1982-1986) and at the University of Natal (1986 � 1990). He then joined the University of the Western Cape where he served as a Professor of Mathematics. In 1999 he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of the Western Cape and he joined Wits University two years later as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research. In June 2003, he was appointed as Vice-Chancellor and Principal, the first Black CEO of Wits University in its 85 year history.
Over the past few decades, Prof Nongxa has actively participated in transforming the higher education landscape in South Africa and beyond. He is well versed in the management of higher education institutions in the country and has served on numerous university Councils including those of the University of Cape Town, the University of Lesotho and the University of the Western Cape.
In recent years, Prof Nongxa has been invited as a Visiting Fellow to Harvard University and the University of Illinois and as a Visiting Researcher to the University of Colorado, the University of Hawaii, the University of Connecticut and to Baylor University in the United States. Locally, Prof Nongxa serves as the Chair of the TENET Board, and as a member of the Rhodes Scholarships Selection Committee, the South Africa Netherlands Programme for Alternative Development, the South African University Vice-Chancellor�s Association (SAUVCA) and its successor Higher Education South Africa (HESA), amongst his other commitments.
His passion still lies in mathematics and his research interests in this field range from Abelian Group Theory and Universal Algebra to research evaluation and the teaching of mathematics at higher education level. He is both a member of the South African Mathematical Society and the American Mathematical Society. Prof Nongxa is widely published both locally and abroad and, since his travel ban was revoked in 1993, has delivered numerous international conference presentations. He is a rated scientist and holds various other awards aside from his Rhodes Scholarship. He is the recipient of the Abe Bailey Travel bursary and was also awarded a South Africa/Harvard Fellowship in 1992.
Married and the father of three children, Prof Nongxa is a keen football fan who enjoys living in the heart of the City of Johannesburg.
Under his guidance, Wits University has in 2008 already moved 40 steps closer to achieving its institutional goal of becoming one of the top 100 universities in the world by 2022, its centenary year. In the last year alone, the University has risen from 322 to 282 in the world ranking system as defined by the Times Higher Education Supplement (there are some 18 000 higher education institutions worldwide). His vision for the University is documented in the Wits 2010 Strategic Plan, which can be made available on request.
Prof Nongxa has long since recognised the need to establish and maintain existing local and global partnerships and encourages the University to play an active role in fostering intellectual communities. The best universities in the world have come to appreciate the importance of being part of creative, innovative intellectual networks. Apart form very many smaller scale partnerships, Wits maintains strong multi-dimensional partnerships with top universities in the US, the UK and India.
Prof Nongxa believes that Wits University has a responsibility to align its activities with the priorities of South Africa and the continent and to advance the competitiveness of the country within the global knowledge economy, and to be an institution of social empowerment and transformation, through its research and educational programmes. The University continues to strengthen its role in producing world class research and graduates with the high-level and scarce skills essential for a vibrant and successful society. Prof Nongxa also plays a key role in the development of high-level skills, and higher education systems, more widely on the continent.
Among other initiatives, Prof Nongxa personally oversees (and raises money for) innovative programmes to identify top-drawer academic talent from previously excluded communities and nurtures such individuals to achieve high levels of academic attainment.
Prof Nongxa is at the helm of a University that aspires to be a research driven institution committed to developing graduates with high level and scarce skills to meet the needs of society in the sciences, engineering and advanced technology. He is spearheading the development of strategic partnerships that will ultimately make Wits University an active, committed, creative, innovative force that advances the public good.
Prof Nongxa made history in 1982 when he became South Africa�s first African Rhodes Scholar to graduate from Oxford University with a doctoral degree in mathematics. Born in Indwe in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, he schooled at the famed Healdtown College in the Eastern Cape, where he achieved distinction as the top student in South Africa in 1969 (Junior Certificate) and 1972 (Senior Certificate). He then completed his BSc and BSc (Hons) and MSc at the University of Fort Hare. His contemporaries at university include many of South Africa�s current political and business leaders. In 1976 Loyiso Nongxa received the University of Fort Hare Council Prize for the best performance by an undergraduate student at the university since its inception in 1916 and in 1978, he travelled to Oxford to take up his Rhodes Scholarship, completing his D. Phil in 1982. On his return to the continent, he lectured at the University of Lesotho (1982-1986) and at the University of Natal (1986 � 1990). He then joined the University of the Western Cape where he served as a Professor of Mathematics. In 1999 he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of the Western Cape and he joined Wits University two years later as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research. In June 2003, he was appointed as Vice-Chancellor and Principal, the first Black CEO of Wits University in its 85 year history.
Over the past few decades, Prof Nongxa has actively participated in transforming the higher education landscape in South Africa and beyond. He is well versed in the management of higher education institutions in the country and has served on numerous university Councils including those of the University of Cape Town, the University of Lesotho and the University of the Western Cape.
In recent years, Prof Nongxa has been invited as a Visiting Fellow to Harvard University and the University of Illinois and as a Visiting Researcher to the University of Colorado, the University of Hawaii, the University of Connecticut and to Baylor University in the United States. Locally, Prof Nongxa serves as the Chair of the TENET Board, and as a member of the Rhodes Scholarships Selection Committee, the South Africa Netherlands Programme for Alternative Development, the South African University Vice-Chancellor�s Association (SAUVCA) and its successor Higher Education South Africa (HESA), amongst his other commitments.
His passion still lies in mathematics and his research interests in this field range from Abelian Group Theory and Universal Algebra to research evaluation and the teaching of mathematics at higher education level. He is both a member of the South African Mathematical Society and the American Mathematical Society. Prof Nongxa is widely published both locally and abroad and, since his travel ban was revoked in 1993, has delivered numerous international conference presentations. He is a rated scientist and holds various other awards aside from his Rhodes Scholarship. He is the recipient of the Abe Bailey Travel bursary and was also awarded a South Africa/Harvard Fellowship in 1992.
Married and the father of three children, Prof Nongxa is a keen football fan who enjoys living in the heart of the City of Johannesburg.
Under his guidance, Wits University has in 2008 already moved 40 steps closer to achieving its institutional goal of becoming one of the top 100 universities in the world by 2022, its centenary year. In the last year alone, the University has risen from 322 to 282 in the world ranking system as defined by the Times Higher Education Supplement (there are some 18 000 higher education institutions worldwide). His vision for the University is documented in the Wits 2010 Strategic Plan, which can be made available on request.
Prof Nongxa has long since recognised the need to establish and maintain existing local and global partnerships and encourages the University to play an active role in fostering intellectual communities. The best universities in the world have come to appreciate the importance of being part of creative, innovative intellectual networks. Apart form very many smaller scale partnerships, Wits maintains strong multi-dimensional partnerships with top universities in the US, the UK and India.
Prof Nongxa believes that Wits University has a responsibility to align its activities with the priorities of South Africa and the continent and to advance the competitiveness of the country within the global knowledge economy, and to be an institution of social empowerment and transformation, through its research and educational programmes. The University continues to strengthen its role in producing world class research and graduates with the high-level and scarce skills essential for a vibrant and successful society. Prof Nongxa also plays a key role in the development of high-level skills, and higher education systems, more widely on the continent.
Among other initiatives, Prof Nongxa personally oversees (and raises money for) innovative programmes to identify top-drawer academic talent from previously excluded communities and nurtures such individuals to achieve high levels of academic attainment.
Prof Nongxa is at the helm of a University that aspires to be a research driven institution committed to developing graduates with high level and scarce skills to meet the needs of society in the sciences, engineering and advanced technology. He is spearheading the development of strategic partnerships that will ultimately make Wits University an active, committed, creative, innovative force that advances the public good.