Photo: Wits University SRC / Twitter
In case you missed it: Meet Wits’ new Vice-Chancellor
The incoming vice-chancellor has described his appointment as an honour and said he was committed to be working with his colleagues, fellow academics and students to develop high level skills required to move the country forward
Photo: Wits University SRC / Twitter
The University of the Witwatersrand has a new Vice-Chancellor in the form of Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, the institution’s current Vice-Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Postgraduate Studies.
“Professor Zeblon Vilakazi is the epitome of a world-class researcher who is globally recognised for his scientific work, and for his contribution towards developing higher education in Africa. He is a truly talented individual who is an inspiring exemplar for all Africans,” says Isaac Shongwe, Chairperson of the Wits Council, the highest decision-making body of the University.
“We are confident that Professor Vilakazi will ably lead Wits to its centenary in 2022 and beyond, steward a new vision for the academy, and reinvigorate the academic project in a higher education context that is rapidly changing”
Vilakazi: ‘I’m honoured’
The incoming vice-chancellor has described his appointment as an honour and said he was committed to be working with his colleagues, fellow academics and students to develop high level skills required to move the country forward.
“We also need to continue to develop the originators, innovators and critical thinkers who can help us solve the problems of the 21st Century”, he said.
Who is the new Vice-Chancellor?
- Born in Katlehong, a township located on the East Rand, Professor Vilakazi obtained his PhD from Wits 1998.
- He was one of the first students from Africa to conduct PhD research at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. This was followed by a National Research Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at CERN.
- Upon his return to South Africa he lectured at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he was instrumental in establishing South Africa’s first experimental high-energy physics research group focusing on the development of the High-level Trigger for the CERN-ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.
- Joined Wits in January 2014 as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs and was promoted to the position of Vice-Principal in April 2020.
