13 minute read
Foreword by Vice-Chancellor: Prof Chris Nhlapo
FOREWORD
Congratulations to the talented recipients and graduates of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Awards.
The award programme started humbly in October 2018 with only one student, and a year later the cohort of recipients had increased to ten. In 2021, all the award recipients were women. Four of the recipients graduated between 2020 and this year.
I am incredibly proud of every single one of you. Thank you for representing CPUT excellence and remaining steadfast in your studies. I repeat my wish that you will continue your academic journey at CPUT and join the ranks of the talented academics who supervised you. By doing so, you will help me nurture the next group of talented young academics and also help our university respond to the transformation requirements of the country and the continent.
I thank your supervisors for recognising your talent and nurturing it. A special thanks as well to my fellow committee members, the previous awards committee chairperson and retired CPUT employee, Prof Condy, and the current chairperson of the committee, Prof Kioko. To our generous donor Advocate Yach, thank you for staying the course with us for the duration of this programme. I also thank Aspen Pharmacare and other donors that provided top-up funding to our prestigious awardees. Your commitment is appreciated. I appeal to other companies to join hands with us as we develop the next generation of academics and research capacity. I know our recipients will make us proud as the programme continues to grow and flourish. Thank you. PROF CHRIS NHLAPO
Vice-Chancellor
This is the fifth year of the ViceChancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Awards. To date, 18 students have been awarded full bursaries under the auspices of this award. They comprised 11 doctoral and 7 master’s students. Fourteen of the awardees were female (nine doctoral and five master’s students) while four were male (two doctoral and two master’s students). In addition, smaller “VC Support” awards were extended 22 times to assist deserving students who needed critical support to complete their master’s or doctoral degrees. Heartfelt congratulations to all the awardees!
PROF JOSEPH KIOKO
Chairperson: Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Awards Committee Today, as we congratulate the new recipients of the award for 2022, we also celebrate the success of four awardees who have graduated. It is a mightily proud moment for all of us and I hope that their success will motivate the other recipients to aim for the finish line with determination and a clear focus.
I have no doubt that the awards have made a major impact on the recipients, their families and their wider communities. These recipients have the potential to achieve great things and to lead this country, other countries and indeed the world towards being a better place.
Too often, such excellent potential is extinguished by a lack of funds or resources. The result is that many brilliant, possibly life-changing dreams are deferred, often forever.
Fortunately, humanity has in itself the ability to provide the spark or the fuel to keep those lights shining the way to a brighter future. For a fitting example of what we can all do, one needs to look no further than people and entities like the Mauerberger Foundation Fund and its Chairperson, Advocate Dianna Yach. The Foundation has been generously supporting these awards and has ensured that the spark in many bright minds at CPUT has been kept alive. On behalf of the committee, I’d like to express our deep gratitude to Advocate Yach.
The areas of study supported by this award have traversed a wide range of fields, including Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, Food Science and Technology, Construction Management, Education, Chemistry, Human Resources Management, Mechanical Engineering and Horticultural Sciences. Given the diversity of skills and the applied nature of their work, I am confident that the recipients will contribute to our vision of producing graduates that shape a better world for humanity.
I feel very privileged and humbled to have the role of the chairperson of the committee for this really special award. I’d like to thank the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo, for extending this honour to me. Many thanks to Prof Janet Condy for laying a good foundation as the inaugural chairperson of the committee.
Advocate Yach, Prof Nhlapo, the members of the ViceChancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Awards Committee and the supervisors of the recipients of the awards, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for everything you do to make these awards a reality, a success and a great legacy for CPUT.
MESSAGE FROM THE FIRST AND FORMER CHAIRPERSON
PROF JANET CONDY
Former Chairperson: ViceChancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Awards Committee Many master’s and doctoral students have received the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Achievers Awards since it began in 2018. All the participants have been overwhelmed by the generosity of receiving this award, which has helped them to graduate and complete their studies. It has been very rewarding observing these students working incredibly hard, with many experiencing substantial hardships and difficulties, yet successfully coming through their research journey towards their graduation. Wonderful!
Every year there have been different types of challenges, yet having the Terms of Reference does keep everyone on track.
It’s been my absolute privilege to be part of this committee. In 1991, I was successful in winning a similar award, which allowed me to complete my master’s degree in the United States. I know that winning this prestigious award is helping many students in many ways we are aware of and many others that will still arise from this experience.
I know all the students are incredibly grateful for this opportunity and my message is: put your head down, make the most of it, study hard and go into the world and be an ambassador for CPUT and all that you have benefited from these opportunities you were so privileged to receive. I would also like to challenge all students to pay this experience forward – go out and encourage your work environment to support students in need.
For prospective students – this is a competitive award so work hard towards it. Be a passionate, responsible and hard-working researcher. Show your supervisors that you are an appropriate awardee and will graduate within the given time.
The most exciting experience is when these students graduate. They have published their theses and journal articles, and they are now independent researchers beginning their next life journey of being responsible citizens.
I wish my successor, Prof Kioko well in chairing the committee. As a retired academic and now looking back, I realise that the Vice-Chancellor has done something very good not only for CPUT but also for the country.
MESSAGE FROM DIANNA YACH, CHAIRPERSON OF THE MAUERBERGER FOUNDATION FUND
DIANNA MARILYNNE YACH
Chairperson, Mauerberger Foundation Fund Celebrating the relationship between the Mauerberger Foundation Fund (MFF) and CPUT
I appreciate this opportunity to celebrate the cherished, long-standing relationship between the Mauerberger Foundation Fund (MFF) and CPUT. The MFF’s close association with CPUT predates its formation in 2005 (the MFF supported both the former Peninsula Technikon and Cape Technikon prior to the merger of these two institutions).
The MFF’s support stems from our deep and enduring commitment to growing future leaders who are devoted to advancing social justice, ethics, good governance and human rights – fully aligned with our core mission.
The MFF especially appreciates CPUT’s strong focus on creating a springboard for students and researchers who want to make a tangible difference in their respective communities (despite significant challenges), along with CPUT’s emphasis on preparing graduates for employment opportunities in the future.
The MFF’s support has been reinvigorated by the exemplary leadership shown by CPUT’s ViceChancellor, Professor Chris Nhlapo. That is why MFF has increased our support to CPUT over the years, particularly in support of the VC’s Prestigious Achievers Awards.
My personal experience as a Council member of CPUT reinforced my commitment to CPUT when I witnessed Prof Nhlapho’s ethical leadership style in action during extremely challenging times. This is something to be valued in higher education. This is not always about being popular – it is about being an ethical leader who demonstrates moral courage to do the right things.
Summary of the work of the Mauerberger Foundation Fund
The MFF began its work in 1936 when my grandfather, Morris Mauerberger, established a medical clinic in Ottery in the Western Cape. In 1944, the Mauerberger Charitable Institution was registered, which subsequently became the Mauerberger Foundation Fund in 1957.
As the MFF approaches its 86th anniversary, I am proud to lead an organisation that was founded by my grandfather, subsequently led by my father, Solly Yach, and my mother, Estelle Yach. With the support of my Board, I am committed to ensuring that the Mauerberger Foundation Fund continues to work quietly and consistently with communitybased and academic institutions in South Africa and Israel/ Palestine to create inclusive environments, foster well-being and promote education by assisting the least well-off in society, nurturing talent in early childhood and in high-level researchers, and dismantling barriers faced by historically excluded and disadvantaged communities, including women and disabled people.
A key focus of our work is to work with partner organisations to promote human rights and social justice through growing the next generation of ethical leaders in health, education, the arts, environment and welfare. The Founder’s vision for the Foundation Fund anticipated South Africa’s unique journey to democracy with a Constitution that acknowledges the injustices of our past,
and honours those who fought for justice and freedom in our land, believing that South Africa and all who live in it are united in our diversity. The framers of the Constitution envisaged a society in which human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights, non-racialism and non-sexism prevail within the context of the rule of law. It is within this context that we are inspired to carry out our work today.
The MFF continues to work with a wide range of institutions, including universities, as well as NGOs, all of which are involved in supporting skills development and translating policy into practice in a variety of different disciplines, including law and governance, education, health and welfare, and environmental sustainability. We are strong advocates of women’s rights and enhancing women’s key roles in their local communities.
We carry out our work in the spirit of Ubuntu, operating in the interests of our grantees in ways that reflect fundamental values of honesty, integrity, fairness and good governance.
We believe that the future well-being of our communities will only be secured by strengthening community dialogue and understanding. We have always taken the view that creating inclusive environments in which everyone can reach their dreams is only achieved by assisting the least well-off in society, nurturing talent and unleashing innovative spirits in early childhood as well as highlevel researchers, removing barriers to historically excluded and disadvantaged communities, including women and disabled people.
This vision builds on my grandfather Morris Mauerberger’s vision and is guided by the following principles: 1. The ‘Good Neighbour Principle’:
We should not just look after the stranger, but also feel their pain and link it to our own experience. As Hillel (Ethics of the Fathers 1:14) says:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?” My humanity is bound up in yours. We are all connected. 2. Focus on needs, not fame: The
MFF legacy can be seen in the vibrant, healthy communities led by ethical and accountable leaders and not in the size and number of plaques on the wall. 3. Humility: Recognising that alone we can create ripples but partnering with others, we can optimise our impact in terms of creating waves! 4. Take a long-term view: Embrace unpopular causes because they are the right thing to do; stand up and be counted; challenge stereotypes and promote new ways of thinking.
Facilitating change requires activists and making a real difference requires strong leadership and management!
Making a difference is not a spectator sport!
Congratulations to our students
In my view, we are still learning the skills and art of living together. We all live and work in a global village – we are all connected. We need to create opportunities to reconnect with each other, with others with whom we share a common humanity. We need to do this in a spirit of generosity and not blame and show that we care. Our students have awakened us to new possibilities and new hopes for the future. CPUT has made significant strides in re-examining the curricula – not just what we teach, but how we teach. A few questions: Are we inadvertently privileging certain knowledge traditions in our teaching, learning and research? What graduate identity is being shaped through our curriculum? What does this include/exclude? Does the curriculum reflect its location in Africa and the global South? Does the curriculum engage fully with its social context, i.e. a context of inequality and social justice? What pedagogies are used and what do these surface? I want to conclude by quoting Madiba’s inspiring words which resonate with me in all that I seek to achieve:
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” – Nelson Mandela As a funder, the MFF is proud and privileged to continue the journey with Vice-Chancellor Chris Nhlapo and CPUT. MFF supports your efforts to robustly tackle the challenges facing Africa now and in the future, building on your legacy (as two vocationally focused technical institutions becoming one) in which learning is applied in practical ways to the world of work. The MFF is proud to be associated with CPUT, which is a rising African university at the cutting edge of many pioneering initiatives. Warm wishes to all our award winners. Much love.
