Wits researchers celebrated
- Kemantha Govender
Wits University honoured a number of academics for their excellence in research and postgraduate supervision at a ceremony on Wednesday, 13 April 2016.
Professor Andrew Crouch, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic, thanked the awardees for their immense contributions at the event that was held at the Parktown Education Campus. “It is through your achievements that we are seen in such high regard both nationally and internationally,” said Crouch.
Crouch's sentiments were echoed by his colleague Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Post Graduate Affairs, who said the Global South and the rest of Africa looks at Wits with an incredible measure of inspiration. Despite Wits doubling its number of NRF-rated researchers in recent years and the University’s continuous ascent in world rankings, Vilakazi believes the best is yet to come.
Professor Linda Richter, Director of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development and the keynote speaker, emphasised the significance of inter-disciplinary collaborations.
She said if global challenges are to be addressed, there needs to be more collaborative work with each party bringing the best their discipline can offer to the table.
“The division between the physical and social sciences is rapidly breaking down, as of those of qualitative and quantitative methods, and basic and applied research but without the loss of discipline specialisation,” said Richter.
She gave an example where a research paper that is currently being reviewed has been jointly authoured by a macroeconomist, a climatologist, a geographer and geneticist, noting that this situation was very different from when she first started working in public health.
Here is the list of researchers and academics that were honoured:
2016 A-RATED:
Professor AJ Mbembe
Professor F Luca
Professor L Manderson
Professor R Smith
Professor L Morris
2016 A-RE RATED:
Professor C Penn
Professor C Feldman
Professor JD Lewis-Williams
Professor RN Owen-Smith
2016 RATED:
Dr U Akpojivi
Professor S Allais
Dr PW Barmby
Dr KG Behrens
Professor M Benhura
Professor R Bolhar
Professor KD Breckenridge
Professor RL Brooksbank
Professor C Chipeta
Dr KP Creamer
Dr K Dixon
Dr LC Du Toit
Dr A Ely
Dr KG Harding
Professor RS Hetem
Dr S Hirano
Professor ABR Janse van Rensburg
Dr D Kar
Professor JA Kinnaird
Dr N Komin
Dr M Langa
Dr A Le Roux-Kemp
Dr CJ Letcher
Dr DA Ligaga
Professor CP Long
Dr P Magejo
Professor FM Maringe
Professor WJM Maroun
Professor CGP Mathew
Professor MO Mhango
Professor I Mhlambi
Professor K Milner
Dr SGK Moeno
Professor M Musemwa
Dr E Musenge
Professor H Myezwa
Professor D Ojwang
Dr BS Pyper
Professor F Raal
Dr CM Sheridan
Dr L Traill
Dr DJ Woodford
2016 RE-RATED:
Professor S Abelman
Dr R Ballard
Professor Y Ballim
Professor DE Ballot
Professor M Bamford
Dr DS Brooke
Professor M Byrne
Professor L Chimuka
Professor JF Cohen
Dr ASC Cornell
Professor S Currie
Professor PN Delius
Professor KD Erlwanger
Dr M Fernandes
Professor A Fuller
Professor RL Gibson
Professor S Hazelhurst
Professor AC Horn
Professor V Houliston
Professor A Ihunwo
Professor H Janks
Professor B Kana
Professor G Lee
Professor D Levendis
Professor EN Libhaber
Professor HM Marques
Dr L Micklesfield
Professor E Momoniat
Professor OQ Munro
Professor J Naicker
Dr M Naidoo
Dr GE Olwage
Professor M Papathanasopoulos
Professor N Pillay
Professor JL Potterton
Professor MS Rollnick
Professor K Sartorius
Professor Y Sayed
Professor K Sliwa-Hahnle
Professor CJ Thurman
Professor AE Todes
Professor B Urban
Professor JS Wafer
Professor ETW Witkowski
Professor AJ Woodiwiss
TOP MOST CITED RESEARCHER IN EACH FACULTY
Professor K Sartorius (CLM)
Professor J Muthu (EBE)
Professor F. J. Raal (HSc)
Professor G Finchilescu (Hum)
Professor J Vearey (Hum)
Professor B Mellado (Sc)
Professor S Abelman (Sc)
TOP POST GRADUATE SUPERVISOR IN EACH FACULTY
Professor P Pillay (CLM)
Professor T Stacey (EBE)
Professor C Tiemessen (HSc)
Professor C Penn (HUM)
Professor C De Koning (Sc)