Equity fellowships for Commerce

The Vodafone Group Foundation (UK) has awarded a R2.9-million grant to UCT to fund Equity Development Fellowships in the commerce faculty. This generous support was forthcoming after proposals submitted by deputy vice-chancellor Professor Martin Hall and Sibylla Tindale, consultant director of the UK based UCT Trust, to the Vodafone Foundation chairman and director.

The programme will fund eight equity development fellowships in commerce over four years, starting in 2005. It aims to attract and develop the next generation of academic faculty and include a greater proportion of black and female scholars.

The dean of commerce, Professor Doug Pitt, said this grant would play an essential role in effecting employment equity in the commerce faculty.

"We appreciate the role Vodafone plays in enabling us and thank them profusely for their visionary support."

These equity development fellowships are part of the wider programme being spear-headed by deputy vice-chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey. Similar programmes are being funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the Mellon Foundation, among others, in other faculties at UCT.

The Vodafone Group Foundation concentrates its grantmaking activities in countries where the company operates - Vodafone is part-owner of Vodacom in South Africa. The Foundation is also a major supporter of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg.