Potter and Corder are new trustees

The UK-registered charity the University of Cape Town Trust has announced the appointment of two new trustees: Professor Hugh Corder and Dr Elaine Potter.

Corder has been Professor of Public Law at UCT since 1987. A graduate of the universities of Cape Town, Cambridge and Oxford, Corder has been widely involved in community work since his student days, concentrating on popular legal education, race relations, human rights and the abolition of the death penalty. He served as a technical adviser in the drafting of the transitional Bill of Rights for South Africa. He has written two books and edited a further three, and has contributed many articles and chapters in books.

Potter grew up in South Africa and lives in England. She completed her D Phil at Nuffield College, Oxford, before joining the Sunday Times. Thereafter she wrote for the Sunday Times and co-authored several Sunday Times books, including Suffer the Children: The story of thalidomide, and Destination Disaster: From the tri-motor to the DC10. She has edited the holocaust memoir A Jump for Life and has collaborated on The Murdoch Archipelago.

Potter is a trustee of the Centre for Investigative Journalism, the Centre for Open Democracy and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. She is married to UCT alumnus Dr David Potter and is co-founder of the David and Elaine Potter Foundation, which has been supporting a major Fellowship Programme at UCT since 2004.

The UCT Trust was founded in 1990 by former vice-chancellor Dr Stuart Saunders, who remains on the board. Over the years, the trust has raised over £18 million for bursary programmes and capital projects at UCT, with funds sourced from UK- and European-based companies, foundations and individuals. Also currently serving as trustees on the board are Sir Franklin Berman KCMG QC (chair), Baroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasey, Professor Jeffrey Jowell QC, Irene Menell, and Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer.

The UCT Trust has received a superb boost to its fundraising efforts. The UK-based Wolfson Foundation recently pledged the sum of £550 000 towards a suite of 22 study bedrooms in the new residence, Obz Square.

This is the ninth grant from the Wolfson Foundation. The foundation has supported projects at UCT since 1995. These include substantial donations towards the refurbishment of the chemistry laboratories, the science and technology library, and the Wolfson Pavilion at the Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine.