College of Fellows welcomes new members

Dear colleagues and students

Once a year UCT Fellowships recognise original, distinguished academic work that merits special acknowledgement. Induction to the College of Fellows is one of the highest accolades an academic staff member can receive at UCT.

Fellows are those who have broken boundaries to get to where they are today. Whether internally or externally, they have overcome many obstacles to reach an esteemed level of success in their respective fields.

As with many university events, this year’s celebration of fellows will be online. And thanks to technology, for the first time, this important event is open to the entire UCT community. Please join us as we hear from our new fellows about their journeys on Tuesday, 17 November at 18:30 on the Microsoft Teams platform. Please RSVP online.

Along with our new fellows, we will also hear from the College of Fellows Young Researcher Awardees. These academics are young researchers who have made significant contributions to research in their fields.

This year, the six permanent UCT academics who have been awarded a Fellowship are:

• Professor Linda-Gail Bekker (Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences)
• Professor Haroon Bhorat (Development Policy Research Unit, Department of Economics, Faculty of Commerce)
• Professor Jonathan Blackburn (SARChI Chair, Division of Chemical & Systems Biology, Institute for Infectious Diseases & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences)
• Professor Johannes Fagan (Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Health Sciences)
• Professor Mark Fleishman (Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies, Department of Drama, Faculty of Humanities)
• Professor Landon Myer (Department of Public Health & Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences).

The College of Fellows Young Researcher awardees are:

• Associate Professor Markus Arnold (Department of French Language & Literature, Faculty of Humanities)
• Dr Susan Cunningham (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Faculty of Science)
• Associate Professor Nico Fischer (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment)
• Dr Itumeleng Monageng (Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Science)
• Dr Ryan Nefdt (Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities)
• Dr Elona Toska (Centre for Social Science Research, Faculty of Humanities)
• Dr Christopher Trisos (African Climate & Development Initiative, Faculty of Science).

You can view the citations for the new fellows and the young researcher awardees on a feature page on the UCT website.

We hope that you can join us as we celebrate these incredible achievements and recognise academic excellence.

Sincerely

Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng
Vice-Chancellor

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements