Professor Ahmed Bawa has been appointed the new Vice Chancellor of the Durban University of Technology. The University Senate, Institutional Forum and Council, which each include student and staff representatives, were unanimous in their support
of Prof. Bawa's appointment. There was a comprehensive recruitment process that saw applications from skilled and highly experienced senior academics from South Africa and beyond.
Professor Bawa is a distinguished and respected academic. He is currently based at the City University of New York, where he
is Professor of Physics and Associate Provost. Previously, Prof Bawa, who hails from Seven Oaks near Greytown in the KZN midlands,was also Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Durban campus at the University of KwaZulu Natal. He has
decided to return home and invest in Durban, KZN and in South Africa.
Prof. Bawa has an impeccable academic and leadership record and his strong research background will be an asset to the DUT community. He holds an MSc degree from the University of Durban-Westville and a PhD from the University of Durham, UK. He is
the author over 30 articles in prestigious journals and was formerly Chair of the Board of the National Research Foundation and a member of the National Advisory Council of Innovation.
He is also one of the select few given access to the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva in Switzerland, working on a global project addressing the most fundamental questions of physics. This reinforces his outstanding global reputation and value.
Prof. Bawa was also a Programme Officer for the Ford Foundation and has gained experience in grant making to universitiesacross Africa. Prof. Bawa has a solid grasp of the South African higher education landscape and has contributed extensively to the discourse on reshaping and transforming this important sector.
Dr Jairam Reddy, Chairperson of the DUT Council, confirmed that "after having overcome the challenges of the merger, the DUT, with a visionary leader like Professor Bawa at its helm, its five campuses, a staff composition of 1350 and a student population of 24000, is now well positioned to further develop into a leading university of technology that
will make Durban and KwaZulu Natal proud."
Professor Bawa will commence duties at DUT on 1 September 2010.
Dr Jairam Reddy
Chair of Council
Durban University of Technology
27 May 2010
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STATEMENT FROM PROFESSOR BAWA
A properly functioning Durban University of Technology is an important spoke in the solution of the development challenges facing KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. It addresses these challenges directly through the provision of high-quality education and the performance of relevant research—both developed through serious engagement. The DUT trademark will be its highly employable graduates who are also great citizens and social change agents.
It will do these things by shaping its learning and research programmes fully at the nexus of knowledge and development—thereby contributing to the emergence of a knowledge-intensive society. To do this it will form structural and enduring partnerships
with industry, all three levels of government and civil society organisations.
In the short-term the challenge will be to create a vibrant, pleasant teaching/learning environment and to create conditions that will foster a research culture. This will require the building of a collegial culture that is intensely student-centred.
I hope to work closely with the vice-chancellors of the other universities to build a strong, coherent, coordinated higher education sector that will serve the people of the region optimally.
To be at the helm of the Durban University of Technology is an honour and a privilege. I look forward to working with the Council, my fellow members of the DUT executive, with its talented, dedicated faculty members and staff and with its students to make this institution a vibrant place of learning and of knowledge production, one that is deeply connected simultaneously to the local context and to the global world of knowledge.
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