Deserving of recognition

NMMU Faculty of Economic Science award winners 

NMMU Faculty of Science award winners

Once upon a time, and certainly at traditional Ivy League universities, it was the researchers who received all the accolades.

The lecturers, performing arts folk and those who add value to society by sharing their knowledge to improve the lives of others played second fiddle to the rocket scientists in their white coats and their high-brow journal publications.

But not anymore, and certainly not at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Those who educated in the lecture halls, those who enlighten our lives through the performing arts and those who seek to benefit society through engagement are recognized in equal measure at our new generation university.

And yet, those who “measure” the worth of a university continue to use research outputs as the key indicator (which is why you will not find NMMU in the top 100 in the world – yet!)

Anyway, NMMU honours the excellence of its staff regardless of their key focus. It did so at a function at the Boardwalk last night, paying homage to the men and women who go above and beyond to add value to our students and society at large, through their research, outreach initiatives and ability to educate and entertain.

It is gratifying to hear just what these special men and women have achieved, and are still achieving within their spheres of influence.

We heard about lecturers whose classes are so lively that “there’s no chance of sleeping”, of emotional intelligence among leaders, of turtles, of accidentally inventing special cornea replacements, of the achievements of our artists, of research going back to ancient times, of working with rape victims, of new bridging modules, of long hours, of supportive spouses …

And those who were fortunate to be there were proud and humbled at the achievements of these staff members.

Halala. Thank you for giving us reason to feel proud.

Achievers Prof Werner Olivier, Prof Thoko Mayekiso, Prof Khaled Abou-El-Hossein, Prof Prakash Singh and Mary Duker

Faculty of Law winners Lindi Coetzee and Prof Avinash Govinjee with (centre) Dean Prof Vivienne Lawack

Here is a full list of those who received awards:

Researcher of the Year 2014:
Prof Jan Neethling

Research Excellence Awards:

Prof Khaled Abou-El-Hossein

Prof Prakash Singh

Distinguished Teacher Awards:
Dr Andre du Plessis

Prof Ilse Truter

NMMU Excellent Teacher of the Year:
Dr Kathjia Adam

Ms Lindi Coetzee

NMMU Teaching and Learning Excellence: Team Award
First Year Accounting Team

Forestry & Wood Technology Programmes

NMMU Performing and Creative Arts Awards
Ms Mary Duker

Ms Andrieta Wentzel

NMMU Innovation Awards
Innovation Team Award:

Govan Mbeki Mathematics Unit (Prof Werner Olivier and Hennie Boshoff)

NMMU Engagement Awards

NMMU Emerging Excellence Engagement Award:
Mr Kempie van Rooyen

NMMU Engagement Excellence Team Award:
Department of Industrial Engineering

NMMU Engagement Excellence Award:

Prof Werner Olivier

Faculty Researchers of the Year:

Prof Bert Olivier (Arts);

Prof Chantal Rootman (Business)

Prof Prakash Singh (Education)

Prof Rossouw von Solms (Engineering)

Prof Avinash Govindjee (Law)

Prof Richard Cowling (Science)

Faculty Excellent Teachers of the Year:

Dr Diana Ayliff (Arts)

Suné Diedericks (Business)

Prof Patrick Bean (Education)

Johan Terblanche (Engineering)

Prof Mark Watson (Health Sciences)

Lindi Coetzee (Law)

Dr Shawn Gouws (Science)

Faculty Emerging Researchers of the Year:
Dr Marius Crous (Arts)

Dr Michael Sale (Business);

Dr Chris Dali (Education);

Dr Nicky Mostert-Phipps (Engineering)

Dr Portia Jordan (Health Sciences)

Dr Ronel Nel (Science)

Faculty Emerging Excellent Teachers of the Year:
Bianca Whitehead (Arts)

Tony Matchaba-Hove (Business)

Sanet Deysel (Education)

Katharina Herich (Engineering);

Gail Halforty (Health Sciences)

Arisha Prahaladh (Science)