Chancellor's Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner
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Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner 26 August 2017 www.ufs.ac.za Inspiring excellence. Transforming lives. Inspireer uitnemendheid. Verander lewens. Dr Khotso Mokhele UFS Chancellor PG Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Recipient 2 The Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year is the highest honour VIAN CHINNER accorded to an alumnus in recognition of the recipient’s distinguished achievements. This award celebrates an excellent alumnus who serves to inspire fellow alumni, current students and the community at large. Young Alumnus of the Year Recipient 3 This award acknowledges the achievements of alumni who have graduated LEAH MOLATSELI within the past decade and have contributed immensely to their fields. Cum Laude Award Recipients 4-6 This award is bestowed upon an alumnus to recognise excellence in any DAVID ABBEY field, whether vocational or voluntary. JOHAN EKSTEEN ZOLA VALASHIYA Executive Management Award Recipient 7 This service award is presented to an individual who has delivered SARINA CRONJÉ exceptional service to the University of the Free State. Kovsie Ambassador Award 8-9 The Kovsie Ambassador Award is bestowed upon an individual whose CRYSTAL-DONNA achievements have brought distinction to him/her, benefited his/her community and brought credit to the University of the Free State. ROBERTS FRANCO SMITH 2 Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year VIAN CHINNER Described by Gene Anderson, CEO of home-printed business cards he of Advanced Online Technology and made the necessary contacts on his The Billionaire Foundation ambas- first trip to the US, and from there sador, as one of the “most brilliant” on, he continued attending confer- people she had ever worked with, ences and events when the oppor- Vian Chinner epitomises ambition. tunity arrived. He started his career as a comput- At present Chinner is at the helm of er scientist when he applied math- Xineoh, a performance marketing ematical modelling to commodity company he founded in 2014. The trading while he was working at a company, based in Bloemfontein, boutique trading firm in 2004. The and with offices in Cape Town, Or- following year he founded a trad- egon and Vancouver, specialises in ing company where he developed applying mathematical modelling proprietary trading algorithms that and machine learning to optimise consistently outperformed com- conversion in industries including modities funds in the US and Europe. real estate, mortgage banking and Chief Executive Officer: e-commerce in which Xineoh has Xineoh After analysing various global mar- kets and their respective opportu- generated more than $30 million in nities, Chinner determined that a revenue for its clients. business in online marketing could QUALIFICATIONS Chinner’s innovation and drive saw open doors to multiple industry sec- Xineo reach $1million in revenue BCom Financial Management tors and so in 2011 his first online during its first year, a figure which (UFS) 2010 marketing company was launched. doubled in its second year of op- Two years later he started Ylopo eration. Today Stanford Universi- Inc, a venture backed by Move Inc, a ty, Harvard University and a Fellow top-three real estate portal in the US at Intel Corporation are among the and focused on applying marketing investors in Chinner’s vision. This automation and machine learning to vision secured him $2 million of enhance the rental and real estate funding from US and Canadian in- search experience. vestors in 2017 which will be used In 2012 Chinner embarked on a to grow Video Llama, a one-stop self-funded trip to San Franciso personal shopping assistant for where he attended his first mar- video streaming; which will initially keting conference. With just a set be rolled out in the US market. Young Alumnus of the Year 3 LEAH MOLATSELI Having launched South Africa’s first her company was selected as one of legal e-commerce website with in- South Africa’s Top 10 tech start-up stant legal document download ca- companies for Seedstars. She was pability, Leah Molatseli is the perfect also nominated as one of 50 inspir- example of what happens when in- ing women in technology in South novation meets passion Africa. The attorney-turned-businesswom- With an interest in youth and wom- an began her legal journey in private en development Molatseli sits on practice in 2012 at the age of 24 the boards of Entrepreneurs Net- where she quickly worked her way working South Africa, an organi- up the ranks to become an associ- sation for South African entrepre- ate. After completing the Entrepre- neurs, and Phenomenal Women, a neurship Development Programme non-profit organisation with a focus offered by the University of the Free on empowering women in business State and with the MTN Foundation, through training, networking and workshops. the entrepreneur bug bit and Leno- Founder and ma Legal was born. Since Lenoma This driven mother of three is a Managing Director: Legal’s launch in 2016, Molatseli former president of the Free State Lenoma Legal has been listed in the Top 5 of the and Northern Cape branch of the 2016 QuickBooks and Saturday Sun South African Society of Labour Mompreneur Competition landing Law and lends her writing skills to QUALIFICATIONS her a feature in Entrepreneur mag- publications including SME Toolkit, azine which boasts a South African SA Labour Guide, Farmers Week- LLB readership of more than 200 000. ly, News24 Voices and She Leads (UFS) 2010 She also participated in the Bloem- Africa, while serving as the chapter fontein leg of the Engen Pitch and lead for The Hook Up Dinner Bloem- Polish business pitching competition fontein, a monthly networking in which she was placed third and community for entrepreneurs. 4 Cum Laude DAVID ABBEY David Abbey is widely respected Passionate about education and for his integrity, sound business early childhood development acumen and commercial savvy. Abbey is involved in mentoring young A recipient of numerous accolades professionals and ran the Banking and honours, David has attracted and Capital Markets Financial In- offers from local and international struments Programme, where he blue-chip companies because of his guest lectured on investment bank- high intellectual and execution ca- ing, financial instruments, indus- pability. try and technical developments at University of the Free State, Rhodes While employed at Pricewa- University, Nelson Mandela Metro- terhouseCoopers, David Abbey politan University and the University achieved the highest ratings at the of Cape Town. PwC Advisory and Banking Practices serving as Vice-Chairperson of the Abbey is a Chartered Accountant, PwC Investment Banking special- who qualified concurrently as a ist group before being headhunted Certified Information Systems Audi- Acquisition and Leveraged by Rand Merchant Bank. There he tor (a global qualification recognised Finance Deal Maker: helped establish the Finance Target as the highest qualification for infor- Rand Merchant Bank Operating Model and after just seven mation technology and information months became the youngest strat- systems professionals). He joined egist and executive assistant to the the Association of Black Account- QUALIFICATIONS Chief Financial Officer receiving the ants in Southern Africa’s education BCom Hons Accounting coveted Rand Merchant Bank Special committee in 2009 and is a member (UFS) 2008 Service Distinction Award in 2015. of the Johannesburg branch board Furthermore, Abbey was selected as of the organisation as well as chair BCom Accounting one of 30 out of 40 000 employees of the database and communica- (RU) 2007 to take part in FirstRand’s Executive tions committee. He is the public Leadership programme in which he relations officer of an online motor- not only graduated with top honours ing publication, DriveRSA and is also but was recognised as most likely to a motoring journalist become CEO of the FirstRand Group to which the Rand Merchant Bank belongs. Cum Laude 5 JOHAN EKSTEEN At just 11 years old Johan Eksteen market on the African continent. had ambitions of being a stud breed- Agricon also exports to Germany, er. Six cows and one bull later, Johan Sweden, Australia and Asia. Johan was the youngest stud farmer to be has successfully tapped into new registered in the South African Stud markets by adapting equipment to Book – a business he grew sub- pelletise a range of products includ- stantially before selling in order to ing tobacco dust, vermin compost, cover his tuition fees. Today, Johan rooibos tea and organic fertilisers. Eksteen is the founder of Agricon, The MBA graduate received the UFS a Bloemfontein-based company Business School’s Entrepreneurship that designs and manufactures cost Award in 2013. This was followed effective, innovative and eco- by his first prize win of the ILO Free friendly pellets for the agricultural State Enterprise Job Creation Chal- and industrial industries. lenge as well as an Entrepreneur of After having established Agricon in the Year Award in the small busi- 1993 with his brother, André, Ek- ness category of the Sanlam and Owner: steen would in 2006 become the Business Partners’ Annual Entre- Agricon Pelleting sole owner and grow the business preneurship competition in 2014. into a global specialisation. His In 2016, Eksteen walked away as strong business acumen has led to Entrepreneur of the Year in the same QUALIFICATIONS Agricon developing its largest export competitions. MBA (UFS) 2005 MSc Sustainable Agriculture (UFS) 1998 6 Cum Laude ZOLA VALASHIYA Zola Valashiya