July 2008 July Update for UCT Alumni living in Europe The NEWS UPDATE is published by the UCT Trust NEWS to provide news of UCT for alumni and friends Vice Chancellor bids farewell to UK Alumni INSIDE Departing Vice Chancellor, Professor Njabulo Ndebele, paid a visit to the UK in May. He spoke to over 100 UK based UCT alumni at a reception in South Africa House which was held to celebrate UCT reaching the top 200 in the World University Rankings. Prof Ndebele gave a well received speech outlining the challenges and opportunities facing UCT and South Af- rica, and this was followed by a superb musical interlude featuring three extremely talented young UCT alumni who are currently studying in the UK – pianist James Baillieu, and singers Pumeza Matshikiza and Sarah-Jane Brandon (see page 3, Talented UCT Musicians in the UK). Their stunning performance included extracts from La Boheme, Die Fledermaus and Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as breathtaking piano solos, and they con- cluded with a selection of traditional African music. Dr Max Price takes up the reins as UCT’s new Vice Chancellor at the be- UCT Alumni Beverley Thompson-Brown, ginning of July 2008. He will visit the UK later this year when alumni will Marian Roberts + Dianna Yach GSB’s MBA Programme at the VC Reception “the best in Africa” have the chance to meet him n London. More pictures on page 3 Page 2 A first for the UK UCT Honorary Graduation at South Africa House An honorary degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on Lord Wolfson of Mary- lebone by our Vice Chancellor Professor Njabulo Ndebele at a special ceremony in South Africa House, London in May. This was the first time that a UCT gradua- tion has taken place outside South Africa in London. Dr Stuart Saunders, former Vice-Chancellor and President of Convocation at UCT, acted as orator for the day and paid tribute to Lord Wolfson's acumen and gener- osity of spirit. Saunders talked of the major contributions that Wolfson had made through the Wolfson Foundation to Science, Medicine and Engineering in many universities in Britain, Israel and, in particular, to UCT. The Wolfson Foundation has helped to fund Computer Laboratories, UCT Librar- ies and significantly, the Wolfson Pavilion placed at the heart of the Institute for Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine. Most recently, the Wolfson Founda- tion has made substantial grants towards the refurbishment of Chemistry First Prof Ndebele, Lord Wolfson Year and Postgraduate laboratories. Talented UCT Musicians studying in the UK Page 3 London based SA Business Club and UCT Trust launch new Business Science bursary UK based UCT alumni and members of the South African Business Club have joined forces to establish a bur- sary programme aimed at students from disadvantaged backgrounds who wish to study business science at UCT. Around 100 people attended an event in central London to launch the scheme, where Professor John Simpson, head of management studies at UCT, gave a fascinating talk entitled Black Diamonds - On the Move: The emergence of South Africa's middle class. Based on the findings of ground breaking research he has undertaken into the growth of the black middle class, popularly known as Black Diamonds, Prof Simpson presented evidence that demonstrated how the black middle class has grown 30% in the last two years and now comprises an esti- UCT’s Prof John Simpson in London mated 2.6 million South Africans. The impact of this trend, says Simpson, with UCT Alumni, Dr Ausuya Naidoo, is that “it has underpinned much of our economic growth and will do so in Alayne Reesberg and Janine George the future. Evidence … shows that sustainable economies are character- ised by robust and growing middle classes”. Professor Tim Noakes All proceeds of the evening were donated to the bursary fund, which will be administered by the UCT Trust. If at South Africa House you wish to find out more about this bursary scheme, please contact Angela Ross at the UCT Trust Page 3 ([email protected]). The University of Cape Town Trust. Address: 83A High Street, Esher, Surrey, UK Tel: +44 1372 477116 Email: [email protected] _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A UK Charitable Trust supporting the University of Cape Town, South Africa Registered UK Charity no 803042 Page 2 - News from UCT UCT joins the International Giants UCT became the first African university to be ranked in the top 200 - the list of high flyers that make it into the THES-QS World University Rankings, conducted each year by the Times Higher Education Supplement. The ranking scores hundreds of universities around the globe on six indicators - peer review by over 5 000 international academics; re- cruiter review with evaluations by companies who employ graduates; number of international faculty at the university; number of interna- tional students at that institution; faculty/student ratio; and research citations UCT is one of only four universities from the developing world in these rankings, with the top universities being mostly from the English-speaking world, and predictably UK and US universities taking pole positions . UCT scored particu- larly well in recruiter reviews, with its intake of international students and research citations. "Contributing factors are that we emphasise the importance of high-quality research and the importance of peer- reviewed publications particularly in high-impact journals" says Professor Cheryl de la Rey, Deputy Vice-chancellor for Research. UCT’s highest marks came in the international student category, where it scored 91 points, on a par with leaders Har- vard and Cambridge. It's not hard to see why - UCT boasts some 3 000 international students from more than 100 countries, close on 20% of the university's student total. Martin Ince Editor of THES recognises that “universities from developing countries may be punching above their weight…...the sort of uni- versities we list here, mainly large general institutions with a mingling of technology specialists, are a dauntingly expensive prospect for any country, let alone one in the developing world. …It's a hard row to hoe for smaller universities when they go up against institutions with much deeper pockets found in the UK &US. It is hard to imagine a world-class university in a country that lacks a significant tax base." "International rankings are becoming increasingly important in a global education market," said Vice-Chancellor, Professor Njabulo S Nde- bele. "And I believe the rating bears out our mission to be an African university of international repute. It's a tribute to the dedication and hard work of the entire university community." Cutting Edge Earth Science UCT’s Graduate School of Business Research continues to win accolades UK Foundations fund Fellowships The MBA Programme at the Graduate School of Business (GSB) has been ranked in the Financial Times’ Global MBA Top 100 for the 4th year running, and The John Ellerman Foundation and the Eranda Foun- remains the only ranked business school in Africa. dation, both based in the UK, have given substantial grants to the African Earth Observatory Network The programme improved in seven Financial (AEON), to support Fellowships and core costs. Times assessment categories - most notably being rated the second best MBA globally in terms of AEON is based at UCT, and is "value for money". The 2008 rankings table re- a joint initiative of 18 South veals that the GSB now ranks among the top five African scientists to research, business schools based in emergent markets such develop and teach Earth Stew- as Africa, India and China and puts GSB's overall ardship Science. This innova- ranking at 71. This follows on the School achiev- GSB’s Waterfront Campus tive discipline recognises the ing a five-year (the maximum) re-accreditation by systemic behaviour of the Equis, the European quality stamp for international business schools and gar- planet – of the relationships nered an award for Excellence in a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit. between land, ocean, atmos- The MBA programme has also recently been rated the best in South Africa in a phere and living organisms in local survey, conducted by Professional Management Review, using feedback determining the Earth’s natural evolution and its re- from line managers and human resource leaders around South Africa. sponse to man-made disturbances. Take up the MBA Challenge Mapping earth resources, biodiversity and climate The MBA Challenge, initiated by the Class of ’76, to encourage a culture of change enables AEON to build robust earth steward- “putting something back”. They challenged their fellow classmates to raise R1 ship models for Africa. These can be applied to water million and then other MBA classes “to meet or beat” their total. A number of management, resource economics and hazard predic- Classes have taken up the challenge to raise funds for the MBA bursary fund. tion, ultimately leading to more responsible exploitation Over R500 000 has been raised. The GSB are looking for ‘class champions’ to of the Africa's natural resources. join the MBA Challenge. Please