The University of Pretoria (UP) will confer 1 615 degrees, diplomas and certificates to graduates during its Spring graduation ceremonies to be held from 4 – 7 September 2018.

Of these, 189 PhD degrees, 463 master’s degrees and 436 honours degrees will be awarded. The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences will award 50 PhDs, while the Faculty of Economics and  Management Sciences will award 30 PhDs.

For the first time in its history, the Faculty of Education will award 28 PhDs, of which five will go to UP staff members. According to Education Faculty Dean Prof Chika Sehoole, “Having so many PhDs graduate on the same day is a great achievement for the faculty. This is a result of careful planning by the faculty management to ensure that we push students and fast-track their progress in finishing their studies in the minimum period.  We hope that these graduates will add value to the countries and institutions they come from. Congratulations to the students and supervisors on their hard work.”

At the Faculty of Humanities graduation on 5 September, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will receive her master’s degree in Political Science. Prof David Medalie, of the Department of English and also the Director of UP’s Unit for Creative Writing, has four PhD students graduating at the same event (three in English and one in creative writing).

Actor and UP alumnus Tobie Cronjé will receive the Chancellor’s Medal at the event. Known as South Africa’s ‘King of Farce’, Mr Cronjé is one of South Africa’s best-known actors, whose stage and film career spans a period of more than 40 years.

The Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology will confer an honorary doctorate on Prof Ben Shneiderman on 6 September. Regarded as one of the most influential human-computer interaction researchers in the world, Prof Shneiderman’s 1986 list of Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design is still frequently taught in human-computer interaction courses.

Furthermore, Prof József Karger-Kocsis, who since 2009 has been a research professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics’ Department of Polymer Engineering, will receive an honorary doctorate in absentia.

His research interests cover different aspects of polymer and composites engineering. He holds 33 patents, is the co-editor of four books and co-author of more than 550 scientific contributions, and has more than 11 000 independent citations.

The Faculty of Theology and Religion will confer an honorary doctorate on Prof John S. Kloppenborg on 6 September. He is one of the few New Testament scholars in the world, and is considered by his peers as an expert in several fields and on several topics in the study of the New Testament and related literature.