The Department of Human Resource Management (HRM) in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences celebrated the academic excellence of its students during a prize-giving ceremony held on Thursday, 20 April 2023 at Adlers Restaurant.

The annual awards celebrate the hard-work of students in various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offered in the Department of HRM and also celebrate academics who have contributed to the success of these students.

In his welcome address, Head of the Department of HRM, Professor Alewyn Nel congratulated the prize-winners for their dedication towards their studies and striving for excellence in their academics.

Prof Eileen Koekemoer, Department of HRM with prize winners; Thanzila Noor Mahomed, Alisha Jawaharlal, Jamie Van Wyk, and Chloe Chellan.

Prof Nel also used the opportunity to highlight some of the accolades received in the Department during the 2022 academic year.

“Apart from our students who are receiving awards, I have to say, I am especially proud of my colleagues and fellow students who overachieved in many areas during 2022. Prof Eileen Koekemoer was named the Best Academic in IOP at SIOPSA Presidential Awards. We had two academics who received their National Research Foundations re-ratings, Profs Koekemoer and Pieter Schaap as well as Profs Chantal Olckers and Nasima Carrim, who received first-time ratings,” said a delighted Nel.

He also expressed his pride over the awards students received in 2022. One of the HRM students, Andre Rust was awarded second place in the National SABPP Best Student in HR Standards and another, Lonwabo Makapela, won the prestige Fulbright Foreign Student Award which also included a year study abroad at the Vanderbilt University in the US at the Owen Graduate School of Management.

The recipients of the 2022 academic awards were awarded as follows:

During the prize-giving award, Xolani Mawande, CEO of the South African Board for Personnel Practice (SABPP) presented the SABPP CEO Recognition Award for Extraordinary Service and Outstanding Contribution to the HR Profession to Prof Karel Stanz of the Department of HRM in the presence of his colleagues. The award was awarded at the SABPP Annual General Meeting, which took place on the same day at Future Africa.

Xolani Mawande, CEO of SABPP and Prof Karel Stanz from the Department of Human Resource Management

The awards function was attended by representatives of the prize sponsors, Institute of People Management, SABPP, Human Capital Solutions and from Lexus Nexis.

Prof Nel expressed his gratitude to the sponsors for their continued support. “We appreciate your support to the department, but more specifically, supporting and celebrating our students,” he said.