The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, was inaugurated on 16 April 2010 at a function attended by more than a thousand dignitaries, business leaders and academics. The Director General of Higher Education and Training, Prof Mary Metcalfe, delivered a congratulatory speech on behalf of the Ministry.

Prof de la Rey was appointed UP’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal on 27 July 2009, and assumed her duties at the University of Pretoria on 09 November 2009. She was the Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Higher Education (CHE), and before that she served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Psychology at the University of Cape Town for a term of six years. She also served as the Executive Director: Research Promotion on secondment to the National Research Foundation (NRF).

“It is imperative to execute the academic mission of teaching and research in ways that are responsive to changing global and local circumstances,” says Prof de la Rey. “The University of Pretoria also has a strong record of research and has done very well over the past ten years with regard to its research output, especially the number of accredited publications.”

Prof de la Rey says that as a public institution, it is the responsibility of the University of Pretoria to make a positive and direct impact on South Africa’s social and economic development. “The University’s continuing commitment to quality, relevance and sustainability will keep it on course to further heights of excellence and impact,” Prof de la Rey maintains.

The Senior Vice-Principal of the University of Pretoria, Prof Chris de Beer, lauded Prof de la Rey as having proven expertise and management experience at senior level in the tertiary education sector. “She is excellently suited to lead the University to greater heights. It has already become clear that, through her inspiration and leadership, the University will be able to fulfil its aspirations of being a training and research institution of world repute,” says Prof de Beer.

The University of Pretoria’s Temporary Student Committee is also pleased with her appointment. “Professor de la Rey is someone who takes every action to improve on the quality of the education at the University with the best interests of the students at heart,” says the student committee’s chairperson Marius Ellis. “There has been considerable positive change under her leadership.”