The awards were conferred on the recipients by the UP’s Chancellor, Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu, and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey.

The Exceptional Achievers Awards is an annual event to honour academics who are leaders in their field and also serve as role models to the UP community. The awards are divided into the categories: Chancellor’s Award, Exceptional Achievers: Academic, Exceptional Young Achievers and Exceptional Young Researchers. The Chancellor’s Award, which recognises exceptional performance of an academic in terms of teaching, learning and research,  was bestowed on Prof Kobus Maree from UP’s Department of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education. He has conducted research on ways of helping individuals choose their careers and design successful lives. About 64 UP researchers were also recognised for being newly rated or re-rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Prof De la Rey congratulated the recipients of the awards and highlighted that recognition is given to the individuals for their achievements in research. The recognition and rating is based on a thorough peer review process and is a substantial acknowledgement of research achievement.

“It is important to note that only about one tenth of all academic staff employed at South African universities have a rating. Thus, being rated is in itself a significant achievement,” said Prof De la Rey.

Dr Ngubane congratulated the recipients of the awards and the National Research Foundation which gives prominence to academics not only in South Africa, but also in the rest of the world. “The National Research Foundation benchmark us against the best in the world and ensures quality of research, especially in the science, engineering and technology fields,” said Dr Ngubane.  

Dr Ngubane mentioned that higher education is diverse and that there is a higher level of competitiveness among tertiary institutions. He also commended the University of Pretoria for providing a pointer to the importance of high quality of teaching and research in the country.

Dr Ben Ngubane (middel) ontvang 'n geskenk van UP se Kanselier, prof Wiseman Nkuhlu, en Visekanselier en Rektor prof Cheryl de la Rey


UP Chancellor, Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu; Chancellor's Award recipient, Prof Kobus Maree; and UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey