Three internationally renowned researchers from the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS), Professor Roumen Anguelov (Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics), Professor Andre Ganswindt (Mammal Research Institute) and Professor Sheryl Hendriks (Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development) have been elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

Prof Roumen Anguelov

Prof Anguelov has been the Head of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics since 2013 and his current research is mainly on biomathematics, an interdisciplinary area comprising applications of mathematical methods and models to biological sciences as well as new mathematical constructs and theory.

“Thank you to the Academy for electing me to become one of its members. This is a much-appreciated recognition as well as opportunity to be a bigger part of science in South Africa,” Prof Anguelov said about his achievement.

He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the international journal BIOMATH, established in 2012, and member of numerous national and international societies. Prof Anguelov is also a regular referee for international mathematics journals and currently has a B-2 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF). His Scopus h-index is 12 and he received UP Academic Achievers Awards in 2013 and 2016. 

Prof Andre Ganswindt

Prof Ganswindt has been the Director of the Mammal Research Institute (MRI) since 2017 and studies behavioural endocrinology in wildlife and domestic animals to address proximate and ultimate questions concerning regulative endocrine mechanisms that, in combination with other factors, like social or ecological changes, influence reproductive function and responses to stressors.

“I feel a great debt of gratitude for all the support and mentorship I received along the way and hope to live up to expectations going forward,” Prof Ganswindt said on his election to ASSAf.

He holds a B2-rating from the NRF and has published 124 peer-reviewed articles (WoS h-index: 20). Prof Ganswindt is a member of many national and international societies and is currently the vice-president of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa and the Chair of the International Society for Wildlife Endocrinology. Eleven years ago, he established the Endocrine Research Laboratory at UP, which is now a well-respected research platform, broadening the horizon for wildlife endocrine research in Africa, while at the same time reinforcing the discipline as a valuable part of reproductive science, animal welfare, and wildlife conservation biology.

Prof Sheryl Hendriks

Prof Hendriks, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development and Founding Director of the UP Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-being, is a food security policy expert with extensive experience in policy analysis and programme design. Her research focuses on food security and nutrition policy analysis and monitoring and evaluation of food security at the household, national and global information system level. She teaches food security policy analysis, monitoring, and evaluation.

She is actively engaged in high-level global food security policy think tanks and panels and is also influential in food security and nutrition policy circles in Africa. Some of these engagements include serving two terms on the UN Committee on World Food Security’s High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition and as a current member of the Montpellier Malabo Panel. Prof Hendriks currently has a C-rating from the NRF.