UP tips its hat to recently retired Professor Anton Ströh, an extraordinary intellectual who devoted his academic life to the University.

A man gifted with a mathematical brain and a strategic institutional mind is a rare find. A man who can comfortably transition between ideal structures of algebras, quantum statistical mechanics, institutional planning, and research, innovation and postgraduate education is almost impossible to find. Such a man is Professor Anton Ströh. A man who devoted his highly distinguished career to UP.

It is with a deep sense of gratitude and pathos that we say goodbye to Prof Ströh, who, after 36 years of service to the University of Pretoria (UP), has taken early retirement, leaving his position as Vice-Principal: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education.

Addressing the University community, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Tawana Kupe said: “Prof Ströh has been recovering from illness since the COVID-19 pandemic. While he is showing good progress, he has not yet fully recovered, and for this reason, he decided to take early retirement for medical reasons from 30 September 2022. 

“Prof Ströh has made a lasting impression on the institution in multiple areas, and he will be greatly missed. I would like to thank him for the meaningful contribution he has made in several key roles, as a leading academic in his own right and in his fields, as Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and as a member of the Executive.

“He is an excellent fundraiser who raised millions of rands from corporates for research, including research chairs and postgraduate bursaries. His energy, passion and commitment will continue to assist UP in pursuing its goal to be recognised as a leading and impactful university in South Africa, on the African continent and globally. The University community wishes Prof Ströh a speedy and full recovery, and a fulfilling retirement.”

Prof Ströh completed his postgraduate studies at UP where he obtained his BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees cum laude, and was awarded his PhD in 1989 at the age of 24. In 1986, he was appointed as a research assistant and in 1988, as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. In 1994, the renowned Banach Centre in Warsaw invited him to do research for a period of six months. That same year, he received UP’s Young Researcher of the Year Award.

In 1996, he was promoted to Associate Professor and to Professor in 2000. At the same time, he was appointed as the Head of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

In 2008, he was elected by the Senate as a member of the Council of the University and by Council on the Standing Committee of Council in 2010. He was elected as Chair of the National Science Deans Forum in 2009.

Prof Ströh served as Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences before being appointed as Vice-Principal: Institutional Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in 2014, followed by Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education from April 2021.

Prof Ströh has made a significant contribution to his research field and received the Exceptional Achievers Award from UP multiple times.

He championed the University’s drive to significantly increase its research output, and establish local and international partnerships, networks and platforms to pursue transdisciplinary research. He greatly contributed to UP’s focus on addressing the complex problems expressed in the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063. He believed in UP’s research ability to come up with solutions that have a significant and positive impact on society at large.

He worked closely with many of our institutes from inception, such as the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI). For 20 years, he contributed to its growth from a small unit to a leading international research establishment addressing major national and global challenges, such as agriculture and food security, and smart forestry.  

More recently, Prof Ströh was an absolute supporter of Innovation Africa @UP as a flagship driver of transdisciplinary research and a platform that advances UP’s role in the “most innovative square mile in Africa”.

He proactively supported UP’s commitment to growing the number of academic staff members with PhDs year on year, and to increase its number of top international researchers by growing and supporting the doctoral and postdoctoral pipeline and UP National Research Foundation-rated researchers, now at 595, which is the highest nationally.

UP was in Prof Ströh’s DNA. At all times, he foregrounded the importance of growing UP’s reputation and stature by being an employer of choice. He made it known how proud he was of UP’s staff and students for their hard work and commitment to quality, two characteristics that summed him up.

In his role as Vice-Principal: Institutional Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof Ströh was also Chairperson of the Strategic Planning and Resource Allocation Committee where he oversaw the development of the University’s Financial Sustainability Plan and its implementation.

Prof Gerald Ouma, Senior Director: Institutional Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, who worked with Prof Ströh for eight years said: “I interacted with Prof Ströh on multiple levels. On a professional level, he was my line manager and on a personal level as a colleague. He is supremely talented and astute, and a very thoughtful, compassionate human being with excellent foresight and strategic ability.

“He welcomed fresh ideas being presented to him; he enjoyed brainstorming; and if he felt you had a better way forward, he’d happily say, ‘Let’s change course.’

“He made it easy to prepare University strategy documents because he understood every aspect and function of the institution extremely well, and there was not a single moment when I asked him for direction that he was not able to offer it or refer me to precisely the right person across all departments and faculties.

“Prof Ströh valued people relations and handled people carefully while getting his message across. Those who worked closely with him knew when he was not happy with you.

“He is one of the few Executive members who thrived in all the portfolios he led, from security, infrastructure and information technology to institutional advancement and research. The research portfolio was his first love and it is fitting that this was his final role with UP. It was an honour to serve the University alongside Prof Ströh; we already miss him, and wish him the absolute best.”

Saying goodbye is not easy. Fortunately, we are confident that we will maintain close contact with Prof Ströh whom we wish the best of health and life, and deeply thank him for his collegiality and outstanding service to the University.