Appointed as Extraordinary Professor in the School of Public Administration and Management, Professor Catherine Althaus visited the SPMA from 3-14 April 2023 sharing her experiences and expertise in indigenous public policy processes, public administration and public leadership.

Professor Althaus is the Deputy Dean (Teaching and Learning) for the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) and the ANZSOG Chair of Public Service Leadership and Reform at the University of New South Wales, Canberra. She is also a former policy practitioner in the Queensland Treasury and was Director of the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

During her stay, Professor Althaus worked with the School, spending time with individual faculty on their research projects, delivering a 3 day workshop on international research grant writing and strategy, and presenting a research brown bag session for the Faculty on the trajectories of her 30 year research career. Prof Althaus indicated that “The School is well positioned to grasp new opportunities amidst shifting geopolitical forces on the global stage. Its local strength, well-regarded and credentialled faculty, curriculum and research, and its spirit of knowledge generosity will all be harnessed in its next stage of growth”. Her academic passion was evident in the fact that she not only interacted with faculty, but thought it important to also encourage the SPMA tutors. She also met with the Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Professor Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu.    

Prof Althaus stated that “It was a pleasure to work with esteemed colleagues from the School of Public Administration and Management, whose expertise and passion is so evident for the future of wise practice in public administration emanating from South Africa. I look forward to continuing my association with the University of Pretoria which I prize so highly as critical to international collaboration into the future.” 

Professor Althaus’ stay coincided with the exciting news of AACSB accreditation for the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. It was a privilege to host this esteemed, self-proclaimed “pracademic” and the SPMA looks forward to our future collaborations.