The jacarandas have showered their flowers in front of Wits’ Great Hall as spring arrived in South Africa. Though the cool weather of autumn is upon the UK, the warmest of wishes from UK alumni, partners and friends of Wits greeted us as we announced a joint doctoral programme with a top UK university and when a Wits Deputy Vice-Chancellor visited the UK recently. Thank you for remembering your roots and for the warm welcome.
It’s Ruth Leas’s accent that gives her away immediately – and it’s exactly how she likes it.
Summer has arrived and brings with it many memories – the smell of the wet earth on the Library Lawns after a Joburg afternoon thunderstorm, the taste of a boerewors roll and a ray of sunshine with a sprinkling of blue and gold outside the Great Hall.
We hope that this newsletter will bring us closer as a community, and that it becomes a vibrant space created by Witsies for Witsies, where we can celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of Witsies in the UK and graduates with the edge – no matter where they are scattered across the globe.
Researchers from Wits and the University of Edinburgh held a symposium to explore collaborative opportunities for Space Research projects.
Already nestled in a strong strategic partnership, both universities recognise that as Global South and Global North institutions, there are unique opportunities to utilise their complementary strengths to collaborate on future-thinking research projects such as Space Research.
Given its natural resources, its young growing population, and its location at the centre of the world, Africa, and its sustainable futures, are becoming increasingly globally important, and locally relevant. It is therefore imperative for Africa to develop the high-level skills required to achieve a just and inclusive, sustainable society, and to address the 21st-century challenges.
It was the meeting of three great intellectuals, all Fellows of the Royal Society (UK), all scientists, and all fellow Witsies. Professor Zeblon Vilakazi (FRS), the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, hosted Distinguished Wits Professor Roger Sheldon (FRS), known as the father of green chemistry and catalysis, and Professor Graham Hutchings (FRS), a former Wits staff member, who is renowned for his work in heterogeneous catalysis.
A Wits graduation is a joyous event, but hundreds of hard-working students, who have proven their commitment by passing against all odds, cannot graduate because of outstanding fees.
