SU Council makes five senior appointments

Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel

Prof Eugene Cloete

Two Deans will now join the Rector’s management team as Vice-Rectors of Stellenbosch University (SU), and in three faculties new Deans were appointed. The SU Council announced the appointment of five senior staff members in its scheduled meeting on Monday, 25 June.

The new Vice-Rector (Learning and Teaching), Vice-Rector (Research and Innovation), as well as the Deans of the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, Law, and Engineering were appointed, after recommendations by the Senate, Institutional Forum and the combined appointment committees were considered. The University will now make formal offers for consideration by each candidate.

Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel was appointed as Vice-Rector (Learning and Teaching), and Prof Eugene Cloete as Vice-Rector (Research and Innovation).

Prof Johan Hattingh was appointed the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences, Prof Sonia Human the Dean of Law, and Prof Hansie Knoetze the Dean of Engineering.

Prof Arnold Schoonwinkel

Born in Bloemfontein in the Free State, Prof Schoonwinkel (57) was until now Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. After matriculating from DF Malan High School, he studied Electronic Engineering at SU, after which he completed his PhD in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at the Stanford University in America. He also holds a MBA degree.

Prof Schoonwinkel was Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering before he became Dean of Engineering in 2002. At SU, he has served on several committees, including the Rector’s Academic Forum, the Language Committee and the Institutional Forum. Currently, Prof Schoonwinkel is studying towards a second PhD degree in Managerial Economics at the Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium.

Prof Eugene Cloete

Prof Cloete (54) has been Dean of the Faculty of Science since January 2009. Born in Queenstown, he completed his MSc at the University of the Free State, after which he finished his DSc degree at the University of Pretoria (UP).

Before joining SU, Prof Cloete had a long career at UP, where he was Director of the UP Water Institute, Chair of the School of Biological Sciences and Professor in Microbiology. He has been supervisor for over 60 masters and doctoral students, and has published several academic articles, contributed to 15 books and published six books on different topics in his discipline.

Prof Johan Hattingh

Prof Hattingh (57) has been involved in teaching at SU since he completed his Master’s degree in Philosophy in 1980. In 1990, he was awarded a DPhil degree in Philosophy from SU. Over the years he has received several awards for teaching, and is a C2-rated scientist by the National Research Foundation.

From January 2006 until December 2011, Prof Hattingh was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, having been Chair of the Department of Philosophy from 2004 to 2005.

Prof Sonia Human

Prof Human (54) completed the degrees BMil and LLB at SU, her LLM from UNISA and a doctorate from SU. She worked as an attorney’s clerk and law advisor before joining SU as a lecturer in the Department of Private and Roman Law in 1990. From 2002 to 2003 she was the Director of the Centre for Child Law, and was appointed Professor in Private and Roman Law in 2003.

She has contributed chapters to eight books, and was author of another three. Prof Human has won a Rector’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Prof Hansie Knoetze

As an engineer, Prof Knoetze (59) has been a consultant for various institutions. He joined SU in 1983 as senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994. From 2006 to 2008 he has been Deputy Dean (Teaching) of the Faculty of Engineering, Acting Dean in 2009, and since 2012 he is Vice-Dean (Teaching).