UP’s Aula Lawn to be temporarily closed
The Aula Lawn on UP’s Hatfield campus will be closed temporarily for restoration and treatment, which is done annually at the beginning of Spring. The lawn will be closed from 4 September until 29 September
UP confer 1800 degrees during Spring Graduations
During this year’s Spring Graduation Ceremony, UP conferred 1807 degrees, diplomas and certificates. These included 142 doctorates, 427 master’s degrees and 746 honours degrees.
Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UP, Professor Cheryl de la Rey, was quoted on UP’s website saying, “Every graduation is a success story for the University of Pretoria and society at large, as a new cohort of much-needed skill is injected into our economy.”
One graduate, Dr. Theodor Loots, will be the first blind man in South Africa to acquire a master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics with distinction.
This year’s Spring Graduation Ceremony took place over three days, from 6 to 8 September. The Ceremony was presented at the Rembrandt Hall at the LC de Villiers Sports Grounds
UP improves ranking in survey
The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking was recently released. In the survey, UP was ranked in the 601-800 category, out of a total of 1102 institutions considered by THE. Using 13 performance indicators, the rankings judge research-intensive universities in aspects such as teaching, industry income, international outlook, citations and research. UP improved its ranking in teaching from 583 in 2016 to 509 in 2017. UP also improved its ranking in research, from 388 in 2016 to 374 in 2017. In the ‘industry income’ category, UP was placed in the 171th position. UP’s Vice- Principal for Research and Postgraduate Education, Prof. Stephanie Burton, was quoted on UP’s website, “The University of Pretoria is committed to world-class teaching and research. We are pleased to see that this focus is paying off with improved rankings, especially when we are compared to top institutions around the world.”
Law Faculty appoints former Constitutional Court Justice
Former Constitutional Court Justice, Johann van der Westhuizen, has been appointed as the new Head of the Department of Jurisprudence in the Faculty of Law. Van der Westhuizen achieved his BA Law, LLB (both cum laude) and his LLD at UP, and was a professor at UP from 1980 to 1998, as well as being the head of the Department of Legal History, Comparative Law and Legal Philosophy (today known as the Department of Juriprudence) from 1980 to 1994. In 1976, Van der Westhuizen was appointed as an advocate of the High Court in South Africa.
On 1 February 2004, he was appointed to the Constitutional Court. He is known for his judgments in the Constitutional Court that dealt with matters such as constitutional amendments, equality and the right to privacy. Van der Westhuizen is also the founding Director of the Centre for Human Rights at UP, which was established in 1986.
Compiled by: Henri Uys
