Our country is built on the shoulders of women who came before us, and the same can be said for the University of Pretoria. From graduates and lecturers to chancellors, many women have filled the important roles that make up our university and have not only done what is required of them, but have revolutionised their respective fields.
Margaretha Gerarda Mes got her BSc in Agriculture at the University of Pretoria in 1923, and after years of further studying, she became a lecturer in the Department of Botany at UP in 1932. She was eventually promoted to professor and became head of the department in 1944, making her the first female ex-student to be appointed professor at the university (and the second female to be appointed overall). Under her leadership, a Plant Physiology Research Institute was established at UP, which is known today as the Margaretha Mes Institute for Plant Physiological Research.
Susan Adendorff got her PhD in Industrial Engineering from UP in 2000, making her the first woman to get such a degree in South Africa and the only woman to do so until 2012. Before that, in 2001, she joined the staff as the MBA Programme Director at the Graduate School of Management. Due, in large part, to Prof. Adendorff’s work, the MBA is one of the most diverse and gender-equal programmes in the country today. She also helped design UP’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) reporting credentials, which was accepted by the then Department of Trade and Industry and used for universities across the country. Prof. Adendorff’s accomplishments do not stop there. In 2017, she became the first female president of the Tuks Rugby Club. Her evident contribution towards the development of UP lasted until her retirement in September 2025.
Lastly, former Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof. Cheryl de la Rey was the first Black female Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria in 2009. Prof. De la Rey has a PhD in Psychology and is known in the field for her numerous publications on Social Psychology. The Cheryl de la Rey Scholarship Fund was established in her honour and allows students from various backgrounds to enroll at UP without financial constraints. Prof. De la Rey currently works as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
The brilliant women mentioned above are only a few of the women who have helped transform our university for today’s generation of students. The current female students, lecturers, and university staff at UP will someday make their own mark on our university and even our country, giving the young women of tomorrow even more female role models to look up to and aspire to be.
Visual: Khanyisa Motsepe
