NWU awards illustrious alumni
At a glittering awards evening held in Sandton on Friday last week, which was MC’d by celebrity North-West University (NWU) alumni JC Englebrecht and Success Lekabe, the university celebrated its top-10 alumni who have helped shape the country, illustrating just how far a university education can take one.
The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award went to former state president FW de Klerk, who unfortunately was unable to attend. He completed his Bachelor of Law degree at the former Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education in 1958.
“The spirit of the NWU is reflected in the way it unlocks the future for its students and the way it enables them to find their place in the world. To honour their outstanding accomplishments and exemplary contributions to society, alumni were publicly recognised,” said Dr Theuns Eloff, vice-chancellor of the NWU.
In his address, which was entitled “Proud to be NWU”, Eloff said one of the university’s pillars of excellence is their multilingualism policy and has won many awards honouring their efforts. This was evident during the evening as simultaneous interpreters were on hand to translate speeches which were made in Afrikaans into English.
Other renowned alumni who were awarded were:
- Dr Bismark Tyobeka, who was recently appointed as CEO of the National Nuclear Regulator of South Africa,
- Dr Johan van Zyl, president of Toyota SA Motors,
- Justice Bess Nkabinde, judge of the Constitutional Court, and
- Judge Yvonne Mokgoro, former Judge of the Constitutional Court.
For many years now, NWU alumni have made their mark not only in South Africa but also internationally:
“At NWU, it’s not just about education but the opportunities that education brings. We would like to congratulate our alumni on their achievements today and also encourage our students to shape South Africa and the world in the same way that all of our alumni have,” said Eloff.
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Author: Lia Marus is the editor of HR Pulse. She has a BA in French, Italian and Linguistics from UCT, an MA in translation from Wits and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the Wits Business School. She is currently studying towards her LLB through Unisa. Lia started her career off in corporate communications, where she worked as a sub-editor, researcher and marketing coordinator. She then heeded the call of the publishing world and went into the business-to-business publishing field. She worked as a sub-editor as well as a chief sub-editor. Before joining ITWeb, she managed an HR guidebook at a leading international publishing company. |
