UCT confirms appointment of interim Vice-Chancellor

13 March 2023  

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Council has announced the appointment of Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy as interim Vice-Chancellor.

This decision was made at a special Council meeting on 6 March 2023 following consultation with Senate on 2 March, and after seeking the advice of the Institutional Forum on 3 March.

UCT Chair of Council Babalwa Ngonyama said: “Professor Reddy will officially assume duty from Tuesday, 14 March 2023. He will hold this position until a new Vice-Chancellor is appointed.”

Professor Reddy has spent almost his entire academic career at UCT. At his retirement in 2020 he held the South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics. He enjoys considerable recognition nationally and internationally as a researcher and has received multiple awards in recognition of his scholarly work. He is the author or co-author of over 200 publications and has supervised over 70 doctoral and master’s students to graduation.

Professor Reddy has served in various management and leadership positions at UCT: as a head of department, as dean of the Faculty of Science for seven years, and from 1999 to 2021 as director of the Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics

He served on three occasions as an acting deputy vice-chancellor, over these periods covering collectively a wide range of portfolios. He also served three terms on Council as a member elected by the Senate. Over and above his duties at UCT, he also has extensive governance and leadership experience nationally and internationally.

“We thank Professor Reddy for availing himself for this role and we warmly welcome him back to UCT. I am sure we will all offer him our support during his interim tenure,” concluded Ngonyama.

Issued by Elija Moholola, Spokesperson, Communication and Marketing Department, University of Cape Town, 13 March 2023