Page 39 - Thetha Issue 7
P. 39
ALUMNI UPDATE
REUNITED – Six Alumni Association presidents, past and present,
joined colleagues in toasting their alma mater at the Alumni Awards
ceremony on 23 March. From left are Prof Japie Engelbrecht (former
UPE), Dr Randall Jonas (former NMMU), Beverley Erickson (former PE
Technikon), Vice-Chancellor Prof Sibongile Muthwa, Prof Hugh Jeffrey
(former Engineering Dean and Council member), Siphile Hlwatika
(current President), Paul Geswindt (former UPE/NMMU) and Khwezi
Blose (former Nelson Mandela University).
ROLE MODELS – Two former Nelson Mandela University Student Alumni Society
(SAS) chairpersons, Dr Welcome Kupangwa (left) and Thomas Terblanche (right)
met up at the Alumni Awards ceremony to celebrate their fellow ex-chairperson
and colleague, Dr Curwyn Mapaling (centre), who received a Rising Star award.
SAS is an influential body of future graduates linked to the Alumni Association,
joining forces in 2014 to promote the Alumni Bursary Fund. The society spearheads
fundraising efforts, including the sale of reusable shopping bags, which are also
gifted to fund donors. 7 285 7 260 7 373
Graduates, We’re 6 258
Growing! 4 647 5 453 5 396
From five graduates in 1965 to 7 373
graduates in 2022, Nelson Mandela
University has conferred a record
total of 178 551 qualifications on 2 695
127 718 individuals in just over half a
century (1965 to April 2023). 1 842
1 248
748
455
257
5
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