Mamokgethi Phakeng

Mamokgethi Phakeng has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT) since 1 July 2018. Previously she was UCT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation. She has also served as Vice Principal for Research and Innovation at the University of South Africa and as Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at the same university. She holds a PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of the Witwatersrand and is a highly regarded B1 NRF-rated scientist with over 80 research papers and five edited volumes published. In 2008 she became the first black South African researcher to co-chair a study commissioned by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. The study, entitled “Mathematics and Language Diversity”, completed its work and published a volume in 2016, which she co-edited. She has delivered over 40 keynote/plenary talks at international conferences, and as a visiting professor in universities in dozens of countries around the world. She has won numerous awards for her research and community work, including the Order of the Baobab (Silver) conferred on her by the President of South Africa in April 2016. In August 2014 CEO magazine named her the most influential woman academic in Africa. In August 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Businesswoman of the Year Award in the education category. In July 2019 the University of Bristol conferred on her an Honorary Doctorate in Science in recognition of her leadership role in mathematics education in South Africa. Kgethi is founder of the non-profit Adopt-a-learner Foundation (www.adopt-a-learner.com), which provides financial and educational support to students from township and rural areas to acquire higher education qualifications.