Prof Julian May, CoE-FS director, appointed as ASSAf Council Treasurer

Published November 11, 2024, by Academy of Science of South Africa

In addition to his roles as CoE-FS director and ASSAf Council Treasurer, Prof May is also a Commissioner with the National Planning Commission, and holder of the UNESCO Chair in Science and Education for African Food Systems. Photo Icon Media Production/CoE-FS.

“On 23 October 2024, the Academy of Science of South Africa appointed new leadership in its endeavour to promote and apply scientific thinking in the service of society. ASSAf, in its unique position as the only national science academy that is officially recognised by the South African government, aims to provide evidence-based scientific advice on issues of public interest to government and other stakeholders.

The Academy is governed by a Council comprising 13 members. Twelve are elected from the membership and one is appointed by the Minister as representative of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI). The Academy has five office-bearers: the President, two Vice-Presidents, General Secretary and Treasurer.

The new Council is led Prof Thokozani Majozi Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and a Professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He will be supported by two Vice-Presidents, Prof Roseanne Diab, Emeritus Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa and Prof Deresh Ramjugernath, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching at Stellenbosch University (SU).

Prof Christian Pirk, Professor and heads the Social Insects Research Group in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria (UP) was elected as General Secretary and Prof Julian May, Director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE-FS) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) as Treasurer.”

To find out more, view the original article here.