RHODES UNIVERSITY ALUMNI
E-MAIL NEWSLETTER, DECEMBER 2008 - ISSUE 35
SEASON’S GREETINGS
We wish all Old Rhodians and their families a happy time during the festive season. Be safe and we hope 2009 brings greater opportunities and prosperity.
2008 LUCKY POT LOTTERY WINNERS
The draw for the 2008 Lucky Pot lottery took place on 5 December in Alumni House. The R20 000 grand prize was won by Glyn Armstrong of Grahamstown, R5 000 went to Mike Linklater of Fishhoek and R1 000 to Bruce Young of Cape Town. To view the full list of prize winners go to http://www.ru.ac.za/alumni/oldrhodianunion/luckypotlottery/2008winners
RHODOS – RHODES UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
The latest edition of Rhodos contains many articles of interest to Old Rhodians, a few of which are outlined below. Full colour version available at: http://www.ru.ac.za/static/rhodos/rhodos20081111.pdf(1.63MB)
Dr Badat Obtains Inyathelo Award for Exceptional Philanthropy
Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Saleem Badat, was the recipient of The Inyathelo Award for Exceptional Philanthropy, in recognition of his exceptional commitment to the advancement of philanthropy and dedication to social giving to bring about beneficial change in South Africa.
An Ambassador of Science in Africa
Rhodes University’s Professor Tebello Nyokong, won the Africa-Arab State 2009 L’Oréal-Unesco Award for Women in Science for her pioneering research into photodynamic therapy which looks at harnessing light for cancer therapy and environmental cleanup. Prof Nyokong is the third South African Scientist to receive this award, and reaffirms Rhodes’ place as one of the top research institutions in the country.
Janet Buckland Inspires Dancers
Janet Buckland won the Checkers/SABC2 Woman of the Year and the Grahamstown Citizen of the Year.
Ms Buckland’s relentless efforts have been based on her belief that the arts are necessary to “sensitize” people, especially in a new and growing nation. “It’s almost at our peril that we neglect those (creative) facets of our humanity. Art sensitizes people to issues that are grinding to a halt in our society. Also, art allows us to deal with our fractured identity. We haven’t gelled into a ‘rainbow nation’ yet. South Africa is like a prism – there are millions of shards of colours that need to be gathered together and conglomerated.”
Transnet Donates 5 Million to New Rhodes Library
The Rhodes University community was taken aback when Transnet Limited informed them that they are going to donate R5 million towards the Rhodes University state of the art library, a day before the official announcement on November 4.
Old Rhodians Support the Library Project
Old Rhodians Tony and Bee Petter- Bowyer recently visited Rhodes University to hand over a generous cheque in support of the Library Expansion Project. The couple, who met while studying at Rhodes, have pledged R1-million towards the language and linguistics as well as the history sections of the library and in honour of the start the University gave to their working lives.
Rhodes University dominates Mandela Rhodes Scholarship
The Mandela Rhodes Scholars gathered in the Senior Common Room on 14 November to celebrate the 2009 scholarship success with the Vice-Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat and the Rhodes management team. Rhodes students scooped four scholarships out of a total of 28 in the rest of South Africa.
RU Chinese Studies Confucius Institute
Rhodes University’s Chinese Studies Confucius Institute was officially opened with the unveiling of a plaque at the School of Languages in October. The Institute will coordinate the teaching of Chinese in the School of Languages and encourage the development of other academic courses and research in Chinese studies at Rhodes.
Happy Holidays!
