The annual Founders’ Day celebrations in Grahamstown provide the ideal opportunity for Rhodes University to honour some of its’family’. The Old Rhodian Awards is a special award that is given to Old Rhodians who, through their individual actions and achievements, have enhanced the reputation of the University and serve as role models in society.
It is a prestigious award that is given annually to honour Old Rhodians. A maximum of three awards are made and this year Rhodes will honour Mr Adrian Arnott, Mr Pearce Rood and Professor Jennifer Thomson, all of whom have made a significant impact in their field of expertise.
Mr Arnott has served for years as the Group Company Secretary for the Rand Merchant Bank organisation – the largest banker in South Africa - and as Chairman of the First Rand Foundation. In this role, he took an active and personal interest in the contributions which the fund made to the upliftment of communities and organisations in South Africa. He also ensured that the needs of Rhodes received due consideration. This resulted in substantial contributions to bursaries and projects such as the Alumni House building which houses the University’s Communications and Development divisions.
Mr Rood graduated with a Law degree from Rhodes in 1955 and went on to become a senior partner in the largest international law firm in the world, Messrs Baker & McKenzie. He managed their office in Tokyo and in the process became fluent in the Japanese language.
He later went to London where he is based and became a founding member of the Rhodes University Trust in the UK. He has flown the Rhodes flag high abroad and promoted the University’s image. For the past 19 years he has personally underwritten scholarships and prizes for law students at Rhodes, while also making other significant philanthropic contributions to development in South Africa.
Professor Jennifer Thomson is currently a Professor Emeritus in the Dept of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Cape Town. Her distinguished academic career includes a Post Doctoral Fellowship at Harvard University, a stint as a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an Honorary Doctorate from Sorbonne University. She is also a Fellow of the University of Cape Town and of the Royal Society of South Africa.
Prof Thomson has championed biotechnology nationally and internationally, especially in the agricultural field, as well as the cause of women’s participation in science. For this she has won a number of awards, including the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science for Africa in 2004.