Prof. Mandla Makhanya
Principal and Vice Chancellor, UNISA, South Africa
Professor Mandla Stanley Makhanya was appointed Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa on 1 January 2011. He is also Treasurer of the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) and an executive member of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE).
Professor Makhanya holds a BA and a BA (Hons) in Sociology from the University of Fort Hare, a Masters Degree in Industrial Sociology from the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu Natal), and a DPhil from the University of Pretoria and a DTE from UNISA. In 2007 the University of Athabasca in Canada conferred upon him a PhD (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his outstanding leadership at UNISA and his contribution as a distinguished scholar in distance education. He maintains active scholarship through regular publications. Professor Makhanya is a Deputy Chairperson of the South African National Commission for UNESCO and Chairperson of the Culture Sector of the South African National Commission for UNESCO. He has also been a member of the National Committee of the Memory of the World (MoW). Professor Makhanya is also an Executive Committee Member of the Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) – International Body (2012). In October 2014, Prof Makhanya accepted a nomination to serve on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Research in Open, Distance and e-Learning (JRODeL). In the 1990s he served in various leadership roles in the South African Sociological Association, including Deputy President in 1998, for a period of two years. He continues to be a member of the South African Sociological Association (SASA) and the International Association of Sociology (ISA).