University of Cape Town: Encyclopedia - University of Cape Town

University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town is a major tertiary education institution in Cape Town, South Africa, located on the Rhodes Estate on the slopes of Devil's Peak. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa. It is a member of the Association of African Universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the Adamastor Trust of Western Cape universities.

University of Cape Town - Campus

The main teaching campus, known as the Upper Campus, is located on the slopes of Devil's Peak. This campus contains in a relatively compact site the faculties of Science, Engineering, Commerce, and most of the faculty of Humanities, as well as the residences Smuts Hall and Fuller Hall. Upper Campus is centered on Jameson Hall, the location for graduation and other ceremonial events, as well as many examinations. The original buildings and layout of Upper Campus were designed by JM Solomon and built between 1928 and 1930. Since that time, many more buildings have been added as the university has grown.

Contiguous with Upper Campus, but separated from it by university sports fields and the M3 freeway, are the Middle and Lower Campuses. These campuses, which are distributed through the suburbs of Rondebosch, Rosebank and Mowbray, contain the Law faculty, the College of Music, most of the student residences, most of the university administrative offices, and many sporting facilities. The Upper, Middle and Lower Campuses together are often referred to as the "main campus" or the "Rondebosch Campus".

The Faculty of Health Sciences is located on the Medical School campus at the Groote Schuur Hospital. The Fine Arts and Drama departments are located on the Hiddingh Campus in central Cape Town. The Graduate School of Business is located on the Breakwater Campus at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

UCT campus maps can be viewed here.

University of Cape Town - Organisation

The organisation of the University is defined in the Statute of the University of Cape Town (gazetted in 2002) in accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1997. Before 2002 the organisation was defined in other laws in essentially the same format.

The titular head of the University is the Chancellor; this is a ceremonial position without executive power. The primary role of the Chancellor is to confer degrees on behalf of the University, and to represent the University to the rest of the world. The current Chancellor is Ms Graça Machel, elected for a 10-year period in September 1999.

The executive head of the University is the Vice-Chancellor (or VC). The VC has the overall responsibility for the policy and administration of the University. The current VC is Professor Njabulo Ndebele, appointed by the University Council in July 2000.

The VC is assisted in his task by a number of Deputy Vice-Chancellors (DVCs). There are currently four DVCs, each with specific portfolios:

• Prof. Thandabantu Nhlapo: Student Affairs
• Prof. Cheryl de la Rey: Research & Innovation
• Prof. Martin Hall: Planning & Development
• Prof. Martin West: Institutional Management

The Registrar is responsible for the academic administration of the University, as well as legal matters, and is secretary to the University Council and Senate. The current Registrar is Mr Hugh Amoore, appointed in 1987.

UCT is divided into six faculties, each led by a Dean. The faculties and deans are as follows:

• Faculty of Commerce: Prof. Doug Pitt
• Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment: Prof. Cyril O'Connor
• Faculty of Health Sciences: Associate Prof. Gonda Perez
• Faculty of Humanities: Prof. Paula Ensor
• Faculty of Law: Prof. Hugh Corder
• Faculty of Science: Prof. Daya Reddy

Also part of the University are the Centre for Higher Education Development, the Dean of which is Prof. Nan Yeld; and the Graduate School of Business, directed by Prof. Frank Horwitz.

University of Cape Town - Size

In 2004, 20 573 students were enrolled, of which 50% (10235) were described as "White" and 27% (5615) were described as "African"; 50% of students were male. 3903 degrees and diplomas were awarded to students in December 2003.

There were 4 300 staff in 2003, 44% academic and 56% administrative and support.

University of Cape Town - Notable Alumni

• Nobel Laureates:
  • Sir Aaron Klug (Chemistry, 1982)
  • Professor Allan McLeod Cormack (Medicine, 1979)
  • Professor Emeritus J. M. Coetzee (Literature, 2003)
• Professor Christiaan Barnard, who performed the first ever heart transplant at Groote Schuur hospital.
• Jonathan M. Dorfan, director of SLAC
• Vincent Ebrahim, known for his part on The Kumars at No. 42, studied drama.
• Richard E. Grant, now an actor, is a graduate of the UCT Drama school.
• Breyten Breytenbach studied fine arts at UCT.
• Mark Shuttleworth, an entrepreneur and the 1st African in space and 2nd space tourist, studied a Business Science (Finance) degree through the Commerce faculty.
• Mamphela Ramphele, formerly the Vice-Chancellor of UCT and now a Managing Director of the World Bank, received a PhD in Social Anthropology.
• Neville Isdell, current CEO of Coca-Cola
• Emanuel Derman, noted Goldman Sachs financial engineer and author of "My Life As A Quant"
• Salim Ahmed Salim, Tanzanian Diplomat and former Secretary General of the OAU

University of Cape Town - Notable staff

• Cosmologist George Ellis, collaborator with Stephen Hawking and winner of the 2004 Templeton Prize, is Distinguished Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
• Author Andre Brink is a professor in the English Language and Literature Department.
• Author Breyten Breytenbach is from January 2000 a visiting professor in the Graduate School of Humanities.
• The staff of UCT contains 17 A-rated scientists, meaning that they are world leaders in their fields of research.

University of Cape Town - Notable research

• The Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics is an international centre for research in the fields of cosmology and topology.
• The Department of Physics is well-known for research in high-performance and distributed computing.

University of Cape Town - History

The roots of UCT lie in the establishment of the South African College, a boys' school, in 1829. Between 1880 to 1900 the tertiary education part split off into the University.

UCT moved to the Rhodes estate campus in 1928. During the apartheid era, roughly 1960-1990, UCT consistently opposed apartheid, and was a bastion of liberalism and racial integration. 1987 particularly saw frequent clashes between protesting students and police. The official student newspaper, Varsity, frequently had its journalists and editors come under scrutiny from the ruling apartheid National Party government.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "University of Cape Town", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki