Deresh Ramjugernath
Since 1 April 2025, he has been the newly appointed Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University (SU). Previously, he was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching at SU from January 2021. Before his appointments at Stellenbosch, he was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research (March 2017 to December 2020) and Pro Vice-Chancellor: Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (March 2013 to February 2017) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). He also held the DST/NRF South Africa Research Chair (SARChI): Fluorine Process Engineering and Separation Technology at UKZN from September 2007 to December 2018. He was appointed full professor of chemical engineering, at the age of 31, in January 2004 at UKZN.
Professor Ramjugernath and his team have worked closely with the chemical industry in South Africa and internationally and have undertaken numerous contracts and research projects. He has served on several company boards and has been a consultant for research and innovation for organizations globally. He is also an entrepreneur and ran start-up companies, which had been spun off from research at the University. He has also established numerous international collaborations with universities and industries abroad.
He has published and co-published to date more than 390 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 350 national and international conference papers. He has also authored and co-authored numerous consulting and technical reports. In addition, he has published and co-published over 10 chapters in books and has 7 patents which have been either granted or filed. He has also successfully graduated over 90 Masters and 50 PhD students, as well as supervised and co-supervised over 22 post-doctoral fellows.
He has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognition, including the National Research Foundation (NRF) President’s Award in 2005; National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Awards in 2006 and 2010; UKZN Vice-Chancellor’s Research Awardee in 2010; Honorary professorship from Durban University of Technology in 2012; inducted as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2012; inducted as a fellow of the South African Academy of Engineers in 2013; South African Institute of Chemical Engineers Gold Medal in 2013; South African Institute of Chemical Engineers Innovation Award in 2013 (member of the team); listed by Thomson Reuters in 2013 as one of the most highly cited researchers; Fellow of the African Academy of Science in 2016; Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2017; and most recently the Universities South Africa Entrepreneurial Development in Higher Education Deputy Vice-Chancellor Award in 2020.