Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy has been appointed as the interim vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT).
His appointment comes after former vice-chancellor, professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, was placed on special leave days after an agreement was reached for her to leave her post.
The decision was made at a special council meeting last week following consultation with the senate and after seeking the advice of the Institutional Forum.
UCT council chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama said Reddy will officially assume his duties on Tuesday and hold the position until a new vice-chancellor has been appointed.
In a statement, the university said Reddy has spent almost his entire academic career at UCT.
“At his retirement in 2020, he held the South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics. He enjoys considerable recognition nationally and internationally as a researcher and has received multiple awards in recognition of his scholarly work,” reads the statement.
Reddy is the author and co-author of more than 200 publications and has supervised over 70 doctoral and master’s students to graduation.
“Professor Reddy has served in various management and leadership positions at UCT: as a head of the department, as dean of the faculty of science for seven years, and from 1999 to 2021 as director of the Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics.”
Ngonyama said: “We thank professor Reddy for availing himself for this role and we warmly welcome him back to UCT. I am sure we will all offer him our support during his interim tenure.”
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