Award-winning Afro-Soul singer Amanda Black was one of Nelson Mandela University’s alumni who were lauded at annual awards held at the Port Elizabeth-based university last weekend.
The university recognised a number of its former students for outstanding contributions to society through their work.
The six award winners were Black, Fifa senior development manager Solomon Mudege and the director of South Africa’s national uYilo e-Mobility Technology Innovation Programme Hiten Parmar.
University spokeswoman Zandile Mbabela said Amazon’s vice-president, Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), David Brown, Haitian American Cultural and Social Organization Inc executive director Kurt Kannemeyer and chief strategy officer and General Counsel for Face IT Limited (London, UK, and California, USA) Kurt Pakendorf were also recognised in the achiever category.
The prestigious awards are a flagship event on the alumni association calendar, said Mbabela, to celebrate the local and international success stories of graduates who “have not just climbed the ladder in their respective fields, but have become inspiring leaders and change agents”.
“The recipients are living the ethos of the university, presently well captured in its strap line ‘change the world’, which charges the institution’s present and past staff and students to do their bit to effect positive change in society,” she added.
Alumni relations director Paul Geswindt said since the awards inception in 2010, the association had awarded 32 achiever awards, 25 rising star wards (this category was introduced in 2012) and 12 special awards.
This was a total of 69 alumni lauded by their alma mater.
“This year, we also have one special recognition and one special award recognising those who have played a significant role in the Alumni Association over the years,” he said.
NMU Business School director Dr Randall Jonas received special recognition for his service to his alma mater, representing the interest of alumni on council and his leadership role in alumni governance structures.
Addressing the awards guests at the Boardwalk Convention Centre on Friday night, NMU vice-chancellor Prof Sibongile Muthwa told how the institution – and its predecessors – have to date awarded 144,481 qualifications to 108,910 alumni and the alumni family continues to grow with more than 6,000 graduates per annum.
“You have all made a conscious decision to be connected to Nelson Mandela University, and being part of the family you are also part of the journey to ensure that your alma mater becomes a truly great African university,” she said...