inside - University of Cape Town

News
Update
INSIDE
M ay
2 0 0 8
UCT News Update is a twice
yearly publication of the UCT
Fund that provides information about developments at
the University of Cape Town to
alumni and other friends of the
University.
Masterful Revival of Sizwe Banzi is Dead at BAM
A defining work of South African theatre, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, played at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in early April, thanks
to a revival by UCT’s Baxter Theatre Center.
The 1972 play, written by acclaimed author and UCT alumnus Athol Fugard, together with John Kani and Winston Ntshona,
was brought back to life by the Baxter Theatre in 2006. The revival re-united the original 1975 Tony Award-winning Best Actor
duo of John Kani and Winston Ntshona.
Pifer Award to Living
Landscapes, page 3
The production at BAM, directed by Aubrey Sekhabi and with lighting design by Baxter Director, Mannie Manim, offered
theatre enthusiasts a unique theatrical experience. When Sizwe Banzi Is Dead premiered at Cape Town’s Space Theatre, it
highlighted the personal bravery of two black men defying the rules of apartheid. The play tells the story of Sizwe Banzi, a rural worker who seeks employment in Port Elizabeth but is ordered to leave the district because his pass is not in order. In the
words of John Kani, the play provides “a vivid portrayal of what it was like to have been black in South Africa at the time.”
BAM performances gave New Yorkers the opportunity to see Kani and Ntshona in their final performances in the play’s 36year history. The presentation included several related events, such as a discussion on the play’s conception with Ntshona
and Kani, who received an honorary degree from UCT in 2006.
Both Kani and Ntshona also participated in a panel discussion on “Theater in South Africa: The New Millennium” with Mannie
Manim, UCT graduate and playwright, Nadia Davids, Awam Amkpa of NYU’s Africana Studies Department, and Daniel
Banks, from the Tisch School of the Arts.
Tannie Evita Comes
to Town, page 4
Stempels meet UCT’s
Starr Scholars, page 6
John Kani and Winston Ntshona perform Sizwe Banzi is Dead in Brooklyn, 36 years after the play’s controversial premiere
in Cape Town
2 alumni in the news
Praise for Landsman’s The Rowing Lesson
According to a review in The Observer, Anne Landsman’s second novel, The Rowing Lesson, confirms her reputation as “a
major new voice”. The novel has been praised equally for its innovative style, poetic imagery, and lyrical descriptions of South
African landscape.
The Rowing Lesson traces the life story of Dr. Harold Klein, who grows up in World War II South Africa, from the perspective
of his daughter Betsy, a New Yorker who has flown home to be with him, as he lies dying in a Cape Town hospital. A secondperson narrative, the novel weaves together stories her father shared with her, as well as Betsy’s own memories and vivid
imagination.
Landsman (BA (Hons) 1980) moved to New York after graduating from UCT. She describes how, while writing The Rowing
Lesson, she realized that “some portion of my heart will always beat in that opposite hemisphere, in the shadow of the
Brandwacht mountains”.
News of…
Professor Jonathan Dorfan (BSc 1969),
Director Emeritus of the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, will be awarded an
honorary doctorate from UCT in December.
Award-winning piano duo Cara Hesse (BMus
2005) and Laura Pauna (BMus 2005) have
several concerts in New York in May.
Former Director of the UCT GSB, Mike Page
(MBA 1986, PhD 1993) has been appointed
Dean at McCallum Graduate School at
Bentley College.
Sociologist Devah Pager (MSocSc 1996)
explores racial inequality in the U.S. criminal
justice system in Marked: Race, Crime and
Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration.
In December 2007, UCT awarded the Doctor
of Science in Medicine to Professor Wulf
Utian (PhD 1970), a pioneer in women’s
health and advanced reproductive technology.
Got news? We want to hear from you
Send in your news, profiles, photographs
or any other items of interest. Email
Tina Barsby at uctfund@comcast.net
Tannie Evita’s U.S. Tour
Earlier this year master satirist
Pieter-Dirk Uys swapped his home
in Darling, South Africa, for a tour of
Los Angeles, Boston and New York.
A writer and performer of more than
20 plays, Uys was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCT in 2003. In
the past six years he has toured
South African, talking frankly to over
a million children about the seriousness of the AIDS pandemic.
Uys’ staunch support for AIDS education also featured prominently in
his recent U.S. performances. As
Artist-in-Residence at the University
of Southern California, he spoke
on “Comedy, Activism & Aids in
South Africa” and gave several performances of his political cabaret,
Elections and Erections: A Chronicle
of Fear and Fun.
Uys opened Elections and Erections
in Cambridge in April, returning to
the Zero Arrow Theatre where he performed the phenomenally successful Foreign AIDS in 2005.
Boston-area audiences delighted in Uys’ host of special guests, all of whom he performed with uncanny accuracy, including Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, Bill and Hillary, and the glamorous
Evita Bezuidenhout.
Evita’s U.S. sojourn ended on a high note in May in New York, with three gala performances at La
MaMa. It was here that Uys received the OBIE Award for Foreign Aids in 2004.
campus connections 3
Pifer Award for Living Landscapes Project
UCT scholars in the Clanwilliam-based Living Landscapes Project have won the Alan Pifer Research Award for
the second time. Named in honor of former Carnegie Corporation President and founding Chairman of the UCT
Fund, the Pifer Award is made annually to researchers whose work contributes to the advancement of disadvantaged South Africans.
Drama Department Chair Mark Fleishman and Professor of Fine Art Pippa Skotnes received the 2008 Pifer Award
for their work in bringing local history, drama and art to the Clanwilliam community. Archaeologist John Parkington
initiated the community-based heritage and education project in the early 1990s. Parkington was recognized for
his contribution to the area with the Pifer Award in 1999.
Since then the Living Landscapes Project has taken root in the community. The project has established jobs in
catering, crafting and guiding, informed local school curricula, and helped return the rich heritage of the area to
the local community.
In the mid-1990s art workshops were offered to fewer than 100 pupils annually. Now about 500 children each year
complete workshops involving dance, storytelling, shadow puppetry, and arts and crafts. The
�����������������������
program culminates
in the annual Spring Lantern Parade which re-interprets traditional San themes.
The procession during the annual Spring Lantern
Parade in Clanwilliam
Goldman Sachs Supports Brown-GSB Partnership
UCT’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) is among 16 prestigious U.S. and European
business schools selected as initial academic partners in a global initiative to increase the
number of underserved women receiving management education.
The five-year partnership between the GSB and Brown University is part of the $100
million project, “10,000 Women” funded by New York investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Brown and UCT will develop a course in technology innovation designed to build “entrepreneurship capacity” by providing students with the skills to leverage technology to
create competitive businesses.
For the fourth consecutive year, UCT’s GSB was ranked in the London Financial Times Global MBA Top 100. In the 2008 rankings the GSB is among the top five business
schools in emergent markets such as Africa, India and China.
Global Administrative Law in Africa
NYU Professor Benedict Kingsbury, Judge Dennis Davis, Deputy ViceChancellor Thandabantu Nhlapo, Minister Trevor Manuel, Professor
Dick Stewart of NYU, and Dean Hugh Corder at the UCT-NYU Global
Administrative Law conference
In March UCT and New York University co-sponsored a conference on “Global
Administrative Law Issues in the African Region”, held in the UCT Law Faculty’s Oliver
Tambo Moot Court.
Dean Hugh Corder described the conference as a great success: “Both South African
and overseas delegates were challenged by views put forward in the papers, and a plan
was drafted for further research and co-operation between NYU and UCT Law. Adding
greatly to the significance of the event was the presence of South African Minister of
Finance, Trevor Manuel, who opened the conference, NYU President John Sexton who
was the riveting after-dinner speaker, and Kader Asmal who spoke on ‘Private Military
Security’.”
4 Alumni & Friends Events
30th Year Reunion in Los Angeles
Last December a group of 1977 graduates met up at the South African-owned Mozambique restaurant in Laguna Beach for an informal Reunion.
Thanks to Rob Verkroost for the photos.
(l-r) Francesca Pascolini, Nick Constantinides (BSc ElecEng 1977), Andre
Ohland (BSc ElecEng 1977), Paul Buck (BSc 1977), Reva Wright, Robert
Verkroost (BSc ElecEng 1977), Christina Hattingh.
1977 Electrical Engineering class photo
Cambridge Alumni
enjoy Evita’s
“humor therapy”
Pieter-Dirk Uys joined Alumni and
Friends for conversation after a performance of Elections & Erections, during which Uys recalled his UCT student
days as a formative time in his life.
Pieter-Dirk Uys with Jinny Sagorin
Inaugural Happy Hour in D.C.
The newly-formed D.C. Alumni and Friends Society held their first
networking event in January. Organized by Katie Irvin (MPhil 2006),
the gathering attracted UCT alumni from classes ranging between
1947 and 2006, former study abroad students and other friends of
UCT in the D.C. area. Katie hopes that this is just the start of regular
get-togethers.
(l-r) Liam and Penny Ratcliffe with Paul Malherbe and Rachel Seidel
Alumni & Friends Events 5
Vice-Chancellors’ Visit
Several Alumni and Friends gatherings were held in April, during a visit to the U.S. by Vice-Chancellor Njabulo
Ndebele and Vice-Chancellor Designate, Dr. Max Price. Dr. Price will become UCT’s 10th Vice-Chancellor in July.
New York
Philadelphia
Out-going Vice-Chancellor Njabulo Ndebele reflected on the growth of UCT’s research profile and international reputation at a cocktail party at the Harvard Club
of New York City. Over 60 alumni from six decades (1954 through 2004) joined
the Vice-Chancellor in welcoming Dr. Max Price to the UCT community.
Dr. Michael Ezekowitz, Vice President of the Lankenau Institute for Medical
Research hosted a welcome reception for Vice-Chancellor Designate, Dr. Max
Price, in Wynnewood.
Max Price talks with Lyn Wilson, with Yasmin von Schirnding in the background
Dr. Price addressed the challenges facing UCT and South Africa
(l-r) Hertzie Clain, Vice-Chancellor Njabulo Ndebele, David Clain, and Ian
Anderson
Rodman Ward talks with Dr. Max Price
(l-r) Fiona Jack, Oliver Link, Guto Barra, Maxine Lubner, VC-Designate Max
Price, and Janine le Sueur
(l-r) Andrew Ezekowitz, Alan Ezekowitz (MBChB ’77), Mike Ezekowitz (MBChB
’70), Andrew Swinney, Alexander Friedlander (BA ’74), David Metz, Max Price
and Jacques G. Losman
6 U C T F u n d G r a n t s at W o r k
Stempels Praise Starr Scholars
During a recent visit to Cape Town, Director of the Starr Foundation, Mr. Ernest Stempel and his wife,
UCT graduate Brendalyn Stempel, had the opportunity to meet many of the students who benefit from
C.V. Starr Scholarships at UCT.
Starr Scholars in their own words…
The Starr Foundation has endowed C.V. Starr Scholarship Funds at more than 100 colleges and universities and selected secondary schools. A total of 18 students at UCT were awarded C.V. Starr Scholarships
in 2007.
Sibusiso Nyoni, one of five siblings, is
pursuing a medical degree at UCT.
“I’m pleased to come here. UCT is a wonderful institution,” Mr. Stempel told the students. He said he was
proud of the university’s reputation and the students’ achievements. “It is wonderful to see that the student
body is well-balanced in all respects.”
“Medicine chose me. I have always
been overcome by compassion for
those who are ill and suffering, especially the poor. Though my efforts
might just be a drop in the ocean, I still
want to play my part in alleviating human suffering”.
Goodonough Makhoba recently completed the second year of his BSc
Audiology.
“I am determined to make a difference
in my field, and I want to make sure
that I graduate as an Audiologist to
serve South Africa’s people”.
(l-r): Starr Foundation Scholars Babalo Ntlebi, Anelisa Hlongwane, Zolani Buba, Lulama Mboji, Luwi
Mathenjwa, Natasha Magengelele, Goodonough Makhoba, Sibusiso Nyoni
Front (l-r): Professor Njabulo Ndebele, Mr. Ernest Stempel and Mrs. Brendalyn Stempel
New Health Sciences Scholarship
Medical student Moses Matlhadisa is the first recipient of the Hamilton Naki-MESABUnited Therapeutics Scholarship, which was made possible by a grant to the UCT Fund
by U.S. bio-technology company, United Therapeutics.
The award was presented to Mr. Matlhadisa in September 2007 by Dr Louis Sullivan,
founding President of Morehouse School of Medicine and former U.S. Secretary of
Health and Human Services.
Mr. Matlhadisa plans to work in his home town, Bochum in the Limpopo Province, to
serve his community and be a role model for local scholars.
The Scholarship is named in honor of Hamilton Naki, a former UCT teacher and surgical
assistant who was awarded an honorary degree in Medicine by UCT in 2003.
Dr. Louis W. Sullivan awards the first Hamilton Naki-MESAB-United
Therapeutics Scholarship to medical student Moses Matlhadisa
T h a n k s t o o u r S u pp o r t e r s 7
Thank You for Supporting UCT
The UCT Fund is grateful to our many supporters who help maintain and build on the quality of the UCT education.
We would like to thank the following UCT Fund donors for their generous support of UCT during the period 2006 – 2007.
Individual Contributors
Chancellor’s Circle
Klaus-Jurgen Bathe
John M. Graham
Robert & Sally Huxley
E. Neville Isdell
Vincent & Anne Mai
David M. Stein
Ernest E. & Brendalyn Stempel
Vice-Chancellor’s Circle
Robert Forman
Shannon & Trevor Norwitz
President of Convocation
David Rockefeller
Dean’s Circle
Ginny & Sean Day
Susan C. Del Pesco
Arthur Forman
William R. Jacobson
Andrew Jones & Claire Jaffray
Judy Klein
Paul Kumleben
Miles L. Marsh
David J.P. Meachin
Craig Mullett
Gordon R. Parker
Stephen S. Rabinowitz
Don M. & Carol E. Randel
Phillip J. & Tracey G. Riese
Gale & Bobby Shifflet
Benefactor
T. Maxfield Bahner
Kerrin & Stephne Behrend
Peter & Barbara Cohen
Alan Drabkin
Dyan de Napoli
James R. Frank
Nona C. Flores
Anthony R. Hall
Graham Hopper
Vivienne Isaacson
Paul Malherbe
Noel Mancherje, M.D.
Gordon Marsa
Leigh B. Middleditch
Liam Ratcliffe
Domeena Renshaw
Hyman & Shirley Shwiel
Friend
Anonymous
Angela S. Barber
Ruanne V. Barnabas
Tina Barsby & Andrew Sillen
Brian S. Behrens
Marlene & Georges Belfort
David M. Bichunsky
John R. Blake, M.D.
Peter D. Bonafede
Cesar D. Candari
Catherine E. Carr
Virginia Castner
Misha Charles
Christopher Coetzee
Andrew Cohen
Kathleen M. Coleman
Cecilia C. Crofts
John Deighton
Charles & Pamela Delaney
Adrian Deneys
Cynthia Edwards
Clement A. Erbmann
Andrea V. Fliakos
Myrna L. Frank
Michael W. Friedlander
Sarah M. Gates
Bernard J. Gersh
M. Philippa Goold
Toby I. Gottheiner, M.D.
Virginia E. Green
Beryl J.N. Greig
Barbara A. Harris
Trevor S. Harris
Bessie & William Hodes
Daryl M. Isaacs, M.D.
Alan H. & Marilyn C. Jacobs
Irene N. Jacobson
Gerry Kaufman
Norma Kriger
Herbert N. & Irene B. Lape
Abraham M. Lenhoff
Allan Lichtenstein
Maurice H. Lipper
Maurice H. Luntz
Calvin L. Lutrin
Richard & Michelle Malone
Brendan McKenna
Grant Morris
Akintunde A. Okupe
Aisling R. O’Shea
George Parent
John G. & Karin L. Pieper
Peter H. Pritchard
Alayne Reesberg
Deborah C. Richman
Marjorie S. Robinson
Elizabeth M. Saunder
Adrian Shandling
Michael H. & Sandra R. Silber
Julian Sinai
Robert N. Sladen, M.D.
Julia H. Stanton
Peter D. Stein
Basil Taibel
Horacio C. Teran & Kristin Tuchman
Sam Tharp
Gordon E.R. Troy
Wulf Utian
Jon van Heerden
Timothy A. Warner
Christian Williams
Tjalling J. Ypma
Foundations
The Baird Foundation
Judy & Howard Berkowitz Foundation
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The John E. Fetzer Institute
The Starr Foundation
Corporations
Bergeson LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell
United Therapeutics
Company Matching Gifts
Microsoft Giving Campaign
Pfizer Foundation Matching Gifts
The Phelps Dodge Foundation
The Williams Companies
Donor Giving Levels
Chancellor’s Circle
$10,000 and above
Vice-Chancellor’s Circle
$5,000 – $9,999
President of Convocation
$2,500 – $4,999
Dean’s Circle
$1,000 – $2,499
Benefactor
$500 – $999
Friend
Up to $499
We do try to be accurate in our listings.
Please accept our apologies for any
omissions and misspellings, and advise
us of errors.
1383 6th Ave #114
New York, NY 10019
UCT Fund Online
Our website has been updated—visit us
online at www.uctfund.org.
Our site features news about UCT faculty
and alumni, profiles of projects supported
by your contributions to the Fund, events
for Alumni & Friends in the U.S., and links
to UCT websites you might be interested in
exploring. Plus lots of gorgeous pictures of
UCT campus!
Forward details of the site to your friends
from UCT—and help us re-connect with
alumni with whom we’ve lost contact.
We’d love to hear your feedback on the site,
and what you’d like to see online. Email
Tina Barsby at uctfund@comcast.net
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U.S. Postage
PAID
S. Deerfield, MA
PERMIT NO. 8
Major New Grant from Carnegie Corporation
The Carnegie Corporation of New
York recently awarded UCT a
three-year grant of $2 million for
institutional transformation and
employment equity.
A long-standing donor to UCT libraries, scholarships and capacity-building programs, Carnegie
will now support an over-arching
transformation project to develop
emerging faculty.
During the past 18 months UCT
has developed plans to nurture a
critical mass of black people and
women among the academic staff. The plan seeks to give relief to new and invariably younger members of
staff from heavy teaching loads, so that they can complete PhDs, conduct research, or deliver conference
papers; in short, to assist them to make an impact in their departments.