Prof Bawa honoured at UK university

THE Vice-Chancellor of Durban University of Technology (DUT), Professor Ahmed Bawa, was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) by Durham University in England on Tuesday, 23 June.

Prof Bawa will be honoured during the Summer Congregation Graduation Ceremony in recognition of his contribution to science and higher education.

Professor Bawa studied towards a PhD in Theoretical Physics at Durham University between 1986 and 1989 under the supervision of Professor James Stirling. He was a member of the Graduate Society of the University.

Durham University is ranked in the world’s top 100 universities for reputation, based on results of the Times Higher Education World Reputation Review Rankings 2015. In theoretical physics, it is also ranked as one of the best in the world as well as being the third oldest University in England. It is the third oldest university in the UK after Oxford and Cambridge and has been a leading European centre of learning for 1 000 years.

Reacting to the news of being bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate of Science, Prof Bawa said it was unexpected.

“I feel very honoured and the announcement came as a complete surprise to me. I truly had no idea. I shall receive this award in the name of DUT. Part of my trip will entail discussions of possible partnerships with DUT and Durham University. I really think of Durham as home. My family and I spent three years there and we’ve returned there periodically. We have lots of friends there who will all be at the ceremony. Most of all, I am really looking forward to the tradition of procession through the city with some of my professors in the procession,” he said.

Last year, during the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s democracy, Prof Bawa was invited to Durham University to give the Annual Ruth First Scholarship Fund Lecture. He added that besides using the opportunity when he is in Durham to visit the Physics Department and his colleagues there, he will also rekindle his relationship with the Ruth First Scholarship Fund which he was part of when he was studying there. The Ruth First Educational Trust provides opportunities for students from Southern Africa to undertake postgraduate study at Durham University.

“My connection with Durham University is not just academic but I had a very strong connection with the trade union movement and organisations such as the Independent Labour Party, the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Workers’ Revolutionary Party. I was also involved in the work of the Durham Anti-Apartheid Movement which was very active at that time,” he said.