Trailblazing professor leaves legacy of leadership and love
After 25 years of service at the University of Pretoria, Professor Susan Adendorff retires as one of the most respected women in engineering and academia.
A Pretoria-born academic and trailblazer, Professor Susan Adendorff has spent her life breaking barriers in engineering, leadership and education.
Adendorff, who recently retired after 25 years at the University of Pretoria (UP), is known as one of the most respected and loved women in her field.
Born into a family rooted in academia, she grew up on the UP campus, where her father, Professor Kris Adendorff, designed the university’s industrial engineering curriculum in 1961.
Her mother, Riekie, studied social sciences at the same institution.
“I grew up in a sports-mad family and practically lived on campus,” she recalled.
“My mother still follows rugby, cricket, tennis, and even the Tour de France at the age of 95.”
From an early age, Adendorff knew she wanted to become an industrial engineer.
A childhood newspaper clipping even shows her declaring her chosen career while still in primary school.
She went on to earn three degrees from UP.
“I have a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering cum laude, an MBA and a PhD in Industrial Engineering.”
She became UP’s first female industrial engineering graduate and, for over a decade, was the only woman in South Africa with a PhD in the field.
“Industrial engineering teaches you how to improve processes in any kind of business,” she explained.
“I never felt I was treated differently as a woman, perhaps because of the respect people had for my father or maybe because I intimidate people.”
Her career began in the early 1980s at Armscor, followed by several years at UNISA before she joined UP in 2001.
She first served as MBA Programme Director, where she helped transform the degree into one of the most diverse in the country.
“I later managed procurement at UP, where I designed a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment reporting system tailored for universities.”
She said the Department of Trade and Industry accepted this system, which is now used by many higher education institutions across South Africa.
Adendorff’s leadership journey continued when she became Director of Facilities Management in 2013.
She grew her team from 95 to over 900 staff members, overseeing 747 buildings, sports fields and gardens across more than 1 200 hectares.
“The work never stopped, and our campuses needed constant care, 24/7, 365 days a year,” she said.
Her influence was not limited to engineering and management.
She also served as the first female president of Tuks Rugby Club from 2017 to 2022. One of her proudest moments came in 2022, when UP beat Stellenbosch University 29–23 in the Varsity Cup final.
“That victory in Stellenbosch, in my last year as president, was unforgettable,” she said.
Her contributions have been recognised widely.
In 2020, she received the Kris Adendorff Award for Most Prominent Industrial Engineering Professional in South Africa.
She has also served on boards such as Tuks Alumni, Absa and the Purchasing Consortium for Higher Education in Southern Africa.
Now that she has retired, she plans to spend more time with family, travel in Europe and return to creative hobbies such as knitting, embroidery and jewellery-making.
“I also want to be a soccer grandma to our grandchildren,” she said.
She said every December, her family gathers in Stilbaai on the southern Cape coast, a tradition dating back to 1969.
“We’ve never missed a Stilbaai Christmas,” she added.
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