Universities South Africa (USAf) has paid tribute to the former Rector and Vice Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Professor Brian O’Connell.
Professor O’Connell served as UWC Rector from 2001 to 2014.
“We pay tribute to a giant who personified university autonomy in his lifetime,” said Professor Francis Petersen, Chairperson of USAf and outgoing Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State.
“In 2005, he successfully dissuaded government from merging UWC with the Peninsula Technikon. He also resisted government’s plan to merge the Dentistry Faculty of Stellenbosch University with UWC’s. Much against popular inclination in some UWC quarters to oppose government’s proposals with hostility, he chose to engage and persuade the State peacefully, advancing an argument of preserving the historical identity of UWC as the seat of political opposition, and using that identity to achieve a firm academic purpose. His views prevailed.”
Professor O ‘Connell would go down in the history of the Board of Higher Education South Africa (HESA) as the man who spoke truth to power and never held back on what he truly believed.
“While many of us were still wrapping our heads around transformation in higher education, Professor O’Connell attracted significant funding for his institution. This enabled him to develop state-of-the art research facilities evident in UWC’s Life Science Building, the School of Public Health and Chemical Sciences buildings, thus transforming UWC into a leading research institution and keeping his vision alive, of turning UWC into the knowledge and research powerhouse it grew to become.”
At the time of his retirement, Prof O’ Connell was not only a HESA board member; he played a pivotal role in processes that would see the Higher Education HIV and AIDS facility (HEAIDS) undergo due diligence and other processes that would lead to HEAIDS breaking away from the then HESA into the stand-alone subsidiary of USAf, now known as Higher Health. Even past his retirement, Professor O’Connell would continue providing counsel to the executive leadership of Higher Health.
To date, UWC has built itself a footprint in its neighbouring schools in Cape Town, imparting Information, Communication and Technology and entrepreneurial skills, to name but a few, in true embodiment of Professor O’Connell’s commitment to community service, education and the development of UWC’s immediate context.
“The Board of Directors of USAf is proud to have been associated with such a calibre of a man. We convey our condolences to his beloved wife, children, the UWC community and the entire sector, knowing that he left South Africa’s Higher Education sector a better place than he found it.
Professor O’Connell served as UWC Rector from 2001 to 2014.
“We pay tribute to a giant who personified university autonomy in his lifetime,” said Professor Francis Petersen, Chairperson of USAf and outgoing Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State.
“In 2005, he successfully dissuaded government from merging UWC with the Peninsula Technikon. He also resisted government’s plan to merge the Dentistry Faculty of Stellenbosch University with UWC’s. Much against popular inclination in some UWC quarters to oppose government’s proposals with hostility, he chose to engage and persuade the State peacefully, advancing an argument of preserving the historical identity of UWC as the seat of political opposition, and using that identity to achieve a firm academic purpose. His views prevailed.”
Professor O ‘Connell would go down in the history of the Board of Higher Education South Africa (HESA) as the man who spoke truth to power and never held back on what he truly believed.
“While many of us were still wrapping our heads around transformation in higher education, Professor O’Connell attracted significant funding for his institution. This enabled him to develop state-of-the art research facilities evident in UWC’s Life Science Building, the School of Public Health and Chemical Sciences buildings, thus transforming UWC into a leading research institution and keeping his vision alive, of turning UWC into the knowledge and research powerhouse it grew to become.”
At the time of his retirement, Prof O’ Connell was not only a HESA board member; he played a pivotal role in processes that would see the Higher Education HIV and AIDS facility (HEAIDS) undergo due diligence and other processes that would lead to HEAIDS breaking away from the then HESA into the stand-alone subsidiary of USAf, now known as Higher Health. Even past his retirement, Professor O’Connell would continue providing counsel to the executive leadership of Higher Health.
To date, UWC has built itself a footprint in its neighbouring schools in Cape Town, imparting Information, Communication and Technology and entrepreneurial skills, to name but a few, in true embodiment of Professor O’Connell’s commitment to community service, education and the development of UWC’s immediate context.
“The Board of Directors of USAf is proud to have been associated with such a calibre of a man. We convey our condolences to his beloved wife, children, the UWC community and the entire sector, knowing that he left South Africa’s Higher Education sector a better place than he found it.
