CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Prof Zinn has been deeply involved in initiatives related to curriculum design, review and renewal, as well as the building of a transformative institutional culture in educational environments. Her undergraduate, honours and teaching degrees were obtained at UCT and her master’s and doctoral degrees at Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
She taught in Port Elizabeth high schools before moving into higher education, holding various management positions. Her abiding interest is the area of teaching and learning, and her most recent research and publications explore the theory and praxis of a humanising pedagogy, and social justice, equity and diversity issues in education
LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION AWARD
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Internationalisation, Professor Andrew Leitch, received the Nelson Mandela University Lifetime Contribution Award for his contribution to research over a long and industrious career at the same institution.
Prof Leitch obtained his doctoral degree in Solid-State Physics in 1984. His focus was on semiconductor epitaxy and defects. Since then he has led a research group at the then University of Port Elizabeth, supervised / co-supervised no less than 22 master’s degrees and 15 doctoral students, and published many papers in recognised journals and conference proceedings. In 2001, he established the Optical Fibre Research Unit with no equipment and just one prospective master’s student. To date, the Unit has produced 24 master’s and doctoral graduates and received funding of about R22-million for bursaries and research equipment, thanks to telecoms industry partnerships.