Parliament passed the Academy of Science of South Africa Act in 2001, resulting in the establishment of ASSAf in 2002 as the official Academy of Science of South Africa recognised by government, and representing the country in the international community of science academies.
The key objective of the academy is to promote and apply scientific thinking in the service of society, ultimately determining the quality and scope of the role the academy can play in the country’s life and progress.
Two academic staff members from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have been elected as members of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
The new members are Prof Harold Annegarn and Prof Lawrence Hamilton.
Harold Annegarn is a Professor in UJ’s Department of Geography, Environmental Management & Energy Studies, Director of Environmental Research, Johannesburg and he is also the founder member of the UJ’s SeTAR Centre.
Lawrence Hamilton is a Professor of Politics at UJ; Affiliated Lecturer in Political Theory at Cambridge University and life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he has been a Mellon Research Fellow and Visiting Fellow. He is Editor-in-Chief of Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, and was awarded the South African NRF President’s Award as well as an NRF Blue Skies Award.
Previous elected ASSAf members include UJ’s Profs Simon Connell (Physics), Tshilidzi Marwala (Executive Dean: Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.), Marie Muller (Registrar), Peter Vale (Humanities) and JD van Wyk (Emeritus Professor and previous Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the Rand Afrikaans University).
