Two academics of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Professors Ronel du Preez and Servaas van der Berg, were honoured with Stellenbosch University's highest award, the Chancellor's Award, at the December graduation ceremony.

Professor Ronel du Preez, the Faculty's Vice-Dean: Learning and Teaching, received the Chancellor's Award for her scholarship and reform in learning and teaching, as well as her leadership in both the Faculty and more widely in the University.

Her achievements include the initiation and implementation of the four-year BCom (International Business) programme, the OPTIMUS co-curricular development programme for the Faculty's top undergraduate students, and the Dean's List, which formally recognises undergraduate student achievements by module in all faculties.

Prof Du Preez's pursuit of innovative ways to use information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching and learning, together with her academic knowledge of consumer-psychology has inter alia led to the design of the ingenious "student ambassador programme", which links prospective students with current Maties via social media to share accurate information about study programmes and the Stellenbosch student experience.

Professor Servaas van der Berg, a Distinguished Professor of Economics, received the Chancellor's Award for his research and policy influence. He has had extensive impact on the economics of education and South African economic policy.

As economics professor and, since 2008, incumbent of the SARChI research chair in the economics of social policy, Prof Van der Berg has developed a highly influential research programme on the economics of education. This has been built around the analysis of data, much of which was not available until he and his group generated the data and made it available for wider dissemination.

He was also closely involved in economic policy discussions during the country's political transition, and has remained an influential participant in policy discussions ever since. As an international researcher of note, the global database RePEc, which analyses the research of over 48 000 economists worldwide, ranks him highest of all South African economists working locally. Moreover, Prof Van der Berg was the first African to have been honoured with a fellowship by the International Academy of Education. One of his highly respected referees recently observed that, "Over the last five years, there is no other academic in the South African space right now who has had such a direct influence on [economic and social] policy thinking".

• Photo: Chancellor's Awards recipients Professors Ronel du Preez and Servaas van der Berg with the Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Prof Stan du Plessis.