In 1925, the Faculty of Commerce and
Administration was established as an independent faculty at the University of
Stellenbosch. It grew from a mere 15 students in 1925 to more than 7 000
in 2015. Since 1991, it has been the largest faculty at the University.
The establishment of the Faculty was made
possible by a generous donation from the Cape "Helpmekaar"
Association, who, in 1921, granted the University the amount of £150 p.a. for
three years. The bursary was earmarked for training an individual who could at
a later stage be appointed to the proposed Commerce Faculty. It was awarded to
CGW Schumann.
Founder
Prof. CGW Schumann who, in 1924, was appointed
as senior lecturer and later as professor in Business Economics, became dean in
1935. He can indeed be regarded as the founder of the Faculty. At the time of
his retirement in 1960, he had expanded the Commerce Faculty to one of the
leading faculties in the country.
Since its construction in 1949, the building
for social sciences has accommodated some of the Faculty’s fields of study.
(The building was subsequently known as the HF Verwoerd Building and thereafter
as the Accountancy and Statistics Building.) In 1977, a new building was
erected for the Faculty and named after Prof. CGW Schumann. Additional space
has also been made available to the ever-expanding Faculty at both the
Stellenbosch and Bellville Park campuses.
In 1995, the name of the Faculty was changed
to the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.
Deans
The deans of the Faculty were: Professors P
Serton (1925-1930); JFW Grosskopf (1931-1934); CGW Schumann (1935-1960); DEW
Schumann (1961-1962, 1967-1970, and 1975-1985); JL Sadie (1963-1964, and 1971);
CA Smith (1965-1966); IJ van Biljon (1972-1974, and 1986-1989); SM Swart
(1990-1995); JA Matthee (1996-2001); E Calitz (2001-2002); JU de
Villiers (2003-2013); and SA du Plessis (2014-2016). The latter was succeeded by an Acting Dean, Prof Johan Malan (2017-March 2018). The present dean, Prof Ingrid Woolard, the first female dean in the history of the Faculty, took office in
May 2018.
