The president of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, Dr Koen Becking, has been appointed honorary professor* of the School of Public Leadership (SPL) at Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa. Having served as extraordinary professor at Stellenbosch since 2003, his appointment as honorary professor recognises his impact and excellence as a public leader who can also contribute to strengthening ties between Tilburg and SU as institutional partners.
Becking: "It is a great honor to continue to be of significance as an honorary professor to students and colleagues in South Africa and the Netherlands and to share knowledge and insight. I know my way well at both universities, I know how to find the right people to further strengthen the intended connection between our universities."
Before he joined Tilburg University, Becking served as chief executive at KRO, the largest Dutch public media company. Prior to KRO, he was chief executive at the Dutch Institute for Public Administration. He studied Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and holds a PhD from Utrecht University. He is also a fellow (MPA) of the Netherlands School of Government.
SU, which celebrates its Centenary in 2018, is among South Africa's leading tertiary institutions based on research output, student pass rates and rated scientists, and is recognised internationally as an academic institution of excellence. SU has ten faculties: AgriSciences, Economic and Management Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering, Military Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Science, Education, Law, and Theology.
The SPL is one of three schools in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Its combination of public governance, the environment and sustainability as strategic foci is unique in the South African context. These three foci also provide the rationale for the three postgraduate programmes in Public Policy and Management, Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.
The SPL's slogan, “Learning for sustainable African futures", illustrates its objective of creating public value in an African context. As an academic school, the SPL provides a space for a range of disciplines. The diversity of these disciplines is reflected not only in the various degree and diploma programmes, but also the content of the modules of each degree programme. The unique combination of progressive governance, development and conservation implied by the SPL's focus areas, and the subsequent initiatives through its various programmes, centres (including the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, the Anti-Corruption Centre and the Centre for Local Governance) and strategic partnerships (including with the Stellenbosch-based Sustainability Institute), contribute to a high degree of visibility in the public and development sectors.
* Stellenbosch University appoints honorary professors who are recognised authoritative voices and who can contribute to a specific field of study on the strength of their proven academic prestige or expertise in a specific professional area. Honorary professors do not become staff members of the University, but make academic contributions to a specific department or faculty. It is seen as a special form of recognition and strengthens ties between the individual and the University.
Photo: Dr Koen Becking, President of Tilburg University in The Netherlands, and Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University
