The popular Class Day for alumni of the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences will be held on Thursday morning, 8 December 2016, from 10:30 to 14:00 at the Van der Sterr Building (Victoria Street entrance).

First on the programme will be a variety of interesting parallel presentations by experts in our Faculty (11:00 - 11:50). Guests may select to attend any one of these presentations.

At 12:00, Dr Johan van Zyl, well-known business leader who stepped down as Group Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam in 2015, will deliver the keynote address.

This will be followed by a finger lunch in the company of fellow alumni, lecturers and our 2016 graduates.

• Click here for the full programme.

More about Dr Johan van Zyl

Dr Van Zyl is a well-known business leader who stepped down as Group Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam in 2015. Under his leadership, Sanlam was placed on a path of sustained growth and outperformance. Prior to his arrival, Sanlam had for just over 90 years been known mainly for life insurance in the white Afrikaans-speaking middle market. Van Zyl transformed the company into a diversified financial services group with a footprint across 34 African countries, substantial businesses worth several billion rand in India and Malaysia, and a niche focus in developed countries such as the United Kingdom, the USA and Australia.

Van Zyl was Sunday Times Business Leader of the Year in 2014, Media24/Die Burger Sakeleier van die Jaar 2012 and Cape Times/KPMG Personality of the Year 2006, as well as the recipient of the All Africa Business Leader Award in 2015 as the top business leader in Southern Africa.

In his earlier career, Van Zyl  was a highly respected academic and Rector of the University of Pretoria (UP) – a position he assumed in January 1997 at the young age of 40. He was also named as one of the top 100 academics on the UP's list when the university celebrated its centenary in 2008.