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MINISTER of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, has congratulated Professor Tshilidzi Marwala on being appointed the Rector of the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan.
Marwala is currently the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg.
Previously, he was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, both at the University of Johannesburg.
“I wish Professor Marwala well as the incoming Rector of the United Nations University and have utmost confidence that through his leadership, the University will further contribute, through collaborative research and education, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare, that are the concern of the United Nations, its peoples and member states,” Pandor said in a statement.
The United Nations University is a global think tank of 13 institutes in 12 countries.
It supports efforts to resolve global human development challenges working closely with other United Nations system organizations and leading research institutions.
“Professor Marwala is an accomplished scholar and thought leader with multi-disciplinary research interests that include the theory and application of artificial intelligence to engineering, computer science, finance, social science and medicine,’’ the United Nations said in a statement.
“He has an extensive track record in human capacity development and is committed to leveraging technology and global connectedness towards the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.’’
He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, Wolfson College of the University of Cambridge and Nanjing Tech University. He has also previously served as a member of the International Consultative Council at the Silesian University of Technology in Poland and is a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Professor Marwala holds a doctorate specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Engineering from the University of Cambridge, a Master of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pretoria and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
His work is internationally recognized and among other things he is a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Science of South Africa, the African Academy of Sciences and the South African Academy of Engineering.
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