Research organisation National Research Foundation (NRF) has appointed Dr Gugu Moche as digital transformation group executive. She will also continue to act as the Research, Innovation and Impact Support and Advancement (RIISA) deputy CEO.

She joined the NRF in 2020 as Grants Management executive director with a long track record of academic leadership. In this role, some of her flagship projects include close collaboration with relevant stakeholders to implement the NRF-Connect tool.

Moche brings to her portfolio a wealth of leadership and management skills, which includes more than 20 years of experience in higher education and 15 years in academic administration within the higher education sector, and ten years of those in senior management roles.

Further, the leadership positions she held over the years include serving at various universities as Teaching and Learning deputy vice chancellor, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology executive dean, deputy executive dean, School of Science director, and Academic Affairs dean.

In these roles, she led and implemented several strategic initiatives intended to transform organisational ways of doing and knowing, the NRF said.

Further, Moche has served on the Accreditation Committee of the Council on Higher Education; the Teaching and Learning Strategic Group of Universities South Africa, the Engineering Council of South Africa’s Dean’s Committee, National Science Dean’s Forum and currently serves on the Council of the University of Venda.

She also spent a number of years as a scholar abroad, where she obtained a PhD in mathematics from Howard University in Washington DC, focusing on Topological Semigroups, and is a member of the South African Mathematical Society and the American Mathematical Society.

Additionally, some of the academic positions she has held include lecturing in the University of South Africa Department of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, as well as the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Catholic University in Washington DC.

“We congratulate Dr Moche on her appointment and look forward to her contributions in this newly established portfolio,” says NRF CEO Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo.