Vice-Chancellor and Principal

• Chief Executive Officer
• Executive
• Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship
• TuksSport, HPC and Sports Companies

Professor Tawana Kupe has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria in 2018 with his duties commencing on 14 January 2019.

Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Kupe served as the Vice-Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand, responsible for the daily running of the University and the coordination of operations across all executive portfolios. Prior to this appointment, he held the rotating Vice-Principal post for one year and also served as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Advancement, Human Resources and Transformation. 

Professor Kupe served as the Executive Dean of the Wits Faculty of Humanities for six years, between January 2007 and December 2012, after serving as the Head of the then Wits School of Literature and Language Studies, and the founding Head of the Media Studies Department.

Prior to joining Wits, Professor Kupe lectured at Rhodes University between 1999 and 2001, and briefly acted as the Head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. He joined Rhodes from the University of Zimbabwe, where he worked in various academic capacities from 1988, including as Chairperson of the Department of English, Media and Communication Studies.

Professor Kupe holds a BA Honours degree and Masters in English from the University of Zimbabwe, as well as a DPhil in Media Studies from the University of Oslo in Norway.