Durban - No matter what his plans, Professor Thandwa Mthembu, who took the reins as vice-chancellor and principal at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) on October 1, was destined to end up in the education sector.
Having grown up in a family of teachers, there was no doubt that the maths professor would follow the same path.
His hard work as an undergraduate studying for a BSc at Fort Hare University held the promise of a career away from teaching. But, despite the opportunities his qualifications presented, he ended up in academia.
“I was lucky to have parents who were teachers. My dad taught me English and maths, so I had to do well.
“When I went to junior secondary school, we had an excellent maths and science teacher who had been taught by my dad, one could not do any worse in maths,” he said.
Mthembu has extensive experience in the higher education sector. He served as vice-chancellor and principal at the Central University of Technology (CUT) in the Free State for 10 years before returning to his birthplace, KwaZulu-Natal.
He exudes the self-assurance of a man who knows exactly where his experience, potential and vision for DUT converge. And that is something the university community will learn incrementally when he starts to implement strategies to propel the institution to greater heights during his five-year tenure.
But who would have known that the soft-spoken and calm 53-year-old, who grew up in Nkandla and enjoyed swimming in rivers as a boy, would become one of KZN’s great minds in academic circles?
It seems his professors at Fort Hare could foretell his academic destiny from undergraduate studies.
“Because of doing well at university, my professors encouraged me to do an Honours (degree). Afterwards I did my Master's. I did not become a teacher in the true sense of what being a teacher is, as opposed to being a lecturer.”
But it was not just his flair for numbers that ensured him opportunity and success in academia - his excellent foundation in maths, impeccable work ethic and a deep fear of failure all contributed to the excellence that propelled him to his success.
Being a child of a disciplinarian father, going through an almost militaristic boarding school system and seeing people he considered intelligent struggle at university ensured that he tackled his studies determined to excel.
“I’ve always been very quiet. Of course every child does naughty things but I was more on the quiet side.
“I focused on my studies. I understood I had to be disciplined and that nobody owed me favours. I chose to not have a girlfriend at university because I was afraid of failing,” he said.
Now an accomplished academic and manager, Mthembu is resolute about fulfilling his mission of running an institution of excellence that connects students, industry and the province to build prosperity through innovative means.
He plans to take a leaf from his unconventional approach to learning and training at CUT to take DUT to new heights.
“At CUT I was able to get the whole university community to rally around a vision that we collectively decided upon.
The stakeholders, unions, student leadership are passionate about that vision which is simply about how as a university of technology we should focus on innovations as opposed to just research.
“We wanted to produce real things that would make a change in our environment, in the city and the region.
“We created centres that are recognised by the National Research Foundation. We focused on some technologies we found in Germany and other places around the world that have been the basis of building our research capacity.”
He plans to employ a similar approach at DUT. He has begun by trying to understand the city and regional environment to extract value from a number of key areas including industries such as shipping, sugar refining and motor manufacturing.
“Further up we have forestry and tourism,” he adds.
His biggest preoccupation is what DUT can do that’s new, other than focus on its strengths.
His plan is to stretch DUT. He is also passionate about developing and producing other academics. He said lack of funding at universities of technology would not deter him from that goal.
Mthembu was instrumental at CUT in training young academics within the limits of the institution’s funds.
“Right now, CUT has the biggest proportion of academics among universities of technology with PhDs at 38 percent, while DUT is at 21 percent.
Most universities of technology are hovering around 20 percent,” he said. “In DUT, I will be looking seriously at what we do with our alumni and how we look at some of them who have an interest in advancing themselves or are leaders in their own right in different industries.
“I’m interested in not only our students graduating, but what influence they have after they have graduated; that’s very important for the reputation of the university.”
Mthembu comes across as a no-nonsense man, but his love for his mother, three brothers and six daughters shines through.
And although he could be mistaken for an uptight professor whose main hobby is going to the gym, Mthembu’s claim to cool is his familiarity with popular boy band One Direction, courtesy of a daughter who is a big fan.
His other favourite pastime is reading.
“I tend to read more biographies, maths and science-focused books that are of a general interest. Like The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking, about how the universe fits together and how theories like the theory of relativity fit to make society understand the world as we live in it.
“I’m also interested in reading biographies of successful people like Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Steve Jobs and Jack Welch,” he said.
Mthembu takes pride in his leadership style, which he described as open, transparent and consultative - which he said would aid many of his plans for DUT.
Sunday Tribune