Rhodes chemistry professor Tebello Nyokong has won another award. Nyokong was chosen as the most influential woman in education and training by Celebrating Excellence in Organisations (CEO) magazine.
Rhodes chemistry professor Tebello Nyokong has won another award. Nyokong was chosen as the most influential woman in education and training by Celebrating Excellence in Organisations (CEO) magazine.
Although she has won numerous awards in recent years, Nyokong did not believe she was qualified for this particular one.
"I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email in June saying I had been shortlisted. Even then I did not think I could win," she said.
Nyokong’s research involves the use of light in the presence of certain chemicals to fight cancer, as well as the use of chemically modified electrodes to identify trace amounts of hazardous chemicals in the environment.
Honoured by the award, Nyokong hopes the award will help her in her quest to improve education at the highest possible level in South Africa. She says it is important that the country’s leaders remain dedicated to education.
Education is equally as important
"If we stop concentrating on education and focus only on poverty, where are we lifting the poor to?" she asked.
With these words in mind, it is therefore not surprising that despite her busy schedule, she is committed to her students. Not only does she supervise many of the chemistry department’s postgraduate students, but she also lecturers’ first year students.
"Training the mind is my job," Nyokong says, "and I’m passionate about it."
At the inaugural session of ‘Celebrating Science at Rhodes’ in May this year, head of the Rhodes chemistry department Prof Mike Davies-Coleman said Nyokong is a great supervisor and mentor.
“It is impossible to keep her away from her students. She gets them going,” he said. “Her enthusiasm is infectious.”
