Saleem Badat, Rhodes University's Vice-Chancellor who is stepping down later this year, will be joining the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Saleem Badat, Rhodes University's Vice-Chancellor who is stepping down later this year, will be joining the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Earl Lewis, the president of the foundation, announced on 4 March that Badat would be filling the newly created post of Programme Director for International Higher Education and Strategic Projects.
Badat will oversee and direct the Foundation’s international grantmaking and the ongoing programmes in South Africa.
Over the past 20 years the US-based Mellon Foundation has provided over $118 million of support to South African universities and cultural institutions.
Its main goal has been to develop capacity in higher education by providing opportunities for individuals who were previously disadvantaged and individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to the previously disadvantaged.
Lewis said he was extremely pleased to have an intellectual, university leader and scholar of Badat's calibre join the foundation.
“He will bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience and we are excited to have him as part of the Mellon team,” Lewis said.
“Support for South African higher education and specifically for the arts and humanities will continue to be a major priority, which Mellon grant-making will continue to reflect.”
Badat will be based at the Foundation headquarters in Manhattan, New York, and assumes his post in late-2014. He will travel to South Africa regularly as part of Mellon's grant-making activities.
Badat will also join a distinguished advisory panel assembled by the Mellon Foundation to guide an effort over a number of years to develop knowledge and collect and disseminate information about the value of diversity in various domains, Lewis said.
Badat has been Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University since 2006. He is also the current Chairperson of Higher Education South Africa (Hesa).
