New executive director for Africa Institute of South Africa
DATE: 19 November 2015
Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller
The chief executive officer of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Professor Crain Soudien has announced the appointment of Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller as the new Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) executive director, effective 18 November 2015.
"We wish Prof Bohler-Muller well in her new position and we look forward to working with her in this new capacity," said Prof Soudien.
“This is an exciting opportunity to complete the incorporation process and to consolidate the HSRC's Africa agenda," said Prof Bohler-Muller. "For the next few years we will focus on good governance in Africa; the sustainable development agenda, including AU 2063; and human security on the continent. Africa's future and her place in the world will be central to the research we undertake.”
Prof Bohler-Muller joined the HSRC as deputy executive director of the Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery research programme on 1 March 2012. She is an adjunct professor of the Nelson Mandela School of Law at the University of Fort Hare.
Prof Bohler-Muller holds the degrees BJuris LLB LLM (UPE) LLD (UP). Previously she was professor of law at Vista University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) before joining AISA as research director of social sciences in February 2011. She has over 40 peer reviewed journal publications and has co-edited three books on gender violence; human trafficking and the dynamic of BRICS. She is an admitted Advocate of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa and served as presiding officer for the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) in Port Elizabeth for seven years.
Among others, Prof Bohler-Muller has completed research consultancy work for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on HIV/AIDS, human rights and access to justice; and the Institute for Child Witness Research and Training on gender-based violence. She has completed research fellowships at Griffith University Law faculty in Brisbane, Australia; Birkbeck School of Law in London, UK; and the BRICS Policy Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Prof Bohler-Muller was a member of the South African BRICS Think Tank Council appointed by the Minister of Higher Education and is currently a member of the Department of Health's working group on the legal aspects of National Health Insurance. She has recently completed, as lead investigator, a project on socio-economic rights jurisprudence for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Her research interests include international and constitutional law, human rights, as well as democracy and social justice. She is currently working on the establishment of a Core Group on the Blue Economy within the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and has published on AU Agenda 2063. In 2014 she was awarded the CEO’s prize for leadership.
AISA was incorporated into the HSRC in April 2014.
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Issued by HSRC’s Communication and Stakeholder Relations directorate
For more information contact: Julian A Jacobs on 082 454 4902