Prof. Vasu Reddy to lead Human and Social Development programme
DATE: 20 March 2014
Prof. Vasu Reddy
Pretoria, 20 March 2014
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has appointed Professor Vasu Reddy as Executive Director of the Human and Social Development (HSD) Research Programme with effect from 1 April 2014. Professor Reddy joined the HSRC in July 2006 as a Chief Research Specialist prior to which he was an Associate Professor at the University of Natal.
Prof. Reddy currently also serves as a Research Fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has supervised a number of postgraduate students in Gender Studies, Literary and Cultural Studies and Public Health who have since graduated. He was a visiting Professor at the University of Basel in 2009 and a Visiting Scholar at the University of California (Berkeley) in 2002. He is a regular external examiner of Masters Dissertations and Doctoral theses at several leading South African universities.
The Chief Executive Officer of the HSRC, Prof. Olive Shisana said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Prof. Reddy to the senior executive team at the HSRC. His track record of scholarship, research experience, dedication, and creativity will no doubt mean he will bring fresh perspective and dynamism to the Human and Social Development (HSD) Research Programme. His networks and research profile, coupled with his leading role in several international research collaborations will help in his new position.”
Prof. Reddy is a widely published scholar in the field of gender studies and his work also addresses the diverse identity markers that shape human and social development. On his appointment Prof. Reddy said: “I am very excited and humbled at the prospect of leading this programme at the HSRC. I look forward to work with talented, enthusiastic and dedicated researchers and scholars both within HSD, the HSRC and elsewhere. I plan to develop and strengthen the talent within my programme, as well as mobilise networks and relations continentally and with the South to provide new knowledge to tackle some of the grand challenges of the humanities and social sciences as we enter the third decade of democracy. We also must do more to translate our research into new formats and messages, and support development of younger scholars who might not otherwise succeed.”
After completing undergraduate degrees in the Humanities at the University of Natal, he completed an MA at Wits University, followed by a PHD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he also taught for thirteen years.
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Issued by the Communication & Stakeholder Relations Directorate