Koen Becking appointed Honorary Professor at Stellenbosch University
Press release - 27/3/2018 - Tilburg University President Koen Becking has been appointed Honorary Professor of the School of Public Leadership (SPL) at Stellenbosch University (SU) in South Africa. He has been an Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch since 2003, but has now been appointed Honorary Professor in recognition of his authority and example as public leader who can also contribute to strengthening ties between Tilburg and SU.
Becking: "It is a great honor to continue to be of significance as an honorary professor to students and colleagues in South Africa and the Netherlands and to share knowledge and insight. I know my way well at both universities, I know how to find the right people to further strengthen the intended connection between our universities."
Becking joined Tilburg University from being CEO at KRO, the largest Dutch public media company. Prior to KRO, he was CEO at the Dutch Institute for Public Administration. He studied Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and holds a PhD from Utrecht University. He is a fellow (MPA) of the Netherlands School of Government.
SU, celebrating its centenary in 2018, is among South Africa's leading tertiary institutions based on research output, student pass rates and rated scientists and is recognised internationally as an academic institution of excellence. SU has ten faculties: AgriSciences, Economic and Management Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Engineering, Military Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Science, Education, Law and Theology. The two universities are also Institutional Partners.
Complex societal problems
The SPL is one of three schools in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. It is unique in the South African context with its combination of Public Governance, the Environment and Sustainability as strategic foci. These three foci also provide the rationale of the three postgraduate programmes in Public Policy and Management; Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.
SPL’s “Learning for sustainable African futures” slogan focus its efforts on serving public value in an African context. The SPL as an academic school provides a space for a wide range of disciplines. The diversity of these disciplines is reflected not only in the different degree and diploma programmes, but the content of the modules of each degree programme. The unique combination of progressive governance, development and conservation implied by the focus areas and the subsequent initiatives through the various programmes, centres – amongst others the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST), the Anti-Corruption Centre (ACCERUS) and the Centre for Local Governance (CLG) – and strategic partnerships such as the partnership with the Stellenbosch based Sustainability Institute are contributing to a high degree of visibility in the public and development sectors.
SU's research disciplines and education tie in with the research areas in which the five Tilburg University Schools are active, namely economics & management, social and behavioral sciences, humanities, law and governance, and (Catholic) theology. In Tilburg, complex societal problems are often the starting point for research.
Note for the press
For information, please contact spokesperson Tineke Bennema, tel. 00316 19678521 or email: persvoorlichters@tilburguniversity.edu