Outgoing SAEON Advisory Board Chairman awarded key management position at NRF

Prof Albert van Jaarsveld, Chairman of the SAEON Advisory Board from 1 March 2003 to 31 March 2006, will join the NRF Executive on 1 January 2007 (Picture © University of Stellenbosch).

The Board of the National Research Foundation has announced the appointment of Professor Albert van Jaarsveld as Vice-President of the NRF, and Managing Director of RISA (Research and Innovation Support and Advancement). Professor van Jaarsveld will take up his appointment on 1 January 2007.

Professor Van Jaarsveld is currently Dean of the Faculty of Science and Professor of Zoology at the University of Stellenbosch. His distinguished career in research, teaching and leadership include academic and management positions at the University of Pretoria, and the position of Adjunct Professor: Environmental Studies Programme at Dartmouth College, in the USA.

He is a member of several professional and academic organisations and associations, and has published extensively - both nationally and internationally - in his field of specialisation. He played an invaluable role in the founding phase of SAEON since 1997 when he was elected as the chair of the Interim LTER Steering Committee.

SAEON welcomes Professor van Jaarsveld to the NRF fold. We look forward to his strategic input as a member of the NRF Executive Team.