New IARU Chair elected

We are delighted to announce that Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, has been confirmed as the next Chair of IARU. She was unanimously elected at the Presidents’ Meeting in May 2022.

Professor Phakeng has served as Vice-Chancellor of UCT since July 2018 and holds a PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of the Witwatersrand. A leading scholar in mathematics education globally, she led the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa in 2002-2006 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol in 2019 in recognition of her leadership role in mathematics education in South Africa.

Professor Phakeng has also won numerous awards for her research and community work, including the Order of the Baobab (Silver) conferred on her by the President of South Africa in April 2016. She founded the Adopt-a-learner Foundation which provides financial and educational support to South African students from townships and rural areas to acquire higher education qualifications.

Beginning in spring 2023, she will take up the role of IARU Chair for a two-year period, during which UCT will also act as Secretariat. The teams in Cambridge and Cape Town will be working together over the next few months to arrange the transition.