Roula Inglesi-Lotz

Prof Roula Inglesi-Lotz is an academic in the field of energy economics and is currently a professor in the Department of Economics.

She completed her undergraduate studies in Greece at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki before she came to the University of Pretoria, where she completed her MCom in economics, cum laude. Her doctorate degree was awarded in 2011 from the Department of Economics, in which she proposed a benchmark-and-trade approach to improve electricity intensity in South Africa.

She is among the most prominent researchers in the field of economics, featuring in the top 10 economics authors of the African continent (https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.africa.html#authors) and consistently in the top 3 of South Africa (https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.southafrica.html#authors) based on the research of the last 10 years. She has published more than 70 academic papers in top international high ranked journals within the last 10 years.

Prof Inglesi-Lotz has demonstrated her leadership skills by founding, with other energy experts, the South African Association for Energy Economics, the only recognised affiliate of the International Association for Energy Economics for South Africa, over which she is presiding for a second term. She was also elected vice-president of the international body for membership and affiliate relations for 2021/22.

She has been a member of the South African Young Academy of Sciences (SAYAS) since 2017, serving as a co-chair in 2019/20, and was the editor of the SAYAS PhD blog giving a platform to the South African science youth to express their voice. She was a member of the Global Young Academy since 2018 and elected co-chair representing low- and middle-income countries for 2021/22.

She was awarded the 2017 Women in Science prize in the social sciences and humanities categories by the South African Department of Science and Technology. Recently, she was selected to serve at the Ministerial Advisory Committee of the Department of Minerals and Energy for Women Empowerment and Gender Equality.

Prof Inglesi-Lotz is also a mother of two boys, 10 and 12 years old.