Sizwe Mabizela

Sizwe Mabizela was appointed vice-chancellor of Rhodes University in October 2014. He was deputy vice-chancellor at the university since 2008.

Dr. Mabizela holds a B Sc, B Sc Honours, and M Sc degrees from the University of Fort Hare. He completed his B Sc Honours in Mathematics cum laude in 1984 and his Masters in Mathematics in 1985. In 1986 he had a brief stint at the University of Zululand as a junior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics before accepting an Educational Opportunities Council (EOC) scholarship to pursue his doctoral studies at the Pennsylvania State University in the USA.

After completing his PhD he was offered and accepted a lectureship at the University of Cape Town in 1992. He rose through the academic ranks at the University of Cape Town until he became an Associate Professor and deputy Head of the department of Pure and Applied Mathematics. In 2004 he was offered the Chair and Headship of the Department of Mathematics at Rhodes University.

Dr Mabizela’s research field is Abstract Approximation Theory, a subfield of Functional Analysis. He has published widely in his field of research in both national and international journals and has produced three Lecture Notes Series. He has presented numerous scientific papers at national and international conferences, workshops, and seminars in the field of Functional Analysis and Approximation.