Pretoria - Professor Daya Reddy from South Africa is the new President-elect of the International Council for Science (ICSU).
During the ICSU General Assembly held in Auckland, New Zealand, last week, Prof Reddy’s election was widely supported, voted for competitively by more than 30 ICSU unions and a large number of member countries.
Taking up the Presidency in 2017, Prof Reddy will be only the second African elected to this prestigious position.
In addition, Prof Cheryl de le Rey, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, has been elected to the Executive Board of ICSU.
The National Research Foundation (NRF) is the adhering body to this global science council on behalf of South Africa, and also hosts ICSU’s Regional Office for Africa - one of three regional offices in the world.
ICSU is a non-governmental organisation with a global membership of national scientific bodies (121 members, representing 141 countries) and International Scientific Unions (31 members).
Prof Reddy, an eminent and respected scholar and scientist, is the President of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), Co-Chair of the Inter Academy Council, Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and holds the South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics at the University of Cape Town.
He obtained his BSc in Engineering from the University of Cape Town, and PhD from the University of Cambridge.
He is a recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe (Bronze) awarded by the President of South Africa for distinguished contributions to science. – SAnews.gov.za
