Mokhele Khotso David Kenneth is a businessman and the special advisor to the South African minister of science and technology. He is the chancellor of the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State (province), Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in ...

, the founder and president of the South African National Research Foundation and

Academy of Science of South Africa The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is the national science academy in South Africa. It was started in 1996, and encompasses all fields of scientific work. Its legal foundation is the ''Academy of Science of South Africa Act'', Act 67 ...

. He is the lead independent of non-executive director of

MTN Group MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...

Early life and education

Khotso Mokhele was born in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

. He attended Moroka High School and he obtained his first degree in Agriculture from the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

. He obtained his Master's degree in Food Science and PhD in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

under the scholarship of

Fulbright-Hays The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Programme. After that, he did his postdoctoral fellowships at the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in the USA. He has also received eight honorary degrees across South African Universities and the US.

Career

Academic career

Khotso Mokhele began his career as a lecturer at the University of Fort Hare between 1987 and 1989 and spent two years at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

. In 1992 he joined Foundation for Research Development as one of its vice presidents and suceeded Dr Rein Arndt as the president in 1996.

Scientific career

He was one of the scientists that drafted the blueprint of science and technology in South Africa. He was the founder president of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF), a two-times member of the Advisory Council on Innovation to the Minister of Science and Technology and was also a Vice-President of Scientific Planning and Review of the International Council for Science (ICSU)

Leadership and corporate career

Khotso Mokhele was a Non-Executive chairman at Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., A Chairman of Tiger Brands Ltd., Chairman & chief executive officer at

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...

South Africa Ltd., Lead Independent non-executive director at African Oxygen Ltd., and Non-Executive chairman for Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd. President & chief executive officer of National Research Foundation, President of Academy of Science of South Africa and President at National Research Foundation. He is currently the Lead Independent non-executive director at MTN Group, Afrox Limited and a non-executive director of Hans Merensky Holdings (Pty) Limited

Awards and honours

He was awarded the

Chevalier of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

by the President of France. In 2009 he received the Technology Top 100 Lifetime Achievers Award and in 2015 he received the Science Diplomacy Award from the Minister of Science and Technology in South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokhele, Khotso MTN Group Business-related lists Chancellors of the University of the Free State University of Fort Hare alumni University of California alumni Living people Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences Honorary Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences Year of birth missing (living people)