Living Legend Returns for Top Honour

On 9 April CPUT will be bestowing an Honorary Doctorate on its former Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Anthony Staak in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.

Staak retired in 2018 after dedicating 37 years of his career to advancing Higher Education in South Africa. He played a crucial role in integrating technology into the core operations of CPUT.

The sector has not been robbed of his immense talent though – the Minister of Higher Education recently sought Staak out to be an independent assessor at Mangosuthu University of Technology.

Staak states that today's higher education challenges are similar to those he encountered as DVC, and a leader on various boards and oversight bodies. He says much of the governance concerns at universities are a result of university Council’s not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities.

“Increased student enrolment in the face of funding constraints and infrastructure deficits, ongoing student protests along with declining throughput rates are not new issues. These challenges only appear to be much greater now,” he says.

But the seasoned academic says good work is being done and that there is much to be positive about.

The 69-year-old has overseen the graduation of thousands of students and encouraged young people not to consider this day as the end of their education journey but rather as one milestone in a lifetime of future goals and ambitions.

“The extent to which you will attain these goals and realise your ambitions, will depend crucially on the choices that you make. Your successes in life will be a product of those choices, as well as the conviction and hard work you are prepared to commit to those choices,” he says.

“Stay true to your morals and values that are aligned with your goals. You have the power to influence your life through the choices that you make.”

Staak’s legacy still looms large at CPUT. He joined the then Peninsula Technikon in 1982 when he assumed the position of Head of Department in Electrical Engineering. After serving a period as Dean of Engineering, he was appointed as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, a position he held for 17 years until his retirement.

The Lansdowne-born Staak was always a remarkable student and academic, from his school career at South Peninsula High School where he received a top 10 position in the National Senior Certificate (Matric) examinations in 1973, to receiving a first-class honours with distinctions in Physics and Mathematics in his BSc Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town.

Staak has been a recipient of both Rhodes and Fullbright Scholarships which saw him study at both Oxford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Written by Lauren Kansley
Email: kansleyl@cput.ac.za