NRF Appoints Dr Gugu Moche Into Top Leadership Structure

The NRF is pleased to announce that Dr Gugu Moche, the former Executive Director: Grants Management and Systems Administration (GMSA), has been appointed as Group Executive: Digital Transformation. Dr Moche will also continue to act as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Research, Innovation and Impact Support and Advancement (RIISA).

She joined the NRF in 2020 as the Executive Director of Grants Management with a long track record of academic leadership. In this role, some of her flagship projects include close collaboration with relevant stakeholders to implement the NRF-Connect tool.

Dr Moche brings to her portfolio a wealth of leadership and management skills. This includes over 20 years of experience in higher education and 15 years in academic administration, within the higher education sector, and 10 years of those in senior management roles.

Leadership positions that Dr Moche has held over the years include serving as Deputy Vice Chancellor: Teaching and Learning; Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology; Deputy Executive Dean; Director of the School of Science; and Dean of Academic Affairs at various universities. In these roles, Dr Moche led and implemented several strategic initiatives intended to transform organisational ways of doing and knowing.
In terms of Academic Citizenship, Dr Moche has served on the Accreditation Committee of the Council on Higher Education; the Teaching and Learning Strategic Group of Universities South Africa (USAf); Engineering Council of South Africa’s Dean’s Committee, National Science Dean’s Forum and currently serves on the Council of the member of the University of Venda (UNIVEN).

Dr Moche spent a number of years as a scholar abroad, where she obtained a PhD in Pure Mathematics from Howard University in Washington DC, focusing on Topological Semigroups, and is a member of the South African Mathematical Society as well as the American Mathematical Society. Some of the academic positions she has held include lecturing in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at the University of South Africa and the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Catholic University in Washington DC as an Adjunct Faculty.

“We congratulate Dr Moche on her appointment and look forward to her contributions in this newly established portfolio,” says NRF CEO, Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo.