NRF Congratulates Board Member and Research Chairs on Highest Recognition

The National Research Foundation (NRF) congratulates Board Member and Research Chair Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, along with Research Chairs Prof Priscilla Baker and Prof Keertan Dheda, on being awarded National Orders by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

All three are Research Chairs under the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI), established in 2006 by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) and the NRF.

Prof Gobodo-Madikizela was awarded the Order of the Baobab in Bronze in recognition of her contribution to social cohesion through her pioneering work on conflict resolution and the concept of unsolicited forgiveness. Prof Dheda received the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver for his contribution to scientific research in pulmonology, which has advanced the global management of tuberculosis and other respiratory infections. Prof Baker was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe in Bronze for her outstanding contribution to scientific research. She is internationally recognised as a leader in science and technology and a passionate advocate for knowledge advancement.

A member of the NRF Board since December 2022, Prof Gobodo-Madikizela holds the DSTI-NRF Research Chair in Violent Histories and Transgenerational Trauma at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University. The Presidency also recognised her internationally acclaimed body of work on the psychology of forgiveness, which bridges public ideology and deeply personal introspection. In 2024, Prof Gobodo-Madikizela received the Templeton Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious honours for contributions to humanity’s deepest questions. The John Templeton Foundation described her as a “guiding light within South Africa as it charts a course beyond apartheid, facilitating dialogue to help people overcome individual and collective trauma.”

Prof Dheda holds the DSTI-NRF Research Chair in Interrupting Antimicrobial Resistance Amplification. Based at the University of Cape Town, he heads the Division of Pulmonology and the Respiratory Service at Groote Schuur Hospital. He is also Director of the Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity and the UCT Lung Institute and holds a full professorship in Mycobacteriology and Global Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. A recipient of the Alan Pifer Award in 2023 and the NRF’s Science-for-Society Gold Medal in 2024, Prof Dheda is a highly cited clinician-scientist whose work has focused on combating infectious diseases in low-income, tuberculosis-endemic regions.

Prof Baker holds the DSTI-NRF Research Chair in Analytical Systems and Processes for Priority and Emerging Contaminants at the University of the Western Cape. In 2025, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, one of the country’s highest honours for scientific excellence, awarded to scholars who have made sustained and impactful contributions to research. She was also named the 2025 L’Oréal-UNESCO International Awards For Women in Science Laureate for Africa and the Arab States. This prestigious global award recognises exceptional women scientists whose work is transforming the world.

In congratulating the recipients, NRF Acting CEO Dr Angus Paterson said, “We are delighted to see SARChI Chairs receiving the country’s highest honours in the form of National Orders. This recognition affirms that the outstanding researchers entrusted with leading research within our national system of innovation are making a meaningful and lasting impact on society.”