Naledi Pandor

Naledi Pandor is serving as South Africa’s science and technology minister for a second term, having been appointed to the office in 2009 and then again in May 2014. Between those stints, she served from 2012 to 2014 as Minister of Home Affairs. A life of exile from 1961 to 1984 gave an international flavor to her education. She holds a B.A. from the University of Botswana and Swaziland and an M.A. in education from the University of London. In 1992 she studied for a diploma in higher education, administration and leadership at Bryn Mawr College in the U.S., and in 1997, while serving as a Member of Parliament, she completed an M.A. in linguistics at the University of Stellenbosch and a diploma in leadership in development at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has amassed impressive experience in public office, having been deputy chief whip of the African National Congress in the National Assembly 1995-98, deputy chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in 1998, and its chairperson 1999-2004. Her experience in education policy planning led to her appointment as South Africa’s Minister of Education, the role in which she served 2004-09. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Stellenbosch have both awarded her honorary doctorates.