Wits turned 100 in 2022. Learn more here.
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AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING, AND THE SKIES ARE GREY. The world is feeling fragile, and our thoughts are about how to make sure future generations don't repeat the mistakes of our pasts. We should each look for ways to make the world better, one small act of love at a time.
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WATCH: some of the fun scenes from the Oct 2 alumni party in midtown Manhattan, NY.
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EVERY DOLLAR GOES A LONG WAY
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"You can be sure that if you give a dollar to Wits, it multiplies to a lot of Rands. And that money will be well managed. The team at the Wits Fund, and the leadership of the University will ensure that the money is well spent, " said Mr. Stanley Bergman, Chair of the Wits Fund.
Mr. Bergman was speaking at the the Wits Fund Alumni Party in NYC, on 2nd October 2023, and spoke about how much we owe to Wits, and the ways we can all give back. He was joined at the mic by President of the Wits Fund, Ms Jane Levy (both pictured at the mic above).
"Wits is one of the most transparent institutions in South Africa. And yes, there are problems in the country. But there are challenges all around the world. If we are here in the United States, we have a responsibility to give back to South Africa.
Please remember where you came from, please remember the faces of the people that you grew up with, the people that make you feel at home, and the country where you were born.
It doesn’t have to be huge amounts that you give. Reach out to Nooshin at the Wits Fund and let her know that you’d like to start small, to support a student studying the same degree you did, for instance. The Fund will help make that happen. And your dollars will go very far."
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Enjoyed the Party? Don't forget to give back!
Looking for ways to make your holiday giving in time, we can help you make a gift in honor of a loved one.
DONATE HERE
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NANDO’S FOUNDER FALLS IN LOVE WITH WITS AGAIN
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Robbie Brozin, co-founder of Nando's international restaurant chain and Wits graduate (BCom 1984)
“I fell in love with Wits again… Wits is world-class”, says Nando’s co-founder Robbie Brozin (Wits, BCom 1984) in Lifetime Achievement acceptance speech.
Robbie Brozin, co-founder of Nando's international restaurant chain and Wits graduate (BCom 1984), was awarded the Kirsh Family Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 on 22 October, at the Absa Jewish Achiever Awards.
Mr Brozin spoke about his philanthropic interest in supporting Wits, describing The Bara One Heart One Beat program. “I want to pay tribute to Wits Vice-Chancellor, Prof [Zeblon] Vilakazi. I love that man!
I am a Witsie myself, but I never went back, [maybe because] I was not a very good student. Until I met Prof Vilakazi and I fell in love with Wits again. Wits is a world-class educational institution.
My personal mission and vision is that my grandchildren will graduate there [at Wits]. Just like their great-grandparents, their grandparents and their parents. So many generations!
Prof Vilakazi, under your stewardship in the next couple of years, Wits is going to get better and better. The confidence I have in Wits….I can’t even tell you! I am bursting with the potential of Wits.”
Watch the full speech here.
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WITSIES GET TOGETHER AROUND THE COUNTRY
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As part of their regular weekend get-togethers, groups of Witsies in Austin and in San Antonio TX and in Seattle, WA got together for great food, wonderful conversation and a chance to make new friends... and there might have been some rugby celebrations too. We'll leave you to figure out which pictures are which!
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Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof. Zeblon Vilakazi and a University delegation participated in a guided tour of the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), located in Houston, Texas. The group was joined by Wits graduate Dr Justin Wilkinson, Jacobs Technology Inc.
Vilakazi, who as a young boy was fascinated by spaceflight and inspired by the Planetarium at Wits University (soon to be a Digital Dome) began the tour at the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, also known as Houston, which is the facility that manages flight control for the United States human space flight programme, currently involving astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and the Artemis missions.
“It is wonderful to be at the heart of humanity’s reach to the stars, and at the same time, knowing how much potential our own space and aeronautics programmes at Wits are advancing. It should not be too long before our own South African flag can join those from other nations displayed here, with our own contribution to this special branch of human progress,” said Vilakazi.
Read more here.
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WATCH: WITS LATEST NEWS IN SIXTY SECONDS - In this episode, we jazz it up at the Inaugural Wits VC's Music Concert and meet the top applicants from the Class of 2023 as they explore Wits. We learn about ancient diamonds and their intriguing connection to continental movements and explore a ground-breaking study on climate change and the extinction of a marine species in South Africa. Finally, we explore the vision behind the new ICESCO Chair for Innovation and Futures in Africa which focuses on governance in the digital age. Read the full stories here. |
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The University of the Witwatersrand Fund, Inc. is a corporation under the Internal Revenue Code, section 501 (c) (3). Donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. The Wits Fund IRS EIN number is: 13-3902012.
Vision
To ensure that Wits University remains one of Africa’s – and the world’s –
pre-eminent research-intensive educational institutions, with top academic standards, committed faculty, and supportive alumni.
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IN MEMORIAM: PROFESSOR GLADWYN LEIMAN
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With kind permission from Dr Helen Feiner, we reproduce a fitting and heartfelt tribute to a well-loved fellow Wits graduate Professor Gladwyn Leiman.
Gladwyn Leiman, our Wits Medical School classmate, beloved of many, passed away on October 1st, 2023, in Vermont, USA, her home for more than 20 years.
I knew Gladwyn from high school at Barnato Park (Johannesburg Girls’ High School); we weren’t yet teenagers. Our acquaintanceship was slight during those years. We became closer friends during medical school and even more so as our interests and opportunities led us both into pathology.
Gladwyn received her internship and residency training at Wits and then joined the staff of the pathology department there where she did outstanding clinical work, was a generous and excellent teacher, and led several research projects.
Her years in the clinical corridors of the Johannesburg hospitals and Baragwanath gained her the respect and admiration of the many colleagues and students whom she benefitted.
Gladwyn gained international acclaim for, inter alia, her Screen Soweto project in which monitoring for cervical cancer precursors and establishment of family planning protocols led to a significant reduction in cervical cancers in the large population that she followed. For this, and her many other clinical studies, Gladwyn was a sought-after speaker among the International Ob-Gyn and Pathology communities, traveling and lecturing extensively in the US, Canada, Australia, England, India and the Middle East.
It was on the basis of her international acclaim that Gladwyn was able to make a mid-career transition to the US, where she was recruited as the Director of Cytopathology and as a Professor of Pathology at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, VT. There, her FNA (fine needle aspiration) skills brought her recognition as an excellent diagnostician, teacher, and clinical researcher.
On a personal note, Gladwyn was a dear friend. She attended two of my children’s weddings, and visited me in New Jersey and Sarasota. We celebrated our 50th birthdays together in Newport, Rhode Island. I visited her at her lovely home in Colchester, Vermont, and I was honored to join her family and friends to celebrate her mother, Edith’s, 90th birthday, in Las Vegas. I will miss her.
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Copyright © Wits Fund Inc., 2023
The University of the Witwatersrand Fund, Inc.
PO Box 7101, New York, NY 10150
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