Professor Annabel Fossey, passionate about research. “My entire life has been marred by a war - the war of the left and right brain hemispheres.  But for most of my life it was the left brain that won the battle.  I had to find a niche area where I could fit in with interest in strong, academic mathematical numbers but have the creativity side to it.  I found that place where as a scientist I could live, explore and do my work.” This is what Prof. Annabel Fossey shared during her inaugural address at Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) about how she got fascinated by genetics, DNA, chromosomes and biotechnology, which later trapped her life into the world of research and evolution.  

“I was there in the beginning,” said Prof. Fossey when the discovery of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the technology arrived in South Africa. Fossey who is graded one of the highest ranking professors at CUT and accomplished and widely recognized academic; having distinguished herself amongst her peers on the national and international landscape. During her lecture she covered a wide spectrum of issues- ranging from chromosomes that tell the story about life, the classification of organisms, their surroundings, as well as the genetic world and plant breeding which is currently used by scientists to create seedless fruits for commercial purposes. Her research on the rapid diagnostic tools to distinguish various sets of chromosomes for certain trees is world class. Without harming the plant – previous method was cutting off roots - they were able to increase production volume of trees used in SA’s Forestry industry. One of the significant projects that Prof. Fossey has been team leader on was the fingerprinting technologies for birds. “The importance thereof is to be able to identify individuals for various purposes, of which individual identification is of great importance, particularly with the trade in illegal bird trafficking growing at an alarming rate.” said Prof. Fossey. Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic , Professor Henk De Jager said that the inaugural address served as a continuation of CUT’s practice of encouraging efforts of academics on how to make use of these address’ to showcase decades of extensive work. Acting Registrar, Prof. Alfred Ngowi said that these professorial inaugural addresses are seen as a pinnacle of the academic hierarchy and scholarship at CUT.