Professional Journey

Before joining CUT, Professor Dube held the executive leadership role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Development and Support at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), where she was responsible for driving a transformative student experience, student well-being, and academic success.

Her versatile and distinguished career spans academia, government, and corporate leadership. Her previous roles include:

• Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Siegen, Germany.
• Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg.
• Guest Lecturer at Kathmandu University, Nepal.
• Dean of Student Affairs at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).
• Director and Acting Chief Director at the National Department of Education.
• Head of Human Resources Development and International Relations at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa).
• Special Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Academic Excellence and Leadership Development

A graduate of the University of Siegen in Germany and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Dube lived and worked in Germany after completing her doctoral degree. Her interdisciplinary PhD focused on postcolonial literature, orality and new media, intersectionality and gender studies, communication, and cultural studies. Remarkably, her PhD research was published as a book in 1997.

She currently serves on the editorial board for Resonance: The Journal of Sound and Culture and has numerous international peer-reviewed publications to her name. Committed to continuous professional development, she has completed several high-level management qualifications, including:

• Programme in Management Development (UCT Business School).
• HERS-MidAmerica, Women in Higher Education Administration Programme (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania).
• Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme (Saïd Business School, Oxford University).

Strategic Vision and Impact

In addition to her substantive executive experience, Professor Dube has initiated highly effective partnerships and relationship-building approaches with academic, government, key industry, and business roleplayers.

Under her leadership, she has championed strategic projects focused on:

• Enhancing student employability and graduate attributes.
• Leveraging data analytics to improve throughput rates and student support.
• Advancing food security initiatives.
• Challenging gender stereotypes, with a specific focus on the reconciliation of gender identity, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and masculinity dialogues.

Professor Dube serves on several national and international boards for higher education and training. Notably, she co-chairs the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Higher Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Network Steering Committee.

Inaugural Address

Delivered on 17 February 2023, the full live stream and an excerpt of the four educational pillars are available on CUT's YouTube channel.