Johannesburg – The United Nations University has welcomed Professor Tshilidzi Marwala as its rector where he will serve a five-year term in office.
In this role, Marwala would be based in Tokyo, Japan, serving as an under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The appointment of Marwala as the seventh rector of the United Nations University, to succeed the outgoing David Malone of Canada, was announced officially by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in July 2022.
He was selected from a panel of candidates nominated by the governing United Nations University Council and appointed by the UN Secretary-General in consultation with, and with the concurrence of, the Director-General of Unesco.
Marwala was a vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg from 2018 until Tuesday, when his tenure ended. He also served as a deputy vice-chancellor for Research and Internationalisation from 2013 until 2017, and executive dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment from 2009 to 2013.
The outgoing rector Malone said of his successor: “I am delighted to be succeeded by such a distinguished university leader and inspiring scholar, and I wish him a future at UNU as happy as mine has been.”
On behalf of the governing council of the United Nations University, council chair Professor Funmi Olonisakin welcomed the new rector, and said the council was looking forward to working closely with Marwala at the the university to the next stage and build on the work of Malone.
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