Deputy Dean for Community Engagement and Stakeholder Relations at the Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Prof. Ushotanefe Useh has been appointed Chair of the Academic Subcommittee of the Universities of South Africa's Higher Education Sustainability Community of Practice (HESCOP) and has joined its Executive Committee with effect from April 2026.
The appointment came through a vote at HESCOP's Annual General Meeting held at the University of Pretoria on 16 April 2026, where members elected Professor Useh to help drive sustainability discussions and collaboration in the higher education sector.
This is a perfect role for someone whose career has consistently been at the intersection of public health, community impact and sustainable development. Professor Useh has been at the forefront of initiatives focused on lifestyle disease prevention and community well-being, particularly non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity in local communities. Their work is based on a simple but demanding idea: academic work should drive meaningful change in the real world.
What makes her profile particularly fascinating is how much ground she covers. Apart from being an academic and researcher, Prof. Useh is a registered physiotherapist, an advocate of the High Court of South Africa and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom. Few academics move as seamlessly as Professor Useh across the fields of health sciences, education, law, social justice and sustainability, and this rare breadth has earned him recognition far beyond academia. She has also helped grow NWU's international presence through partnership-building with universities abroad, while keeping community-focused research at the heart of its work at home.
In his new role, Professor Useh will chair the Academic Subcommittee and guide sustainability conversations and knowledge-sharing among universities across the country, a forum that places them at the center of higher education's most important conversations.
His appointment is a reflection of the confidence placed in his leadership and a sign that North-West University is increasingly shaping the conversations that matter most.