Andrew Crouch

Biography

Professor Andrew M Crouch was appointed to his current position as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the University of the Witwatersrand in May 2013. He also served as the Vice Principal of the University for the period July 2013 to June 2016. Prior to this he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Science at WITS for a period of four years. He is also a Professor in Chemistry and a member of the Molecular Sciences Institute within the School of Chemistry at WITS. He is a member of the Senior Executive Team of the University who advises the Vice Chancellor on broad institutional leadership and management. Prior to his appointment at WITS he was Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean: Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch.

He has extensive teaching experience in Chemistry at all levels, having taught at the Peninsula Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University of Technology), University of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch University and various Universities abroad. He has more than 30 years research experience in environmental electrochemistry and its applications, being the author/co-author of 56 peer reviewed research paper and over 100 conference proceedings and presentations and one patent in the area of Electrochemistry and Analytical Chemistry. During the past 25 years Prof Crouch supervised numerous Honours Projects, 23 Masters , 13 PhD and 6 Post - Doctoral students in Chemistry.

He established a Center for Electrochemistry at the University of the Western Cape with the assistance of the private sector. This Centre has since become the S A Institute for Advanced Materials Chemistry. As Coordinator of the Centre he was awarded a SASOL grant to establish an Endowed CHAIR in Analytical/Applied Chemistry. He received awards as Distinguished Administrator (1996) from the University of the Western Cape, largely for his management of the Chemistry Department, the establishment of a research ethos and his general contribution to Faculty Management. He was also awarded the Ernst Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Fellowship and Gold Medal (1998) from the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund.

At the University of Stellenbosch he served as Associate Dean of Science, chaired the Natural Sciences, Engineering and Health Sciences Equity Forum and was a member of the University Forum tasked with the drafting of the University Equity Policy. He also served on various Senate Committees and the Rectors Think Tank. Within the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science he was coordinator for the Applied Chemistry Programmes.

At the University of the Witwatersrand, he championed the acceptance of “Global Change and Sustainability” as a Research Trust at the university and was instrumental in the formation of the “Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute”, a multidisciplinary Research Institute at WITS. He also served as its first Director until October 2012. He was also instrumental in the successful proposals which won the National Centre for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences for WITS, as well as the recent National Teaching Platform for Data Sciences awarded to WITS in 2016. He is also the main grantholder for the
Datasciences Teaching Platform and for a Kresge Foundation funded project to use data analytics to predict indicators for better student success. In his role as DVC Academic at WITS, he oversees the implementation of the university Teaching and Learning Plan, manage Quality Assurance and Institutional Planning in the institution and drives the University Strategy to produce graduates in a Digital Age.

He was a member of the Government Commission of Enquiry into Toxic Mercury Waste (THOR Commission). He also served as a NRF Committee member on the National Biosphere-Geosphere Program . With his extensive experience in teaching, research and administration, he has served in review panels or in an advisory capacity to a number of Universities and industry. His most recent appointment is to the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE).

He served as a Corporate Consultant for ESKOM for 8 years, is a founding member of the Electrochemical Society of South Africa and a past member of the executive of the Western Province Branch of the South African Chemical Institute (SACI). He is also a lifetime member of SACI. In April 2013, he was awarded the “Excellence in Teaching and Research Award” from the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) for his contribution to the field of Environmental Electrochemistry in South Africa.