Celebrate Our Heritage.

Rhodes University (RU) has just celebrated 120 years of academic excellence, research innovation, and foundational leadership building. A year-long program of events, celebrations, activities and reunions took place in 2024. See full list of activities here: https://ru120.ru.ac.za/

We invite more than 1,500 Old Rhodians from the USA and Canada to reunite, re-connect and re-imagine. Join our dedicated LinkedIn group to update and engage with other North American alumni: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1783587/

There are many ways to contribute and participate as an alumnus including narratives, news, insights, expertise, connections, influence and volunteer time. Please consider:

• Attending local reunions in the USA to connect and socialize with old friends
• Participating in virtual Zoom calls to receive updates and learn about funding needs
• Giving time, expertise and introductions to further fundraising in North America
• Contributing content or insights to our website (www.rhodesalumni.com)
• Serving in a leadership capacity on the Rhodes University Trust (USA) board
• Making a donation or bequest to help fund scholarships or projects

Contact Donovan Neale-May if you have an interest in actively engaging with our alma mater in North America and South Africa. If so, we’d like to organize an introductory call.

Support Rhodes University Today -- Your donation helps us empower the next generation of leaders, innovators, and change agents. At Rhodes University, every gift—big or small—makes a real impact: funding student bursaries, advancing cutting-edge research, and preserving the spirit of academic excellence in the heart of Makhanda. Together, we can transform lives and build a stronger future.

Rhodes University
May 2025
Rhodes University Alumna Appointed CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa

After 22 years at Mercedes-Benz South Africa, where she began as a Product Control Analyst, Taryn Woodbridge is now the CEO of the German carmaker. The Rhodes University alumna, who qualified as a chartered accountant after completing her Master's in Commerce and taxation, said her qualification and her years of industry experience have prepared her for the role.
About Sherwin.

Rhodes University
May 2025
President Cyril Ramaphosa Appoints Rhodes University Alumni, Advocate Sally Ann Collett, as a Judge of the Eastern Cape High Court Division in Makhanda

Collett graduated with her BA and LLB Degrees in 1984 and 1986, respectively. The mother of five, who is due to be conferred the Silk after being approved as a Senior Counsel in January, has been working as an acting Judge at the Bhisho High Court until June. She is due to take her appointment at the Makhanda High Court from July.
Read more.

Rhodes University
May 2025
“This recognition belongs to all of us”: Heila Lotz-Sisitka awarded Honorary Doctorate by Swedish university

While the role of education is hotly debated globally, Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka has long been committed to the idea that learning should be oriented towards the common good. In a world marked by political, economic, and environmental crises, this central role for teaching and learning cannot be overlooked. Nor can the contributions of Lotz-Sisitka, DSI/NRF SARChI Chair and Director of the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), whose research into transformative learning for social change and global leadership in sustainability education has been recognised through an Honorary Doctorate awarded by Umeå University in Sweden.
Read more.

Rhodes University
Dec 2025
Congratulations to Old Rhodian Sherwin Bryce-Pease

Congratulations to Old Rhodian Sherwin Bryce-Pease, recipient of a UN Correspondents Gala Award Gold Medal this year. Sherwin is SABC News correspondent in NYC and a member of the Rhodes University Trust USA board. He and his colleague Aaron Berbrick won in the broadcasting category, The Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize, at this year’s UN Correspondents Gala Awards for coverage of the United Nations and its agencies. He was also the MC this year.
About Sherwin.

Rhodes University
Nov 2025
The MGCLS II catalogue: listening to the quiet signals that shape our Universe

The new MGCLS II catalogue, published at Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, led by Rhodes University and SARAO researcher Dr Konstantinos Kolokythas, marks a significant advance. Following up on the MGCLS overview paper), it charts in detail the diffuse radio emission in 115 galaxy clusters, detecting these faint radio structures in more than half of them and expanding the known population to 103 structures; 60 of which had never been seen before.
Read more.

Rhodes University
Nov 2025
GOING FROM STIGMATIZED TO GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED
Dr. Jo-Anne Richards -- Acclaimed South African Author, Academic, Writing Mentor and Journalist

In my first year of junior school, the principal informed my mother that I was ‘retarded’ and ‘odd’. A few decades later, that odd child ended up an internationally published author with a PhD in Creative Writing from Wits University and an academic career. Read more.