Professor Elelwani Ramugondo has spent her career challenging higher education to become more inclusive, just and responsive to societies it serves. As the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Deputy Vice-Chancellor for People, Culture and Society, she is helping shape an institution where academic excellence is in line with human dignity, belonging and social transformation.

At the Higher Education World Academic Summit, she will draw on her extensive experience in academic leadership, transformation, and curriculum reform to contribute to the panel discussion, “Advancing justice, civic engagement and inclusive knowledge practices”. The panel discussion will be on day three of the conference on 1 October 2026. 

The session comes at a time when universities across the globe face growing expectations to strengthen democratic values amid increasing political polarisation, rapid technological change and declining public trust in institutions.

Professor Ramugondo will join fellow global leaders in exploring how universities can cultivate civic responsibility while protecting freedom of expression and creating inclusive environments where difficult conversations can take place with respect and integrity.

Her journey began at UCT, where she earned her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and PhD in Occupational Therapy. Before returning to her alma mater as an academic in 1998, she worked as an occupational therapist in rural areas in South Africa, where she established the first Occupational Therapy Department at Tshilidzini Special School in Limpopo. She also worked in the United States. Those early experiences exposed her to the realities of inequality and barriers to learning, laying the foundation for a career centred on equity and social justice.

Professor Ramugondo has become one of South Africa's leading voices on transformation in higher education. She has held several senior leadership positions, including Head of Occupational Therapy, Deputy Dean for Postgraduate Education in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Chair of UCT's Academic Freedom Committee and Special Advisor on Transformation to the Vice-Chancellor during the student-led #RhodesMustFall movement.

As a founding member of UCT's Black Academic Caucus, she played a pivotal role in developing the university's Curriculum Change Framework, a landmark document that places decoloniality at the heart of teaching, learning and knowledge production. She continues this work today as co-convenor of UCT's Decolonial Summer School, helping to foster critical conversations about knowledge, power and inclusion within universities.

Her scholarship has earned international recognition. In 2023, she received the prestigious Ruth Zemke Lectureship in Occupational Science from the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA, one of the discipline's highest honours. She also holds an honorary professorship at the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom and was recently recognised as one of 12 Remarkable African Life Scientists in a publication by the Kenya Medical Research Institute Wellcome Trust Research Programme. In 2025, she was honoured with the Beacon of Hope Award at the WomenCan Awards for the positive, meaningful and lasting change that she has made over the course of her career.

Professor Ramugondo's influence extends beyond institutional leadership. Her research explores occupational justice, decoloniality, collective occupations and health, contributing to international debates on how societies create opportunities for people to participate fully in community life. Through her teaching and supervision, she has mentored a new generation of scholars, particularly women and black African researchers, strengthening research capacity across the continent.

The discussion will consider questions including

• How are universities teaching and modelling freedom of speech in practice?
• What approaches help to ensure that campuses remain safe and inclusive spaces that encourage open and peaceful debate?
• What is the role of higher education in shaping an engaged and active future of citizens?

Read Professor Elelwani Ramugondo’s abridged CV.

See a detailed THE World Academic Summit programme.

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