The Durban University of Technology extends a warm welcome to Doctor Martin de Porres Archibald Mandew, the new Director of the University’s Midlands Campus in Pietermaritzburg.
Dr Mandew assumed his duties on Monday, July 1, 2013. These will involve him providing leadership in mobilising and harnessing all institutional support departments of the University, in support of the academic enterprise, thus ensuring the ideal teaching and learning environment for the DUT community.
“As support staff we are there to support the academic enterprise. My responsibility as a manager is to provide leadership in pursuance of this goal. In practical terms, it means I need to ensure that both the support staff and physical plant and environment are fit-for-purpose. Everything else is secondary. We are not there to promote our own interests and agendas. We are there to serve the students and academics,” he said.
But having said the latter, Dr Mandew admits to having one particular goal, and that is to bring to fruition the University’s vision of being a student-centred institution.
Not a stranger to Higher Education and Training, Dr Mandew has vast experience in this field as well as adequate academic expertise.
Born and bred in Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape Province, Dr Mandew completed both his primary and high school education in Catholic schools in Aliwal North and Cradock, in the Karoo. He studied Philosophy and Theology in Cedara (Pietermaritzburg) where he was awarded a Bachelor of Sacred Theology through the Urbaniana Pontifical University, Rome, in 1984. This degree was awarded Magna cum laude.
He then did his post-graduate studies at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Here, he was awarded a Master of Theology degree, graduating Cum laude, in 1993 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1997.
Later, the academic did management and leadership studies at the Graduate School of Business, University of Durban-Westville, and received a University Diploma in Management Development in 2002.
Dr Mandew’s employment journey began in 1984 when he worked as a priest in the diocese of Aliwal North until 1989. In 1991, he was employed by the University of Natal, working as an Academic Development Tutor until 1993. He then lectured in the School of Theology in the same university till 1997.
Thereafter, he was appointed as Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Student Services at ML Sultan Technikon, from 1998 to 2002. He assumed duties as Executive Director: Academic Development, Training and Skills Provision at the then Durban Institute of Technology in 2002. From 2003 until just recently, Dr Mandew worked as an Independent Consultant.
Dr Mandew comes from a family of seven. Together with his four siblings, he was raised by his late parents- his mother a nurse and his father a businessman.
During his spare time, the academic said he puts his “chef” skills into practice. “I also enjoy attending Formula 1 motor racing when I can afford it. I also love art movies and live stand-up comedy shows, especially those in the vernacular,” he added.
Naledi Hlefane
