UCLA Vice Provost Cindy Fan and the Office of International Visitors coordinated two important visits to the UCLA campus in fall quarter 2022 by South African delegations, both of whom met with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block.

In October 2022, a delegation of officials from South Africa led by Minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation Grace Naledi Madisa, Ph.D., and Consul General of South Africa to Los Angeles Thandile B. Sunduza, visited UCLA with the aim of increasing collaboration and exchanges. Their tour included a visit to the California NanoSystems Institute and several of its incubator spaces.

And in early December 2022, a delegation from UNISA — Africa’s largest open distance-learning institution (based in Pretoria) —  led by UNISA Principal and Vice-Chancellor Puleng LenkaBula, Ph.D., visited UCLA as a follow-on to an earlier study tour to Silicon Valley in the spring. The 13-person, high-level delegation met with numerous campus leaders and scholars to learn about UCLA’s multifunctional and recreational facilities, specific areas of innovation and scholarly research (“catalytic niches”), student governance and development. UCLA Chancellor Block subsequently retweeted a UNISA post about the visit.

Published: Friday, January 6, 2023