Prof. Mathabeng Marcus Ramogale arrived at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in 2009 armed with a solid 17 years of academic executive leadership experience.
His first role in 2009 at MUT was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) with the mandate to provide strategic leadership and management in teaching and learning, research, quality management, co-operative education and library services.
In 2015 the University re-structured these portfolios and he became the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Teaching and Learning.
From 2016 he served as the Acting Vice Chancellor and Principal for four years, after which he returned to the substantive portfolio as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), but was requested to resume the position of Acting Vice Chancellor and Principal in May 2020.
As one of the longest-serving university executives in post-apartheid South Africa, Prof Ramogale has been actively involved in the reconstruction and development of the country’s post-apartheid higher education system. This has given him the edge in understanding higher education in a post-colonial and decolonised context, and he has presented many papers on this topic. The COVID-19 epidemic also placed him at the centre of a drive to transform teaching and learning in the post-COVID world.
Before arriving at MUT, he was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs and Research) at the University of Venda, a wide-ranging portfolio with a number of crucial responsibilities which included the management of student affairs and the institution’s MIV/Aids programme.
Previous appointments include Deputy Dean of the School of Human and Social Sciences (University of Venda), Head of the Department of English (University of Venda), Senior Lecturer in English (University of the North, now the University of Limpopo) and Deputy President of the Alumni and Convocation Association of the University of Limpopo.
Prof. Ramogale was born in Limpopo Province but grew up in Gauteng Province where he matriculated at Tembisa High School, East Rand. He read for his first degree at the University of the North, majoring in English and Education. This was followed by a BA Honours Degree in English and a University Education Diploma at the same institution. After a brief spell as a Junior Lecturer in the University of the North’s Department of English, he went to the United Kingdom to study for a Master’s Degree in English Studies at the University of Nottingham, followed by a PhD in English Studies at the same institution.
Prof. Ramogale writes short English fiction and socio-political analyses in his spare time. He is well-known for his philosophical approach to team-building, leadership and mentoring. As an ardent reader, he uses his personal funds to buy books for young people to foster a love of literature and promote a culture of curiosity. Many student leaders have benefitted from his philosophical values.