Derek K Swemmer (DLitt et Phil) taught English at Christ’s Hospital, England for 1 year then lectured English at UP and Unisa. At Wits he was the special advisor to the VC, Deputy Registrar (Research) and Deputy Registrar (Academic) during his first 9 years, then served 16 years as its Registrar, and 4 years as Registrar at UFS.
He has wide experience in governance, management, leadership, training and strategic planning at both public and private universities, NGOs, schools, and public and private boards of directors and councils, in RSA, Africa and internationally. He has served as an advisor, facilitator, trainer and consultant in myriad Higher Education capacities, including 10 years on Golden Key’s Board of Directors and its Foundation Board in the US.
He served as CEO of the FEDSAS Institute of School Governance (2015-2020) being a key author for FEDSAS in 2 editions of its joint publication with the IoDSA entitled Governance in Public Schools – A guide to the application of the King Principles in Public Schools, (2016, 2019).
Over the years he has made short study visits to some 120 universities, in many of the 58 countries he has visited, thus gaining international insights about HE governance and management.
He has more than three decades of private consultancy experience as a Higher Education executive. In the past five years he has completed projects at 18 South African universities.