Graduation ceremonies are the highlight of our academic calendar: celebratory and memorable occasions for the hundreds of graduands and their families.

UCT will stage no fewer than 12 ceremonies over six days, 12 to 17 December, and our teams will be hard at work, even on the Day of Reconciliation on 16 December (for which we are most grateful!)

We are proud to be awarding a number of special awards, news of which appears on pgs 2 and 3: honorary doctorates to Dr David Potter and Mary Burton, the Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Leadership in Africa to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the first Chancellor's Award to Di Oliver, and the President of Convocation Medal to Professor Richard van der Ross.

Our graduation ceremonies have grown steadily in number and size over the years. In 2010, for example, we capped 5 062 students over the December graduations, up almost 400 from the 4 768 in 2009. (And 4 489 in 2008, and 4 507 in 2007.)

This week, just under 5 250 students are expected to graduate. (These numbers, the latest available as Monday Paper went to print on 8 December, are subject to change.)

Of these, 1 808 will hail from the Faculty of Humanities, 1 378 from the Faculty of Commerce, 782 from the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment (EBE), 580 from the Faculty of Science, 534 from the Faculty of Health Sciences, and 167 from the Faculty of Law.

"Every single graduation is a success story. It represents years of hard work from the student, and the dedicated support and encouragement of a host of 'backroom staff' - from family and friends to lecturers, tutors, demonstrators and supervisors," said Gerda Kruger, executive director of the Communication and Marketing Department.

But of course, being a research-led institution, we take particular pride in the hundreds of students who officially cap their postgraduate studies. (Many will push on again next year; among these, we hope, will be the next generation of scholars.)

For example, UCT will graduate 89 Doctors of Philosophy this week. The total number of PhDs awarded for 2011, including the June graduates, stands at 152.

The faculty breakdown for December's PhD graduates is 27 from Science, 24 from Health Sciences (including seven from the Department of Medicine, as recorded on page 4), 15 from Humanities, 10 from EBE, seven from Commerce, and six from Law.

The Faculty of Humanities will cap the largest numbers of students finishing diplomas and certificates (436) and honours degrees (347); while EBE will graduate the biggest cohort of master's students (144).

All in all, another remarkable year for UCT.

It took UCT seven years to award the second Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Leadership in Africa - a reminder not only of the prestige of the accolade, but also of how few and far between worthy recipients have been.

When the honour is conferred on Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu at a graduation ceremony on 13 December, he will be the first awardee since former president Thabo Mbeki received the award in 2004.

The award, a replica in bronze of one of seven ceramic heads dating from the ninth century, is made to individuals who have made contributions to Africa through sustained and visionary leadership.

Tutu fits the bill well.

Described by former President Nelson Mandela as "sometimes strident, often tender, never afraid and seldom without humour", Tutu has been a spokesperson against international social ills, such as civil wars, corruption, non-democratic governments, poverty, HIV/AIDS and TB, human-rights abuses ? the list goes on.

Tutu's straightforward talk has angered some. The Congress of South African Students once condemned him as a "loose cannon" and a "scandalous man", while some members of the American Psychiatric Association refused to attend the group's annual meeting in protest at Tutu's attendance as speaker, because of the retired bishop's alleged anti-Semitic statements.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate also has numerous associations with UCT.

A regular visitor to the campus, he is also the benefactor behind the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, established in 2004. With an experienced and dedicated team of over 165 doctors, nurses, researchers and community-trained field workers, the centre has become a wellspring of knowledge and expertise for medical practitioners, offers support for people seeking testing or treatment, and takes the lead in preventative education.

In 2010 UCT's Marine Research Institute part-named its Nansen-Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research after him, recognising his concern for environmental and climate change issues.

UCT presented Tutu with an honorary doctorate in law in 1993.

Long-serving Black Sash stalwart Di Oliver is to be honoured for her role in advancing peace and justice in South Africa by becoming the first recipient of UCT's Chancellor's Medal on 12 December.

The award was instituted by the University Council in 2007 to honour those who have "made a significant contribution to a common good".

In a letter to Oliver, inviting her to accept the award, vice-chancellor Dr Max Price said: "Your record of having profoundly impacted the lives of many, and no doubt continuing to do so, is remarkable."

Oliver (née Bishop) was a member of the Black Sash from 1978 until membership closed in 1995. She has been a trustee of the Black Sash Trust since then, serving as its chairperson between 2005 and 2006. She is a board member of a number of NGOs and an active parishioner at St George's Cathedral, where she is a lay minister and the co-ordinator at Caritas (the Cathedral's caring ministries) and the Cathedral Justice and Reconciliation group.

In an interview with Monday Paper, Oliver said she was thrilled with the award.

"I was completely taken by surprise. I hold UCT in such high regard," she said.

"I consider it an honour and a great recognition of the importance of civil society activism in our country. The work I have done has formed me. It is a reciprocal thing."

Oliver said she had never sought recognition for her work.

"I worked as a social worker, then became very political because I became deeply involved in anti-apartheid work."

She added: "This award comes at a time when there is a great deal of questioning about the activism needed in civil society, after what appears to be a new wave of oppression arising."

What drives her?

"Just wanting to contribute to making the world a more just, caring and less harsh place."

Whether in education or the media, civil society or politics, historian Professor Richard 'Dick' van der Ross has played a crucial role in improving South Africa since he graduated from UCT in 1940.

Now his alma mater will honour him with the President of Convocation Medal at a graduation ceremony on Saturday 17 December. The medal is awarded annually, to UCT graduates who have brought credit to the university through their contributions to the wider community.

"The Convocation of UCT must be one of the most prestigious bodies in the country, and it's an honour to be awarded by them," Van der Ross commented on the award.

But to enrol at UCT in the late 1930s, Van der Ross said, was in itself an achievement for a black person.

"I followed my father, who in 1925 was only the third member of my community to graduate with a BA at UCT."

At UCT, Van der Ross obtained a primary and secondary teacher's diploma, as well as a master's degree and a PhD in philosophy. For many years he worked as a teacher and as a principal at Cape Town schools, and edited what was then the Cape Herald newspaper, before he was named the first black principal and vice-chancellor of the University of the Western Cape in 1975, a post which he occupied until 1986.

Van der Ross, who penned a number of books and articles, was among the first three members of the former Democratic Party to serve in the Western Cape Legislature in 1994, before he was appointed ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

Now, at 90, he writes a bit and still works to improve other people's lives.

"I always remember that if I have been able to be of service to others, it has been in no small measure due to my association with the University of Cape Town."

Illustrious company: This week Dr David Potter and Mary Burton become the latest recipients of honorary doctorates from UCT.

Mary Burton was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1940. In 1961, she moved from Argentina to South Africa. Aghast at the country's political situation, she took just four years to join the Black Sash. Over the subsequent decades, she was involved first in the struggle for human rights in South Africa, then in national reconciliation in the post-apartheid era. She was president of the Black Sash from 1986 to 1990, among her many other roles in the organisation. She also served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a commissioner on the Human Rights Violations Committee, from 1995 to 1998. In addition, she's been involved with organisations such as the Surplus Peoples Project, the National Council of Women, the Civil Rights League and the South African Institute of Race Relations.

Burton also served two terms on UCT Council, including as deputy chair from 1999 to 2005. In 2000 she helped launch the Home for All Campaign, which called on white South Africans to contribute to reconciliation in recognition of the benefit and privilege they had had under apartheid. In 2003, she received the Order of Luthuli (Silver) from President Thabo Mbeki. The following year she was presented with the Western Cape's highest award, the Order of Disa, and the Reconciliation Award, conferred by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

Somewhere among all her activities, Burton also made time to finish a BA degree in 1982, with majors in four subjects - political science, social anthropology, comparative African government and law, and English. "Although I had been very active in the Black Sash, I felt the need for a better historical and theoretical understanding of apartheid, and of politics in general," she says of her decision to register here. She wanted to continue her studies, but never did, as the political troubles in the country kicked into high gear in the 1980s. But on 12 December, Burton will finally receive a higher honour when UCT presents her with an honorary doctorate in social science.

Dr David Potter has been hailed as a great inventor and entrepreneur, but also as a philanthropist, especially one who has supported higher education in South Africa. He has also channelled some of the fruits of his success into supporting projects in education, research and Third World development. Born in East London in 1943 but brought up in Rondebosch, Potter was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to study for a doctorate in mathematical physics at Imperial College, London. He worked as an academic in the 1970s, teaching at the University of London and the University of California.

Then in 1980 he founded the software company Psion, which stands for Potter Scientific Instruments or Nothing - so named, it is said, to mark his formal retirement from academia (and which may explain why some have described him as an "eccentric"). Psion's first real success was with a flight simulation game, but more importantly, the company led the creation of the Organiser, Palmtop and PDA markets as a new market segment. Potter later founded Symbian Limited, which worked in partnership with Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Matsushita to create Symbian, the operating-system standard for mobile wireless devices. In the 1997 UK New Year's Honours list Potter was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the manufacturing industry. In 2001 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers.

Potter's ties with South Africa remain. So, for example, he serves on the South African President's Committee on Communication and Information Technology. Potter is the spouse of journalist and writer Elaine Potter, also born in South Africa. He has deep roots at UCT - his grandfather, Alfred Snape, was appointed professor of civil engineering at the South African College (SAC), which would become UCT a few years later, in 1910; and his grandmother was an early graduate of the SAC. Now the Potters support the university through the fellowship programme they established here through the David and Elaine Potter Foundation, giving an opportunity to motivated and academically excellent individuals to use their education for the betterment of South Africa and civil society. So far more than 40 master's and doctoral students have been supported through this initiative. "With [my personal and academic] background it is evident that I have a profound belief in the importance of education and its role in economic welfare and upliftment from poverty and dispossession," Potter says. "I am glad that I have been able to create the Potter Fellowships, to be involved with so many gifted young people and to maintain the family's linkage to UCT." Potter will be awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering science on 13 December.

Bumper crop: (From left) Tim Low, Dr Susan Levine and Dr Gregory Smith, (along with Assoc Prof Michael Campbell (right photo), are the recipients of the 2011 Distinguished Teacher Awards.

As chance would have it, 2011 is a bumper year for the award, with four recipients joining the university's DTA ranks. (Only two DTA winners were named in 2010.) They are Associate Professor Michael Campbell, Dr Susan Levine, Tim Low and Dr Greg Smith, announced at the recent Distinguished Teacher Dinner. Further announcements will be made during this week's graduation ceremonies.

Teaching always came first, Michael Campbell explains. It had to, as he started up the jazz programme at UCT's South African College of Music as soon as he was appointed some 22 years ago. He's led jazz studies ever since. Campbell has been hailed for "his ability to integrate the creative, abstract elements of his field with systematic study methods in order to provide students with real perspective into the subject and broad understanding of its 'real' world application". Mostly self-taught, those real-life and practical components have become staples of his teaching. As has a sore back, a clear indicator he's been pushing hard in class, he says. "You have to give some of yourself to [teaching] if you want to engage people, and that can be stimulating or draining, and sometimes both."

Colleagues and staff have sung the praises of Susan Levine as a teacher of both medical and visual anthropology (a teaching field she pioneered in South Africa) in the Department of Social Anthropology. She treats her students as equals, they say, and offers them tools for living. She's inspired colleagues, who joke about cloning her, and students, one of whom who credits her with changing said student's attitude towards academic work. "Teaching social anthropology requires some skill in the art of seduction," Levine says. Sometimes that requires a bit of humour and clowning, sometimes not. "If there is laughter in the classroom, then I know I'm on the right track," she says. "But there is also a kind of silence that indicates a captive audience. It is a silence infused with noise. This is a beautiful sound."

Tim Low teaches mathematics and statistics on the extended degree programme of the Faculty of Commerce. To make up for schooling shortcomings takes creativity, and an appreciation of what makes the current generation of students tick. So he's embraced social media, harnessing everything from Facebook to MXit and BBM (that's BlackBerry Messenger, for the older folk). "His use of [these] mediums to communicate with students," rings his citation, "underpins a truly progressive teaching philosophy with an approach of accessibility and taking education to the learners." He applies social media to teach concepts and to force students into a deeper understanding of the material. He's not all about remote technology, though. He has been praised for his energy, warm nature and enthusiasm. His teaching changes and inspires students, says one, and they and UCT are lucky to have him in the classroom.

Gregory Smith, of the Department of Chemistry, likes to take the research laboratory into the classroom. He's lucky though, he says, in that the various research projects he's involved in translate easily into lecture notes. "This pragmatic approach gives students a broader sense of the field of chemistry, and often helps to engender a passion for the subject," he says. A Superman t-shirt also helps. He uses this - and the power of chemistry - to teach chemical reactions by breaking a pre-treated cold-drink can in half. Videos, animations, role-playing (the television show The Apprentice) and various web-enhanced materials are similarly recruited. He wants to challenge students, so often tests them with short problem-solving and critical thinking questions. The aim of which, he says, is to gauge and improve students' understanding of what are conceptually difficult topics.

It's perhaps fitting that the first completed doctoral work to come out of UCT's Centre for Transport Studies should set a scene.

In particular, Edward Beukes' thesis, titled Context-Sensitive Road Planning for Developing Countries, defined, mapped, clustered and classified - pooling reams upon reams of data - the very complex tangle that makes up Cape Town's roads system. For his thesis, Beukes employed three particularly long arterials as case studies; namely Voortrekker Road between Salt River and Bellville, Lansdowne Road between Claremont and Macassar, and Koeberg Road between Maitland and Table View. (As a side project, he ran a similar although computationally more demanding exercise for the entire Cape metropole.)

He then looked at the contexts of these three roads; ie how the land around them was being used, the socioeconomic status of the communities along them, the environmental make-up of the surrounding areas, and the transport systems in place. He then quantified and, for ease of use, clustered these contexts.

Finally, based on the contexts, Beukes described the relative suitability of five transport modes - car, bike, public transport, freight and pedestrian - along the three roads.

As expected, any one road is a mishmash of contexts. Voortrekker Road, for example, is a mix and match of six clusters. Public transport would be the best fit for one stretch of the road, for example, but less suitable for the next kilometre or so, and a good match again a few kilometres further on.

Ditto for cars, freight, bicycles and walking.

His work is a more sophisticated and nuanced modelling exercise than is typical for road planning, which is usually based on traffic volumes, Beukes believes. It could also feed into infrastructure planning, such as that required by the new South African Road Classification and Access Management Manual, and could be applied across the developing world.

"The context changes from one section of a road to the next," Beukes says. "All that I've done is come up with a way to put a number to that context, to describe it in a logical way with some data behind it, and to use that information to make recommendations for contextually appropriate road treatments."

Beukes' work was supervised by Associate Professor Marianne Vanderschuren of the Centre for Transport Studies, based in the Department of Civil Engineering.

Paul Mungai will be one of the first Andrew W Mellon Foundation-sponsored, CET-supervised student to complete a master's degree at UCT. Mungai was awarded a Mellon Scholarship for the postgraduate course in Information Communication Technology in Education.

In his thesis, Mungai explored the types of knowledge that University of the Western Cape social work students demonstrated while developing their ePortfolios.

ePortfolios, or electronic portfolios, are digitised collections of documents, images, artefacts, and blogs that can be used to showcase development over time.

In this qualitative study, four social work students developed summative, working, reflective and assessment ePortfolios. Mungai found that subjective and descriptive knowledge were most pronounced in the ePortfolios of all four, although other types of knowledge also enjoyed varying degrees of prominence.

The Kenyan software developer, currently working at the University of the Witwatersrand, expressed gratitude to the Mellon Foundation for funding his studies at what he calls "the best institution on the African continent".

"This course has imparted useful knowledge in my area of work and I hope to impart the same to my work," he says.

Mungai's supervisor, Associate Professor Dick Ng'ambi, explains that students supervised by the CET enjoyed a useful head start.

"One of the advantages for studying a master's in a centre is that students are supervised by staff who are educational technology practitioners, educators and researchers. CET staff continue to research and publish widely, and some are rated by the National Research Foundation."

UCT's annual end-of-year graduation ceremonies bring thousands of proud parents to Jameson Hall to celebrate their progeny's fantastic achievements.

Judy Favish, director of the Institutional Planning Department, has reason to be doubly proud.

Her 24-year old twins, Keiran and Tess Peacock, are both graduating this year.

Considering that they were born within minutes of each other, it's not surprising that they will graduate together for the second time.

The twins were first capped in 2008 when Tess was awarded a bachelor of social science degree in politics, philosophy and economics (cum laude), and Keiran received his bachelor of social science degree in organisational psychology.

But the timing of their postgraduate studies wasn't as synchronised.

This year Keiran completed his Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), with History and Life Orientation as his specialist teaching subjects.

His mother says that his passion for teaching was so great that he decided to register for the PGCE this year after spending 2010 working.

He had already gathered some teaching experience; he was a senior tutor during his undergraduate years, and spent six months of 2009 teaching in China. He spent the remaining six months of 2009 as a voluntary tutor at Tsiba College.

His twin sister will graduate with a postgraduate Bachelor of Law (LLB). Tess will begin articles with Johannesburg firm Webber and Wentzel in the new year.

Tess, who also tutored at UCT, aims to specialise in public and human rights law, a target that Favish says stems from a desire for social justice that both her children crave.

"They both have a passion for issues relating to social justice," says Favish, "but they want to go about it in different ways - one through law and one through teaching."

The twins certainly have admirable activism pedigrees.

In addition to volunteering at Tsiba College, Keiran spent six months practise-teaching at ID Mkhiza High School in the impoverished Cape Town township of Gugulethu.

"He feels very strongly about making a contribution to improving education, especially in poor areas," says Favish.

Tess, meanwhile, was the chairperson of civil society organisation Students for Law and Social Justice (SLSJ) in 2010. This year she sat on the SLSJ's national committee.

During her post-matric gap year, she decided against the conventional tours of the West so popular among matriculants. Instead, she spent months teaching at a rural school in Tanzania.

Favish is duly chuffed.

"They're both sweetie pies!" she says proudly.

Doctors in the house: Dr Graeme Meintjies (left) and Dr Richard van Zyl-Smit are two of the seven doctoral graduates to come out of the Department of Medicine this year.

This week, UCT's Department of Medicine will graduate the most PhD students it's capped in one go in its 91-year history.

Seven new doctors of medicine will graduate on 17 December, much to the delight of the department.

Head of medicine Professor Bongani Mayosi says that the achievement is particularly remarkable because six of the seven are clinicians. Clinicians have traditionally not done PhDs, he explains.

Clinicians' training is typically geared towards a professional, hands-on role in clinical practice, he says, and not to academia.

This year marks the beginning of a new trend, perhaps, inspired by a capacity-building effort that the department began about five years ago - the UCT Clinical Scholars Programme.

Its aim, explained Mayosi, is to increase the number of PhDs in medicine.

"This is a major milestone in the efforts of members of our department to grow the next generation of academic leaders," he says.

The six clinicians are Dr Graeme Meintjies, Dr Keren Middelkoop, Dr Mpiko Ntsekhe, Dr Ian Ross, Dr Mashiko Setshedi and Dr Richard van Zyl-Smit. Sarin Somers is the non-clinician in the group.

"They are now finally earning the academic right to use the title 'doctor'!" Mayosi proudly proclaimed.