The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof Debra Meyer as the new Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science, with effect from January 2015.

​Prof Meyer is currently a professor and the Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Pretoria.

​She holds a PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California Davis and a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry from one of UJ’s legacy institutions, the Rand Afrikaans University.

​She has completed executive management training at the Gordon Institute of Business Science and Harvard Business School.

​​Prof Meyer has extensive research and teaching experience. She was invited- or visiting professor at numerous international institutions, including the University of California San Francisco, Harvard University, Imperial College and Iowa State University.

​​Her research has been published in over 80 peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings.​

Prof Meyer is the recipient of numerous research awards including the NRF TW Kambule awards in 2004 and 2010 and the Academy of Science for the Developing World award in 2005.

​In 2007, she received a woman of prestige award from the Rapport and City Press newspapers for, among other things, her outstanding community service work.

​​Prof Meyer is also known for presenting the weather on SABC 2 for more than 12 years, from 2000 and 2012, and is an avid language and AIDS activist. She recently launched her own television program on kykNET, called ‘Debra deel’ which aims to make scientific discoveries and achievements accessible to a general audience.

​Says Prof Meyer: “ I see my contribution to the future success of UJ through my commitment to an internationally competitive Science Faculty where the levels of research intensity increases constantly and innovative, quality teaching and learning is inherently linked to research and grounded in committed community engagement.”