Prof Rolf Stumpf holds a PhD in Statistics (Analysis of Qualitative Data) from UNISA. After holding various positions in academia, the research environment, and in the higher education policy environment, he was appointed President of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in 1993 and in 1998 as Vice-Rector (Operations) at the University of Stellenbosch and thereafter as Vice- Rector (Teaching) in 2002. Also in 2002 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of Port Elizabeth and in 2005 Vice Chancellor and Rector of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. He has been a member of the National Higher Education Commission, has served on HESA’s Executive Committee, on the Council on Higher Education as Chair of the Higher Education Quality Committee, and as a trustee of the Centre for Higher Education Transformation. Currently Prof Stumpf is a member of UNISA’s Council and an independent higher education consultant having done wide ranging consultancy work in higher education in South Africa, Finland, Namibia and Botswana.