Professor Tshilidzi Marwala is the First Keynote Speaker for the NERPS 2025 Conference

Prior to taking up the role of UNU Rector on 1 March 2023, Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala served as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, from January 2018 to February 2023. Prior to that, he was the university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalization (2013–2017) and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (2009–2013). Earlier in his career, Prof. Marwala was a Full Professor and Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand (2003–2008). He also gained industry and research experience as an Executive Assistant to the Technical Director at South African Breweries (2001–2003) and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London (2000–2001).

Prof. Marwala has been a visiting scholar/professor at universities in the USA, the UK, China, and South Africa. He has extensive academic, policy, management, and international experience, and is a co-holder of five patents. His research has been multi-disciplinary, involving the theory and applications of artificial intelligence to engineering, social science, economics, politics, finance, and medicine. He has served on a variety of global and national policymaking bodies, and has worked with such United Nations entities as UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO and WIPO.

He holds a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge (UK), a Master of Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria (South Africa), and a Bachelor of Science degree (magna cum laude) from Case Western Reserve University (USA). He also completed management and leadership programmes at the Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School.

Prof. Marwala is a distinguished member of the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board and a Fellow of several prestigious institutions, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the Academy of Science of South Africa, and the African Academy of Sciences. With an extensive body of work, he has authored over 25 books, including Leadership Lessons from Books I Have Read (2021) and Leading in the 21st Century: The Call for a New Type of African Leader (2021). His contributions also span numerous book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, and over 250 opinion pieces published in magazines and newspapers.

Among the awards that Prof. Marwala has received are the Order of Mapungubwe (South Africa’s highest honour) and the Academy of South Africa’s Science-for-Society Gold Medal. He was named the “2021 IT Personality of the Year” by the Institute of IT Professionals South Africa, and one of the “100 Most Influential Africans of 2024” by NewAfrican Magazine.