25th ANNUAL CONFERENCE
22-25 AUGUST 2023

LOOKING BACK – LOOKING FORWARD

SPEAKER BIO

Ylva Rodny-Gumede

Professor Ylva Rodny-Gumede is the Head of the Division for Internationalisation and a Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Johannesburg. She is also a Senior Associate Researcher with the Stanhope Centre for International Communications Policy Research at the London School of Economics and the Senior Leader for the University at Universitas 21.

She holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University as well as an MA degree in Politics from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and an MA in Journalism from Cardiff University in the U.K. She also holds a diploma in Marketing and Business Communication from the Institute of International Education in Stockholm.

Professor Rodny-Gumede has worked in journalism, marketing and PR and has consulted for several government, private and academic institutions in Europe and Southern Africa including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. She has also worked as a researcher and project officer for the U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the SADC Parliamentary Forum. She is the former President of the Southern African Communications and Media Association (SACOMM) and serves as a non-Executive Director on the board of the Institute for Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) and Brand South Africa.

Professor Rodny-Gumede has held fellowships at Universities in South Africa and abroad, and she is actively involved in teaching and learning development including broader curriculum development initiatives at institutional, national and international level, most recently through the Teaching Advancement at Universities (TAU) fellowship. She is a member of the University of Johannesburg Senate and has served on several Senate as well as faculty Committees. She serves as chair and moderator for the UJ 4IR Cloudebates (https://universityofjohannesburg.us/4ir/cloudebates/). Professor Rodny-Gumede holds a C 3 rating from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). Her current research concerns the broader transformation of higher education in South Africa.