Unizulu bids distinguished Professor farewell
UNIZULU professor retires after 41 years to practice psychology.
AFTER more than 40 years in education, scholar and psychologist Professor Patrick Themba Sibaya will bid farewell to the University of Zululand (Unizulu) this week.
Joining the institution in 1974 as a researcher, Prof Sibaya over the years rose to various prominent positions, which included Head of the Educational Psychology Department, Vice Dean at the Faculty of Education, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Research to currently serving as Senior Research Professor in the Faculty of Education.
‘Leaving Unizulu after all these years creates a feeling of ambivalence,’ Prof Sibaya said.
‘I will miss the students and the larger community of KwaDlangezwa. We arrived here as young people and it was this community that literally brought us up.’ he said.
The 65-year-old academic, who holds a PhD from Stellenbosch University, will continue playing a role in education as he is currently serving as a PhD Mentor at the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) in South Africa.
A widely published author, he has contributed articles to scientific journals, mainly the Scientific Journal of Psychology and the Journal of Education and Training, and has been involved in the authorship and co-authorship of at least 11 books on education and psychology.
Having supervised 41 masters degree students and seven doctoral candidates in South Africa and America as an external examiner, he also introduced MA Counselling, MA Research and MEd Educational Psychology degree programmes at Unizulu.
