Welcome to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Blog
Recent Blog Post
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The Catastrophic Molt – and Other Leadership Lessons from Penguins
I think of 2026 as my “year of the penguins”. I have had the great good fortune to see penguins on ice in Antarctica and penguins on the beach in South Africa this year. Penguins are fascinating – so awkward on land, and so beautiful in the water. Their “tuxedo” look is distinctive as well as practical,…
Latest Blog Posts
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The Catastrophic Molt – and Other Leadership Lessons from Penguins
I think of 2026 as my “year of the penguins”. I have had the great good fortune to see penguins on ice in Antarctica and penguins on the beach in South Africa this year. Penguins are fascinating – so awkward on land, and so beautiful in the water. Their “tuxedo” look is distinctive as well as practical,…
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Divide and Conquer
One of the key throughlines from my time in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, was the theme of division. Division was an evil and malicious tool that supported minority white rule both before and during apartheid. Division was seen everywhere – tribal divisions, race-based divisions, urban vs. rural divisions, economic divisions, educational divisions, access…
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Robben Island
I struggle to find the words to describe Robben Island. If it doesn’t sound familiar, Robben Island is in Table Bay, a few miles off Cape Town, South Africa. It has a centuries-long history as a penal colony, and from the mid-1840s to the 1930s it also housed what was known as a leper colony.…