Rate My Professor Jonathan Jansen

Professor Jonathan Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University in the Faculty of Education. He holds a BSc from the University of the Western Cape, teaching credentials from Unisa, an MS from Cornell University, and a PhD from Stanford University awarded in 1991. His career includes service as a high school biology teacher and extensive university teaching and leadership positions across South Africa, including as former rector and vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, where he was the first coloured appointee in that role.

Jansen’s research focuses on the politics of knowledge, curriculum policy, and education in post-colonial and post-apartheid contexts. He has authored or edited numerous works, including the award-winning book Knowledge in the Blood (Stanford University Press), Leading for Change (Routledge, 2016), As by fire: The end of the South African university (Tafelberg, 2017), Interracial intimacies on campuses (Bookstorm, 2017), and Song for Sarah (Bookstorm, 2017). He leads initiatives preparing young academics for the professoriate and has received honors such as the Lifetime Achiever Award for Africa, the Spendlove Award, the Nayef Al Rodhan Prize, honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, University of Vermont, and Cleveland State University, and election as a Fellow of the British Academy. Jansen serves or has served as president of the Academy of Science of South Africa and the South African Institute of Race Relations.