Professor Betty Mubangizi is an accomplished academic with over 20 years of teaching and research experience. As a full Professor of Public Administration and Governance, she is widely respected for her expertise in the field, as well as her passion for excellence in teaching and learning.
Professor Mubangizi has held several leadership positions at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, including Dean and Head of School for the School of Management, IT and Governance, and Dean of Teaching and Learning in the College of Law and Management Studies. She has also served as the Interim Dean of the School of Built Environment and Development Studies in the College of Humanities.
In addition to her leadership roles, Professor Mubangizi is an NRF-rated researcher and the Managing Editor of the African Journal of Governance and Development. She has supervised several postgraduate students and serves as an external examiner for many universities.
As the Research Chair in Sustainable Local Rural Livelihoods, Prof Mubangizi is focused on understanding and explaining the opportunities and challenges in the implementation of rural policy. Her research chair uses a place-based approach, which allows her to work closely with local communities, organizations, and institutions to develop practical solutions to local rural issues and concerns. Her collaborations with different disciplines and organizations have resulted in several interdisciplinary research projects, including two Water Research Commission projects and one COVID Africa Grant research project.
Professor Mubangizi is also the Conference Chair of the public sector transformation theme under the Conference on Governance and Service Delivery in Developing Economies hosted by the Uganda Management Institute. This biennial conference provides a platform to debate governance challenges that African countries and other developing economies face in meeting their development targets.
Furthermore, Professor Mubangizi has made a direct impact on policy through her contribution towards the production of South Africa’s 1st Edition Covid-19 Country Report. As a member of the Expert Group, she contributed to conceptualizing the topic, defining the research methodology, and compiling sections of Chapter 2 based on desktop literature review and gathering empirical evidence.
Finally, Professor Mubangizi’s dedication to knowledge dissemination is seen through her work as the Editor in Chief of the African Journal of Governance and Development. She publishes a variety of voices from across the continent and from both up-and-coming and established researchers, furthering the impact of her research on academia and practice.
