School of Management, IT and Governance

Biography

Professor Henry Wissink (PhD) is educated and broadly skilled in the fields of public sector governance, public policy analysis, development studies, organisation- and leadership development. Prior to joining UKZN, his academic and professional career of 28 years, he was employed as an academic at the University of Stellenbosch, the PE Technikon, that later became the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2005. He primarily served in academic management capacities since 1991, firstly as a Head of Department of Public Administration and Law, and later Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Governmental Studies. His own teaching background focused on training and educating public servants and prospective entrants to public service in South Africa, as well as broadly schooled professionals who could contribute to more effective governance and public policy-making at all levels of government.

He has also made many international study visits to universities and institutions in many parts of the world, and lectured in public policy analysis and development management for Africa at two USA universities in North Carolina and Ohio State, and recently, the governance of innovation and new technologies at the Chemnitz University of Technology (CUT). During this time he played a significant role in promoting his institutions in the areas of education and training, and forming international partnerships with schools and institutes globally. He also spent five years working as a business consultant, and developed an online-learning platform to educate and train public servants in local government according to the demands of their job functions.

During his career, he produced over 100 academic and scholarly outputs, which include 40+ peer reviewed papers and guest presentations at national and international conferences, published 8 academic textbooks as author/co-author; published 54+ articles and chapters in peer reviewed journals and textbooks as well as 20+ popular and unpublished research publications. He has served as Dean and Head of the School of Management, IT and Governance (MIG), since his appointment in November 2011, and completed his tenure at the end of 2016. Currently, he is a professor in the discipline of Public Governance, and serves on the steering Committee of the Aerotropolis Institute Africa (AIA), at the UKZN, and leads a Joint Expertise Project (JEP) between the School of MIG and the Faculty of Economics and Management at the CUT.