Kasturi Behari-Leak

Associate Professor Kasturi Behari-Leak has been appointed dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) from 1 April 2022.

Associate Professor Behari-Leak has a long history in education, with 32 years spent in the education space, of which 17 have been in higher education. This includes, but is not limited to, educational and organisational leadership, higher education transformation, social inclusion and educational change, decolonial practice, curriculum development and pedagogical innovation.

Her relationship with the University of Cape Town (UCT) spans over a decade. She began as a lecturer in academic staff development, progressing to senior lecturer and eventually holding the position of Director: Academic Staff and Professional Development Unit. In that same year she was appointed as deputy dean: Teaching and Learning and promoted to Associate Professor in Educational Development: Higher Education Studies.

But her leadership roles extend beyond UCT. As past president of the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa, she leads its PhD University Staff Doctoral Programme. She is the current president of the International Consortium for Educational Development, a clear indication of her commitment to the development of higher education globally. Thus, her insights are recognised internationally. She leads a national collaborative staff development project and convenes an annual colloquium for new academics in the region.

She serves on the Executive Management Committee for the DHET’s South African University Teachers programme and is a peer advisor on the Council on HE Peer Advisory Group: The Reconceptualising Learning and Teaching (RELATE) Project. She has been invited as a keynote speaker to innumerable national and international events and has presented at over 32 conferences globally. In addition, she has published numerous peer‐reviewed research articles and chapters in books. She supervises and teaches in the Higher Education Studies PGDip, Master’s and PhD programmes.