1. Turning Challenges into Opportunities- a personal reflection
Prof. M.J. Mphahlele
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Engineering and Technology.
The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. Plato [427 BC BC]

2. A SHORT TRIP DOWN MY MEMORY LANE
University Education
BSc (University of Fort Hare)
BSc Hons. (University of Fort Hare)
MSc (University of Pretoria)
PhD (Rhodes University)
Postdoctoral studies
Centre of Heteroatom Chemistry (University of Pretoria)
Centre of Mol. and Macromol. Studies in Lodz (Poland)
“It is on the sound education of the people that the security and destiny of every nation chiefly rests”
Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894).

3. ‘A great man is one who affects his generation’ (B. Disraeli)
Homage to my Mentors
‘A great man is one who affects his generation’ (B. Disraeli)
A MENTOR facilitates the exploration of needs, motivations, desires, skills and thought processes to assist the individual in making real, lasting change.
A good mentor always yields a good protégé or protégée.
‘We need to prepare students for the future and not our past’ Ian Jukes (Educator & Futurist)

4. Tribute to Mwalimu Dr H.E.M. Magojo
BSc (1985 – 1988)
BSc Hon. (1989)*
Leading FRD A rated organic chemists of the time:
J Bull (UCT)
S. Drewes (UN)
A Goosen (UPE)
C. Holzapfel (RAU)
TA Modro (UP)
D. Ferreira (UOFS) now in the USA
Later shared stage with all of them at the Frank Warren Conferences on Organic Chemistry

5. Shared with you in memory of Dr. H.E.M. Magojo (1985–1989)
H.Magojo 1st black PhD graduate of the UN (P) being congratulated by his supervisor Dr. S. Drewes on the award of his PhD (1981).
Drewes became my
MSc external examiner of choice at UP and then a coach
Herbert financed his university education from the winnings he had made on the Durban July Handicap [SE Drewes ‘Trans. Royal Soc. S. Afr. 2011, 66, ]

6. MSc Degree (UP) April 1990 – March 1991MB
Agneska
Jan
Andrez
Tom * * *
Out of many nationalities, one goal
Andrez and Tom are the pupils of Jan Michalski
MJM, in turn, is the protégé of Tom and Andrez

7. The Dream-Team/ The Research Colony at UP
Under the Tutelage of Prof. A Zwierzak*
1st black graduate of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Natural and Physical Sciences.
2 Publications from MSc dissertation. [Footsteps of Herbert Magojo]

8. Rhodes University Where Leaders Learn [1991–1993]
Another colony SB
ACG
PTK RR MB SR
MJM 1st black PhD graduate of the Department Chemistry at RU
11 Publications from PhD thesis [footsteps of HEMM, TAM, PTK]

9. Back to my Old School, CHC RESEARCH (1994)
Development of independent research profile within the framework of CHC
5th Frank Warren Conference, April 2005 (Free State)
Xiiith ICPC, July 1995 (Jerusalem, Israel)
(Dr Ludwig Maier)
Appointment as 1st Black lecturer in the Faculty (01/ 01/ 1995)
Promotion to Senior lecturer (01/ 02/ 1996)
Co-authored at least 9 peer reviewed papers in high impact factor journals

10. Exchange to CMMS in Lodz (Poland) Sept.-Nov. 1996
Jan Michalski’s protégé
Prof. Marian Mikolajczyk
Institute of Organic Chemistry (Polish Academy of Sciences) in Warsaw (Prof. M. Makosza)
Faculty of Chemistry, Technical University of Wroclaw (Prof. J. Mlochowski)
Frédéric François Chopin’s home in Żelazowa Wola
Co-authored 1 paper following my 3 months stay on their side

11. Can the mighty Sparrow learn to fly like an Eagle?
FRD (now NRF) Y rating 1996
FRD Panel Remarks:
‘Dr Mphahlele should pursue a research area completely different from his former mentors.’
Can the mighty Sparrow learn to fly like an Eagle?
[Importance of former mentor/s]
Senior lecturer at UNISA (1997–1998)
Full professor & HoD at Medunsa (1998–2003)
Full professor at UNISA (2003-)

12. The sum total>>individual strengths
Collaborative action
Go to the ant thou sluggard; consider her ways and you will be wise [Proverbs 6.6]
Queen/s, Drones and Workers (defined roles and no ego)
The sum total>>individual strengths

13. I Touch the future, I Teach (Christa McAuliffe)
Teachers are qualified to teach because they have something to teach
Professors profess because they have something to profess
“Teachers need to stop saying, Hand it in, and start saying Publish It.”
Alan Novemberx

14. A Researcher
A researcher positions herself/himself to become a deep learner of an educational subject for a lifetime, even as that subject shifts and changes, in part through his/her own (and others) learning (process of knowledge construction).
Improved scholarship
Appointment & Promotion
NRF rating
Grants; etc. [money makes the world go round]
Research requires a working environment that offers the opportunity for fellowship, the excitement of competition, and the spectacle of innovative rituals.
Is the competition fair or a warfare?

15. Tortoise and the Hare version:
My Story through Tomasz Modro’s metaphor:
‘A race between two athletes’
Mentor,
Father,
Friend
(‘Joseph’)
Tortoise and the Hare version:
‘The race is not for the swift nor the battle for the strong, but for those who endureth’ (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

16. ‘It is not the load that breaks you down, it is the way you carry it’ (Lena Horne)
Received unfair criticism from peer review processes?
Never be fainthearted.
Be resolute, but never bitter.
Permit no one to dissuade you from pursuing the goals you set for yourselves.
Do not fear to pioneer, to venture down new paths of endevour.
Demand and make good of your rights, but never fail to discharge faithfully the obligations and responsibilities of good citizenship.

17. Turning Challenges into Opportunities- MJM
‘The block of granite which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a steppingstone in the path of the strong’ (Thomas. Carlyle).
Luck, serendipity, hard work, resilience, stubbornness Or all of these?
‘One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extra-ordinary man’ (Elbert Hubbard )

18. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Research & Innovation
R & I, like democracy can only develop under conditions of freedom of speech, unrestrained debate, an open stance towards new ideas and respect for the views of others.
UP, Unisa, Medunsa, Unisa 2003…?
Frédéric François Chopin
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor” A. Einstein