Economy expert

to head national society

An academic from the NWU has been chosen to lead the Economic Society of South Africa (ESSA). Prof Waldo Krugell, deputy director of the School of Economic Sciences, is the first NWU academic to be elected as ESSA’s president.

Waldo was voted president elect at ESSA’s conference in August and his two-year term in office will officially start next year, in September 2018. An experienced member of ESSA, he has been on its council for more than a decade and says he looks forward to serving the academic community.

“It is a great honour and privilege to be elected by my peers. It is wonderful to know that they trust me to make a contribution towards the economics field.”

One of the biggest challenges in this position will be arranging ESSA’s biennial conference in 2019.

“It will be great to bring likeminded people together. The conference is a valuable discussion forum not only for academics but also interested members of society.”

Waldo’s heart beats with a passion for economics and he places the interests of his students first. This is why he aims to expand

the conference to support his development goal by including postgraduate students from diverse backgrounds.

His dedication to teaching goes back many years. He has worked as a lecturer and researcher at the NWU since 1999 and in this time mentored and inspired numerous students to complete their postgraduate studies.

His own research centres on development issues within the African and South African context.

Waldo is not the only academic who is excited about his election as president, as one of his colleagues can attest. “I am excited to see how he will ensure the relevance of the society and the various fields of economics during his term of office,” says Prof Raymond Parsons from the School of Business and Governance, who was awarded honorary life membership at the recent ESSA conference.

More about ESSA

ESSA was established in 1925 and mainly constitutes academics from universities nationwide in the specific field of economics. It aims to promote the discussion of research on economic matters, in particular those affecting South Africa, by means of paper discussions, journal publications and a biennial conference.

ESSA also publishes the leading journal, the South African Journal of Economics, which is distributed throughout the Southern African region.

The society has more than 600 members and nine branches. (Source: Wikipedia)