South African Minister Ivy F. Matsepe-Casaburri will be honored during May ceremonies at Rutgers University

13 May 2008

NEW BRUNSWICK , N.J: Ivy F. Matsepe-Casaburri, South Africa’s Minister of Communications who earned a doctorate in sociology from Rutgers in 1984 and was an associate professor, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at Rutgers’ 242nd Commencement in May

Matsepe-Casaburri rose from humble beginnings in South Africa to become Minister of Communications. She is the first woman to become premier of Free State Province and is known throughout Africa as a leader in the applications of communications technology to economic development, educational empowerment and the advancement of democracy.

As a member of the African National Congress, she struggled against the apartheid regime that ruled South Africa and fought for the release of then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. She was executive director of her country’s Educational Development Trust and the first woman appointed to the board of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. She became board chair of the South African Broadcasting Corp. and was appointed to her present position in 1999. Matsepe-Casaburri is one of the most successful, visible and accomplished women in Africa.