Chairperson: Senate;
Executive Committee of Senate;
Academic Planning Committee;
Faculty Management Committee
Vice Chairperson: Accreditation Project Panel

Dr Marianne Louw is Cornerstone Institute’s Executive Dean and academic head, and chairperson of the Senate. Her academic career spans 20 years across two public and two private higher-education institutions.

After being awarded a BA Communication and then a BA Honours Communication degree at the University of the Free State, she became a journalist at a daily newspaper in Johannesburg. In later years, she also served as a copy editor and later an editor and managing editor in the magazine industry.

Her academic career started at the Communication Department of what is now the University of Johannesburg (UJ). During this time, she co-authored the first comprehensive South African textbook on interpersonal communication, titled Let’s talk about interpersonal communication, which has since seen four more editions.

She started her own business in the late 1990s, training corporate clients while earning her Master of Philosophy in Human Resource Management (Personal, Interpersonal and Professional Leadership) cum laude from UJ and a Certificate in Life and Business Coaching from The VIP Institute (accredited by the University of the Northwest).

Marianne returned to academia in the early 2000s by joining what was then Monash South Africa, a campus of the internationally recognised Australian-based Monash University, as Head of Communication and Media Studies. Here, she later became Programme Manager for the Bachelor of Social Sciences with its various disciplines. During a time of ownership transition and organisational restructuring, she served as Acting Executive Dean of the School of Social and Health Sciences, playing a key role in maintaining organisational stability and academic operations.

Marianne is a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy in Leadership Communication, with a thesis titled A theoretical framework for constructive interpersonal leadership relations in knowledge-based organisations. Based on her doctoral and subsequent research, her book Leading experts: How to bring out the best in clever team members was published in 2024. She has also co-authored and contributed to various textbooks and academic articles on the topics of strategic communication, research ethics, persuasive communication and the spiritual dimension of leadership.

Marianne joined Cornerstone Institute in early 2021 as Deputy Dean of Faculty Operations and Quality Assurance, and made significant contributions to internal operations and quality assurance systems and procedures. She has served as Executive Dean since July 2023.