The new President, Professor Crain Soudien
Cornerstone Institute installs Professor Crain Soudien as its new President.
Professor Crain Sourdien
Noel Daniels (Left) and Professor Crain Sourdien (Right)
Noel Daniels (Left), Professor Crain Sourdien (Centre) and Marcel Golding (Right)
We proudly announce that Professor Crain Soudien has been installed as the new President of Cornerstone Institute. The installation took place on 25 March 2023 at our recent graduation ceremony. Professor Soudien succeeds Professor John Volmink, who officially retires on that date.
Professor Soudien is a consummate professional within the education and social sciences space. He is an A-rated researcher and, over the years, has made significant intellectual contributions to a range of discourses pertaining to, inter alia, social difference, culture, education policy, comparative education, transformation within academia, public history, and popular culture.
His expertise in these areas, combined with his experience in academic leadership, has been applied in various contexts, including as Chief Executive Officer of the Human Sciences Research Council and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town. His extensive track record extends from being a teacher in high schools in Johannesburg and Cape Town, working as a field worker for the Wilgespruit Trust and as a temporary lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in the Department of Politics, to professor in the School of Education and in African Studies at the University of Cape Town.
Professor Soudien has made seminal contributions throughout his career, especially in the education and social sciences. He has published over 240 articles, reviews, reports, and book chapters and is the author of 13 books. In addition to his academic achievements, Professor Soudien has vast experience in educational leadership, serving on and chairing many
different committees and boards. He is a fellow of several local and international academies. He has served as an advisor to the government, various universities, and an impressive range of community-based and other organisations. He is the founder of the District Six Museum.
Currently, he serves as the Chairperson of the Independent Examinations Board. He is an Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela University and an Adjunct Professor at Cape Peninsula, the University of Technology.
This remarkable set of achievements more than qualifies Professor Soudien to represent Cornerstone Institute as its titular leader in its mission to promote social justice, human dignity, and transformation by delivering robust and relevant higher education qualifications. He will lead the conferring of our degrees and certificates at our future graduation ceremonies.
Our students will be greatly honoured to be capped by Professor Soudien.
As a values-based higher education institution, Cornerstone is deeply honoured to have a person of Professor Soudien’s calibre to serve as our President. We welcome the opportunity to work with him as we continue to learn to change the world.