PsySSA Fellows

Prof Garth Stevens is a Professor and Clinical Psychologist at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. His research interests include foci on race, racism and related social asymmetries; critical violence studies; applied psychoanalytic theorising of contemporary socio-political issues; and historical/collective trauma and memory. He was the co-lead researcher on the Apartheid Archive Project, which was an international research initiative that aimed to examine the nature of the experiences of racism of South Africans under the old apartheid order and their continuing effects on individual and group functioning in contemporary South Africa. He is also the co-lead researcher on the Violent States, States of Violence Project, which aims to re-engage a theorisation of violence in the contemporary world. He is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), previously served as the Dean in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, is both a Lifetime Achievement Fellow and Past-President of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) and is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: People Development and Culture.

Professor Anthony Pillay is a Chief Clinical Psychologist in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health and an academic in the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He received his post-doctoral training in Maternal and Child Health at Harvard University & has been a Clinical Fellow at the Boston Children’s Hospital. He is a Past President of the Psychological Society of South Africa and served two terms as Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Psychology. His research areas include forensic psychology, women and children’s mental health and social justice issues.

Professor Josephine Cecilia Naidoo completed her undergraduate degrees in the Republic of South Africa. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Illinois. Professor Naidoo was engaged in research on South Asian women in Canada, multicultural issues, race relations and Asian/African indigenous psychology. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, Professor Naidoo was an invited member of Federal Government studies on the mental health of immigrants/refugees and intercultural/interracial education in Canada. She has served as Secretary-General of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, the main professional organisation in her area of expertise. At the time of her passing, she was a Professor Emerita in the Department of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. Prof Josephine Naidoo was awarded Fellowship at the PsySSA 24th Annual Psychology Congress in 2018.

Professor Jacobus Maree, a B1 NRF-rated scholar, is a professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Pretoria. He holds doctorates in Career Counselling, Mathematics Education, and Psychology. A fellow of PsySSA and IAAP, he serves on IAAP’s Board (Division 16) and UNESCO’s Lifelong Guidance Chair. He’s delivered keynotes at 30 international conferences and holds global honorary appointments.

Prof Norman Duncan is currently attached to the University of Pretoria as Professor Emeritus. He is also Extraordinary Professor at North-West University and Visiting Professor at Nelson Mandela University. His research and publications are primarily in the fields of racism and community psychology. He has co-edited a range of volumes in these fields as well as in developmental psychology. He is a former President of the Psychological Society of South Africa and the former Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Psychology.

Dr Ann D. Watts is a Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist who has for many years been actively involved in developing neuropsychology in South Africa. She was President of the International Neuropsychological Society in 2015, to date their only President from a developing country. She served as Secretary-General of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) for a decade(2012-2022) and was their Main Representative (Psychology) to the World Health Organization (WHO) until 2024. She served on the WHO International Advisory Group for the Revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders and was a member of the WHO Rehabilitation Competency Framework Technical Work Group.  She is Treasurer of the Pan-African Psychology Union, and Past President of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) and the South African Clinical Neuropsychological Association.  She is an Honorary Life Executive Committee Member of IUPsyS and a Lifetime Achievement Fellow of PsySSA. She is also a Member of the International Science Council’s National Governing Council of South Africa. She has taught at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, the Free State, and Limpopo.

Prof Chabani Manganyi was an intellectual visionary whose work illuminated the psychological impact of apartheid, race, and identity, offering profound insights into the lived experiences and enduring struggles of Black South Africans. Prof Manganyi was a senior research fellow and former vice chancellor of the University of Pretoria. A clinical psychologist and a prolific author, Prof Manganyi’s works –biographies, memoirs, and analyses – stand as foundational pillars in South African literature and psychology, remaining as relevant as ever. His academic journey led him to prestigious roles, from his groundbreaking work at the University of Transkei to his tenure at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he advanced pioneering research in psychology and African studies.

Pan-African Psychology Union, International Union of Psychological Science and Psychological Society of South Africa (SA) Past President, Prof Saths Cooper is a  Fellow of the psychological societies of SA, India, Ireland, Britain and Nigeria. Founding Governing Board Member of the International Science Council, he is a Foundation Fellow, serving on its Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science. A close colleague of Black Consciousness founder Steve Biko, he was banned and house-arrested when he was 22 years of age, and jailed for nine years – five in the same cell-block as President Mandela. Accused No. 1 in the seminal SA Students Organisation/Black People’s Convention trial of ideas (1975-6), he was a leader of the struggle against apartheid oppression and exploitation from the late 1960s. Obtaining his PhD from Boston University as a Fulbright Scholar (Nov 1986 – Dec 1989), he has taught at the universities of the Witwatersrand, Boston and Western Cape, and was Vice Chancellor of the then University of Durban-Westville. He chairs Robben Island Museum and the anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-sectarian 1970s Group of Activists.

Professor Cheryl de la Rey has served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canterbury (NZ) since February 2019. Before moving to New Zealand, she had been in higher education executive roles in South Africa as Executive Director at the National Research Foundation, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town, CEO of the Council on Higher Education and thereafter, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria until 2018. Prof De la Rey holds a PhD in Psychology with specialisation in Social Psychology.  She has published many chapters, edited books and journal articles in the field of intergroup relations with a more recent focus on gender and leadership. She is a fellow of the Psychological Society of South Africa, the Royal Society in South Africa and a member of the South African Academy of Science.