Rolf Heinrich Stumpf (6 November 1945 – 27 October 2020) was a South African statistician who served as Vice Chancellor and Rector of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. He was a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and served on the Council of the University of South Africa.

Rolf Stumpf
Born
Rolf Heinrich Stumpf

(1945-11-06)6 November 1945
Died27 October 2020(2020-10-27) (aged 74)
NationalitySouth African
Alma materUniversity of Pretoria; Unisa
Occupation(s)Statistician and former Vice Chancellor and Rector of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Biography

edit

Stumpf was born on 6 November 1945 in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal.[1]

Stumpf's career spanned various positions in academia, the research environment, and in the higher education policy environment, including serving as Deputy Director General of the Department of National Education and President of the Human Sciences Research Council.

Prior to his appointment as Vice Chancellor and Rector of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University he was Vice-Rector (Teaching) at the University of Stellenbosch until 2002.

Stumpf served as a member of the Council on Higher Education, Chair of the Higher Education Quality Committee, and as a trustee of the Centre for Higher Education Transformation.

Education

edit

Stumpf studied Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Pretoria, and graduated in 1972 with a Master of Arts cum laude. In 1974, he graduated with a diploma in Theology at the Baptist College in Johannesburg. In 1982, he was awarded a Ph.D. in Statistics (Analysis of Qualitative Data) from the University of South Africa.[1]

Publications

edit

The author of a number of scientific articles in the field of statistics, Stumpf served as the co-author of a book on Graphical Exploratory Data Analysis. He also authored and co-authored a large number of policy reports in the field of higher education and in vocational education.

Death

edit

Stumpf died on the morning of Tuesday 27 October 2020. He was 74.[2] He leaves behind a wife and three children.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Prof Rolf Heinrich Stumpf (First Vice-Chancellor and CEO of NMMU)". Nelson Mandela University. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Prof Rolf Stumpf made his mark at SU and in higher education". Stellenbosch University. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  3. ^ "First Vice-Chancellor of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University passes away". Nelson Mandela University. Retrieved 30 October 2020.