Fulufhelo is a Development Sociology graduate of 2005 at Stellenbosch University. He says that his doctoral experience at Stellenbosch under the supervision of Prof Simon Bekker was most rewarding.

“…it was a sponsored doctoral fellowship by the NRF and CNRS comprising cohorts from University of Nairobi, University of Bordeaux and University of Lomé in Togo. The setup enabled us to travel regularly to Kenya, Togo and France and it was an experience that left an indelible mark in my outlook and perceived importance of research partnership.”

Fulu says that even though he undertook his doctoral studies while working at Idasa and later at the CSIR, coming down to Stellenbosch for short study visits to consult his supervisor was always exciting.

“…Prof Bekker demanded that I call him Simon and forbidden me from calling him Prof Bekker. It always felt like hanging out with a colleague, a friend, a mentor and I enjoyed drinking from his cup of wisdom.”

The career trajectory of Fulu is one that seem most venturous and exciting. His career started at the HSRC where he took up a research internship in 1996 after graduating with an Economics Honors degree from UWC. He met Prof Johan Mouton at the HSRC and later registered his masters degree at supervised by Prof Mouton at Stellenbosch while working at the Technikon SA as a research administrator. He became an Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor at Technikon SA (Prof Neo Mathabe) but later left to rejoin the HSRC as a Chief Researcher. Working with other researchers the HSRCC, Fulu helped established the famous South African Social and Attitudinal Survey (SASAS) in 2003. But while collaborating with IDASA on a project from the HSRC, he got recruited into IDASA. He took a Mott Foundation Philanthropy fellowship to City University in New York. “…living in New York City at International House in a cohort of fellows from Moscow, India, Mexico, Canda was life changing not only academically but socially” he says.

Fulu was recruited to join the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) while he was in New York and worked there with water engineers. Later he joined the NRF as a Grants Manager responsible for the Thuthuka Programme and Postgraduate and Postdoctoral fellowships.

He joined the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2007 as the Director for Research Management and says he made significant changes to UNISA’s research administration processes, systems and support programmes which yielded very positive outcomes and improved UNISA’s participation and research outputs.

When he left UNISA in 2012 he Directed the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership (TGSL) and while at it took an Erasmus Fellowship as a visiting professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Leaving TGSL, he joined the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) where he Directed the South African BRICS Think Tank (SABTT).

Leaving the NIHSS, Fulu joined the Cape Peninsula University of Technology albeit for only 8 months as the Deputy Dean for Research. He believes that the few months that he spent at CPUT was most rewarding to the institution’s researchers especially the young academics and postgraduate students.

Fortune had it and then North West University came knocking, looking for the Director of the Business School. At North Wes University, he amalgamated the two business schools of Potchefstroom and Mafikeng but again in 2019 the Durban University of Technology (DUT) snatched him away so that he could establish the DUT Business School while serving as the university’s Executive Dean for the Faculty of Management Sciences. The Business School became operational in 2022 and has graduated numerous MBAs while the faculty has now become renowned for having the most established research culture and most research productive.

Asked for some of his accomplishments over the years he listed the following:

• Establishing the BRICS Research Institute in 2021 (https://www.bricsri.co.za/),

• Establishing the African Food Festival at DUT (2021),

• Help establish and fund from the NRF side the University of Limpopo Women’s Academic Solidarity Association (ULWASA),

• Served on the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) as an adjudicator of NSTF Prestigious Kambule Awards,

• Edited between 2011 and 2015 the Commonwealth Youth and Development journal, which is peer reviewed and DHET accredited,

• Served on the board of PIKITUP as Chairperson of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee (HRRC) and its acting Chairperson,

• Served as Non-Executive Director of the HSRC board,

• Served as an Executive Member of the Southern Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA),

• Adjudicated the Women in Sciences Awards (WISA) between 2011 and 2025,

• Was a visiting Fellow at (i) Lincoln International Business School - UK, (ii) Sparsh Global Business School - India, (iii) UTAMU University – Uganda, (iv) Groningen University – Netherlands, (v) Tshwane University of Technology.

From 1st October 2025 Fulu assumed the new role of Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Postgraduatre Studies at the University of Venda and looks forward to changing the research culture of that university for the better.

“…I wish for us to forget such terminologies as historically black and historically disadvantaged institutions. I want UNIVEN to become a true research university that competes other international universities by all indicators”, he said.