As the Gerda Henkel Foundation celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Stellenbosch University (SU) reflects on the impact of its own decade-long partnership with the Foundation, which has strengthened African scholarship in the humanities. 

Among its initiatives, the Gerda Henkel Foundation invests in doctoral scholars in the humanities across Africa through the Lisa Maskell Fellowship Programme, named after the Foundation's founder, Lisa Maskell.

Since its launch, the programme has supported emerging scholars from more than 17 African countries, contributing to research capacity and the preservation of cultural heritage in societies shaped by conflict and change. 

At SU, the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, introduced to the Gerda Henkel Foundation through the University’s Development and Alumni Relations Division, hosts Lisa Maskell fellows pursuing doctoral degrees. While the Foundation provides financial support, the Graduate School manages the core academic relationship. 

The collaboration grew out of SU's involvement in the Partnership for Africa's Next Generation of Academics (PANGeA), a network that positioned the University as a trusted regional academic hub and laid the foundation for sustained collaboration across the continent. By hosting scholars from across the network, the programme has strengthened institutional partnerships and created opportunities for joint research, academic exchange and collaborative knowledge production. 

Besides SU, the Foundation also supports Lisa Maskell Fellowships at Makerere University and the University of Ghana, extending the programme’s reach across East, West and Southern Africa.

To mark its 50th anniversary, the Foundation has launched a special funding programme exploring questions of successful social coexistence. Based on the belief that inclusive and sustainable societies depend on cultural awareness, the initiative seeks to redefine the communicative, identity-forming and consensus-building role of the humanities and related disciplines, while examining how that role can be strengthened for the future. Researchers from all fields supported by the Foundation have been invited to participate.

"Fifty years of investing in ideas, scholarship and people is a remarkable achievement," said Karen Bruns, Chief Director: Advancement, Stakeholder Engagement and Communications at SU. "We are especially grateful for the Gerda Henkel Foundation's longstanding partnership through PANGeA and the Lisa Maskell Fellowships. Together, we have supported a new generation of African scholars whose work is making a lasting difference across the continent."

Prof Vasti Roodt, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, represented SU at the Foundation's 50th anniversary celebrations in Düsseldorf, Germany, joining partners from around the world to celebrate five decades of support for the humanities and historical scholarship.

Prof Roodt congratulated the Foundation on its milestone and hailed the Lisa Maskell Fellowship Programme for its vital role in strengthening the pipeline of African doctoral scholars.

“The Foundation’s investment has enhanced doctoral completion rates, supported early-career transitions and helped retain high-level research capacity on the African continent,” she said.

Prof Roodt added that the Lisa Maskell Fellowship Programme has helped position the Faculty as an intellectual space deeply connected to, and in partnership with, the broader African scholarly community.

“Our ambition is to grow from a network that trains scholars into one that also produces shared scholarship through joint research projects, co-authored publications and co-supervised students. This will connect these fields across institutions and bring the network more fully to life.”

Since welcoming its first cohort in 2015, the Lisa Maskell Fellowship Programme has produced 41 doctoral graduates, while a further 29 fellows are currently completing their PhD studies.

Zimbabwean historian Dr Peter Uledi, who completed his PhD in History as a Lisa Maskell fellow at SU, said the fellowship enabled him to pursue research that was deeply personal.

 “Without the Gerda Henkel Foundation, I could not have fulfilled my lifelong desire to study the land and environmental history of rural Zimbabwe – a topic deeply rooted in my own upbringing on a farm and in rural communities. I am forever grateful for this PhD opportunity.”

Dr Uledi is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the International Studies Group at the University of the Free State, where his research continues to focus on land and environmental issues through his project Plunder for Profit? Zimbabwe’s Look East Policy, Chinese Mining Firms and the Environment 2000–2025.

From 10 to 16 October 2026, SU will host a week-long gathering with the support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation. Alumni, doctoral candidates and supervisors from partner universities across the continent will come together for a PhD colloquium and the inaugural PANGeA Alumni Homecoming Conference.

• Read more about the impact of the Lisa Maskell Fellowship Programme.
• Learn more about the Gerda Henkel Foundation.