astronomy

Loyiso Nongxa

Loyiso Nongxa is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Loyiso Nongxa rather than just read about it. In short: Loyiso Nongxa is a South African mathematician, the current chairperson of the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) and a former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits). Early life and education Nongxa was born on 22 October 1953 in Mhlanga near Lady Frere, Eastern Cape in what was then the Transkei.

Key takeaways

Loyiso Nongxa belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Loyiso Nongxa to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Loyiso Nongxa from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Loyiso Nongxa is a South African mathematician, the current chairperson of the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) and a former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

Early life and education Nongxa was born on 22 October 1953 in Mhlanga near Lady Frere, Eastern Cape in what was then the Transkei. Both of his parents were qualified teachers, and his father was a school principal, although his mother remained at home to raise the family. Nongxa did well at school, and matriculated from Healdtown College with distinction as the top matric student in South Africa in 1972. Nongxa was accepted at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) thereafter, and obtained a BSc (Hons) in 1976. While at UFH, he also played for the university's "Baa-bas" rugby team. After obtaining a MSc from UFH in 1978, he became South Africa's first Black Rhodes scholar, and he obtained a D.Phil from Oxford University in 1982, where he holds the title of Honorary Fellow (Balliol College).

Academic career Nongxa has lectured mathematics at UFH, the National University of Lesotho, the University of Natal and the University of the Western Cape (UWC). At UWC, he held the post of Professor of Mathematics, and he was later appointed dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. He had also been a visiting research scholar at the universities of Colorado, Harvard, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Baylor. He was appointed deputy vice-chancellor for Research at Wits in October 2000, and Vice-Principal in April 2002. Following the resignation of Professor Norma Reid Birley in November 2002, he became Acting Vice-Chancellor and principal of the university. The University Council then shortlisted him as one of the possible candidates for the position of vice-chancellor, and on 19 May 2003 he was appointed vice-chancellor by the council. Nongxa was the first black vice-chancellor of Wits. He was succeeded as vice-chancellor by Adam Habib on 1 June 2013. Besides his positions at universities, Nongxa has also served as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee, the SAUVCA Research Committee and various National Research Foundation of South Africa committees. Since leaving Wits, he has taken up to post of chairperson of the NRF. Nongxa was elected vice-president of the International Mathematical Union in July 2018.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Loyiso Nongxa

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Loyiso Nongxa claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Loyiso Nongxa before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Loyiso Nongxa ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Loyiso Nongxa

In research: Loyiso Nongxa appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Loyiso Nongxa in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Loyiso Nongxa is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape, Academic staff of the University of the Witwatersrand, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Loyiso Nongxa outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Loyiso Nongxa in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Loyiso Nongxa means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Loyiso Nongxa out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loyiso Nongxa in simple terms?

Why does Loyiso Nongxa matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Loyiso Nongxa?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Loyiso Nongxa.