Up to now prof Rita Niemann had been the supervisor and mentor 62 Master's and 23 PhD students that WOW! completed their studies. She believes that a supervisor should be both an academic leader as well as a mentor to students.
She establishes strong ties with her students and after they have completed their studies, they remain lifelong friends.
A leader is a person you will follow
to a place you wouldn't go by yourself.
And Rita leads everybody
who are willing to end up in worlds
they wouldn’t go to themselves.
But Rita is more than a leader to me.
Somedays my life was all about
dreams, hopes and visions for the future
And then Rita was there
But there are some days
that my life was just about
putting one foot in front of the other
And then Rita was there
But now Rita is leaving the UFS at the end of July to take up a position in a private company in Pretoria. She remains an associate to the UFS and will remain the supervisor to her current students. I will no longer enjoy the face-to-face contact with her, but surely we will continue to have heart-to-heart contact.
Fairfarren, Rita, and may we always dance the Futterwacken vigorously with unbridled joy
