South African chemist and professor
Tebello Nyokong OMB, FRS, HonFRSC, FRSSAf (born 20 October 1951) is a South African chemist and distinguished professor at Rhodes University, and a recipient of South Africa's Order of Mapungubwe.[1] Nyokong's work has been published around 450 times including a patent. She was awarded the South African Chemical Institute Gold Medal in 2012, and named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Science and Technology in Africa by IT News Africa. She is currently researching photo-dynamic therapy, an alternative cancer treatment method to chemotherapy.[2] In 2007, she was one of the top three publishing scientists in South Africa, and in 2013 she was awarded the National Research Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award.[3]
Education
"You believe you can be a wife and a mother and still be a bread winner and contribute to society. And you will" – Tebello Nyokong
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Nyokong was born in Maseru,[5] Lesotho but spent most of her youth in South Africa. Two years before her matric year she changed from arts studies to the sciences, developing an interest in chemistry. She received her Cambridge Overseas School Certificate in 1972.[6]
Nyokong came from a poor background. She had to wear second-hand clothes and was barefoot. As a young girl she was sent to live with her grandparents in the mountains of Lesotho. She learnt about science by observing the wildlife whilst she worked as an eight-year-old[7] child caring for sheep.[8] Nyokong says that she would spend one day at school and then one day with the sheep as someone had to care for them.[9] Nyokong says that one of her childhood ambitions was to own her own pair of shoes.[8] When she started school she was steered away from science as she was told that it was too hard. It was only with two years to go that she changed direction and with perseverance completed the science course.[7]
Nyokong earned her bachelor's degree in both chemistry and biology from the National University of Lesotho in 1977. She went on to earn her master's in chemistry from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. In 1987, she received her Ph.D in chemistry from the University of Western Ontario.[3] After earning her PhD, she received a Fulbright fellowship to continue her post-doctoral studies at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.[1]
Career
After finishing her Fulbright fellowship in the United States, Nyokong returned to Lesotho, briefly as it turned out, to take a position at the University of Lesotho. In 1992, she took a position as a lecturer at Rhodes University. The National Research Foundation gave her a high rating and helped Nyokong obtain a research laboratory at the university.[1] Soon, she moved from lecturer to professor, and then distinguished professor.[1] She is known for her research in nanotechnology, as well as her work on photo-dynamic therapy. Her pioneering research in the latter is paving the way for a safer cancer detection and treatment, without the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy.[2]
Nyokong published an open letter that she wrote nominally aimed at her 18-year-old self[7] (who would have been working hard to complete a three-year science course in courage as her family may not realise the opportunities ahead. It finishes with "You believe you can be a wife and a mother and still be a breadwinner and contribute to society. And you will."[10]
In 2014 she was a professor at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She was the subject for a photographic portrait for Adrian Steirn's "21 icons".[11] which imagined her returned to her childhood role as a shepherd but now the shepherd is an adult and she is wearing her chemist's white coat. Copies of the picture were sold for charity.[8]
Academic qualifications
PhD Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 1987.
MSc Chemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1981.
MSc and PhD studies funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
BSc funded by the Lesotho Government
Mentorships
Mentoring: Dr Ceril Jones, of Savannah State University,
Project Title: Thermodynamic Characterization of Phthalocyanines for Photodynamic Therapy.
National Institute of Health (NIH) funding.
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Advisory roles
1. Invited to assist in the selection of the associate professor of chemistry, University of Venda, Feb., 1997.
2. A member of the Water Research Commission Steering Committee reviewing the University of the Western Cape Project on Desalination and Disinfection of Water, 1998–2001
3. A member of the Foundation for Research Development (FRD) panel for monitoring FRD/Industry programs at Port Elizabeth Technikon, 1998.
4. A member of the advisory board: International Conference and exhibition on Integrated Environmental Management in South Africa, held Feb. 1998. This conference was a joint effort between Germany and South Africa.
5. A member of the Advisory Board: Southern and Eastern Africa Network of Analytical Chemists (SEANAC) conference. Gaborone, Botswana, 7–10 July 2003 and 15–18 July 2007.
6. A member of the South SOUTH AFRICAN REFERENCE GROUP ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, a group under the Department of Science and Technology −2003.
7. Appointed by the Minister of Science and Technology to be a member of the panel to select members of council for the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (April, 2004).
8. A member of the advisory Board for the XVIII International Symposium on Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics, 19–24 June 2005, Coimbra, Portugal.
9. A member of the advisory Board: The World Association of Laser Therapy 2008 Conference, 19–22 October 2008, Sun City, South Africa.
10. Invited to review candidates for 2010 Reaxys PhD Prize- Post-doctoral fellows from UK, Belgium, Spain, France and the UK.
11. Advisory board of South African Chemical Institute (SACI) 2011 CONVENTION, 16–21 January 2011, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
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