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Erwin Schwella studied law, sociology, public administration and public leadership at Stellenbosch University, where he obtained five degrees, two of them cum laude. The final degree was a PhD with a dissertation on the role of the media in public accountability in South Africa, 1988.

Currently he is the Dean of the School of Social Innovation at Hugenote Kollege in South Africa.

Previously he was at Stellenbosch University for 37 years, where he was accorded emeritus status as professor of public leadership at the end of December 2018. He is also an emeritus professor of public leadership at the Law School of Tilburg University and also holds a professorial associate appointment with Leiden University in the Netherlands.

He has been a visiting academic and scholar at world-renowned universities, including the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Leiden University, Leuven University and Manchester University, among many others.

He is a well-published academic author of more than 90 publications, not including many unpublished action research and consultancy reports. He has held high-level consultancy government briefs with representatives from all spheres of South African government since democracy as well as the European Union, the British government and the Namibian government.

He has worked professionally on three continents in countries including South Africa, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He is a rated academic researcher in South Africa and also serves on national and international boards related to his fields of expertise.

Schwella is continuously involved in senior leadership education and training at all levels of South African governance and administration. His current research interests include social innovation leadership in governance, institutional capacity building through organisation development, transformation and change management in complex and dynamic societies, strategic thinking, and new forms of accountability in service delivery models.

He also facilitated many local governance innovation programmes during his tenure at Stellenbosch University for the following municipalities: Saldanha Bay: Fibre to the Home; Prince Albert: Local Economic Development: Tourism and Agriculture; Mossel Bay: Tourism, Health Precinct Development and Port and Rail Development; and Hessequa: Local Economic Development and Water Provision. Please refer:

• https://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=5739
• https://www.hessequa.gov.za/witsand-solar-desalination-plant-information.

Erwin Schwella holds, or has held, the following positions in knowledge organisations:

• Member of the Board of the Greater Tygerberg Partnership and founding academic and board member of this governance partnership for innovation
• Member and Board Chair of the Board of the Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa (COHSASA);
• Member of the Board, Centre for Executive Leadership and Governance at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, USA
• Co-Chair of the Study Group on Administrative Leadership of IIAS (International Institute of Administrative Sciences) based in Leuven, Belgium
• Member of the Statutory Training and Development Board of the Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM), Windhoek, Namibia
• Professorial Fellow of the Leiden Leadership Centre, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
• Chair, Public Leadership Member Interest Group, International Leadership Association, Maryland, USA, with global membership
• Fellow of the International Leadership Association as a global fellow for 2021 to 2022
• Emeritus Full Professor with Ius Promovendi at Tilburg Law School.

In summary, Erwin Schwella is:    

• a senior professional academic
• a senior international consultant on governance, public administration, public leadership, institution building and organisational development
• an accredited and South African National Research Foundation officially rated  researcher
• a professional facilitator
• an experienced mentor and coach for senior government leaders
• an extensively published author of books, newspaper articles, accredited academic articles and professional journal contributions.