Big SA man on US campus oversees 11200 students

SA man spurs on top US university

IN LITTLE more than 20 years, South African-born John Affleck-Graves has risen from a junior job as a lecturer to the top ranks of a leading US university.

As executive vice-president of the famed Notre Dame University, he controls a budget of R9-billion a year and an endowment of R56-billion.

As the business leader of the most famous Catholic university in the US, Affleck-Graves has at his disposal his own police force and fire department and is responsible for the safety of the university's 11200 students and 4000 staff.

He is the largest employer in the Indiana town of South Bend, whose economy now relies on its grand 160-year-old campus.

Last year, Affleck-Graves found himself at the centre of a public crisis after a 15m crane lift - used for filming a football practice - collapsed in high winds, killing student Declan Sullivan, 20. Taking charge of the investigation, the administrator bought an identical crane, subjected it to extensive wind tests and found that a gust of 80km/h had tipped it over.

Then he insisted the tragedy was partly his fault and that of his staff.

"We're a residential university, and almost every one of the students comes from hundreds of miles away, so parents entrust us with their care, and it is our number one priority to keep them safe. We failed the parents in this case," Affleck-Graves said.

Notre Dame's alumni include former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, talkshow host Phil Donahue and legendary American footballer Joe Montana.

Affleck-Graves is the son of a factory clerk and was a finance lecturer at the University of Cape Town.

He arrived at Notre Dame with his South African wife, Rita, and their two girls in 1986 and was the first secular appointment to the top non-academic job - traditionally run by senior clerics with expertise in finance.

One of his aims is that universities replace the private sector in producing cutting-edge innovation and research.

Affleck-Graves is convinced Notre Dame will be the place which replaces the computer chip with something better - something which uses magnetic fields, instead of electric circuits, he predicts.

He wants similar breakthroughs against "developing-world diseases", which Western drug companies tend to ignore.

"Five years ago, we wanted to see if we could carve out some money for nothing but new ideas, brand-new research in just five to eight programmes," he said. "We found R700-million, and the investment looks very promising. Already, we have a guy who has developed a hand-held device which can analyse DNA in a drop of any liquid in 15 minutes - say, bilharzia in water. Imagine what that could do for clinics in Africa!"

Affleck-Graves ascribed his rise to a goal-oriented personality, knowing a lot of people and the quality of university education in South Africa. "At first, I thought I'd find much better teaching elsewhere, but I've realised that UCT really gave me a good education. I would put my MBA students there up against anybody.

"Actually, Notre Dame wouldn't let me teach their MBA students for the first three years I was here ... They weren't quite sure where I'd come from and if I knew enough! Gradually, I won people's confidence."

The high-flyer was born in Newlands, Cape Town, and was the first member of his family to get into university.

He said it was "sad for him" that his father had never lived to see him earn a doctorate.

He has no special love for his adopted US town. "Cape Town is one of the great cities of the world - it's much nicer than South Bend, Indiana, I can tell you."

Instead of focusing on the town, the administrator jogged almost every metre of the university's ivy-lined lanes in pursuit of his goal of running 100 marathons. He reached his target in 2006, with two Comrades Marathons and six Two Oceans Marathons as part of the tally.

Staff and students joined to celebrate his success - and Affleck-Graves has not run another marathon since, a step he attributes to his "goal-driven" type-A personality.

Last year, he took 17 of the university's benefactors on a tour of Cape Town and Mala Mala to thank them for their generosity.