Dr Ellen Chenesai Rungani, University of Fort Hare
Dr Ellen Chenesai Rungani has a PhD in business management from Northwest University (2018). Her research revolves around questions of entrepreneurship, finance, and management of small businesses. She also an expert in strategic planning development and review. In 2021 she was selected for the Future Professor Program through the Department of Higher Education South Africa (2021-2024) . She has held several academic leadership positions at the university of Fort Hare such as heading the Business management and being an acting deputy dean teaching and learning. She has also contributed in the setting up for the Gender based Violence Prevention Unit as the chairperson of the University of Fort Hare GBV task team. Dr Rungani is also involved in the EDHE where she mentors student entrepreneurs . She has also been a visiting scholar at the university of East London in the United Kingdom where she collaborated with scholars in the field of finance and entrepreneurship. Her work has been recognised through the awarding of accolades such as VC excellence award in community engagement as well as the VC excellence award in Teaching in the eLearning category. Her work has also been recognised outside South Africa where she received the Senior Fellowship (SFHEA) in 2023 a designation provided by the United Kingdom Teaching and Learning Professional Standards. Dr Rungani also received the TAU fellowship in 2024 through the Department of Higher Education South Africa. She has also received funding from EDHE for the Economic Activation Centre to support student entrepreneurship across disciplines.