UK 

Paul Kumleben

Paul is Chairman of the UCT Trust UK Board of Trustees, having joined the Board in May 2017. He has served as its Chairman since November 2020. Mr. Kumleben is currently acting as an interim Director of the UCT Fund Board of Trustees. He was the Managing Partner of the London office of Davis Polk & Wardwell, a law firm with offices in major financial centers in the US, Europe and Asia, for 22 years and has been Senior Counsel at the firm since 2017. Before moving to London, Paul worked in the firm’s New York and Washington offices. In 2017 Paul spent a year as a Fellow of Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute.

Paul received a BA from the University of Cape Town, his LLB from the University of Natal, a BA Honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar at University College, and a JD from IIT/Kent in Chicago. His non-professional interests include various nonprofit initiatives in education and media across Africa and in the U.K.

“My interest in UCT developed when some of my contemporaries held senior positions there and I became aware of the excellent work currently being done. I believe that a world class university is essential for the country’s progress and I am thus happy to devote time and resources to UCT.”
 

Nhlamu Dlomu

Nhlamu Dlomu is the Global Head of People for KPMG International. She sits on the organization’s Global Management Team and is responsible for leading the execution of a leading-edge Talent Strategy for over 250,000 KPMG people in 146 countries. Prior to her current Global Head of People role, Nhlamu was the CEO of KPMG’s South African firm, and more recently served as KPMG’s Head of Global Culture and Organizational Development. Nhlamu has over 20 years’ experience in management consulting and strategic human resources across various industry sectors. As the former Head of People for KPMG in South Africa, and a former HR and organizational development executive for one of South Africa’s largest banks, Nhlamu’s experience spans culture transformation, change management consulting, leadership development and other strategic people management practices.

Nhlamu graduated from the University of Western Cape with a Bachelor of Psychology, followed by a BSocSci Honours from UCT and later an MA in Clinical Psychology from the University of Witwatersrand. She also holds a GEDP certificate from the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

“I am very privileged to join the Board of Trustees. I joined the Board as a way to contribute in a small way to the continued success of UCT. This matters to me not only as UCT has played a role in my own development, but also as I believe that as the top African University, it has an outsized opportunity of contributing to South Africa, the African continent and the world by producing the best graduates to fuel our societies, economies and contribute to critical academic research that can make a real difference in the world.”

Dr Paula Walter

Paula was Chief Technology and Information Officer at Aldermore Group, responsible for technology and data strategy across the group.  Previous roles include Chief Operating Officer at Ruffer LLP and Chief Technology Officer at Newton Investment Management. Paula began her career as a software developer in the technology division of Goldman Sachs, where she held various positions supporting the Equities and Investment Management Divisions, running global Technology teams.

An alumna of the Universities of Cape Town and Oxford (where she was a Commonwealth Scholar at Christ Church), she holds honours degrees in mathematics and linguistics from UCT, and a DPhil and MPhil in linguistics from Oxford.  She also recently participated in an Advanced Management Programme at the IESE Business School.  Paula’s father was an Emeritus Professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UCT, and her brother is currently Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Science at UCT.

Paula has a number of external appointments, primarily focused on education. Along with being a trustee of the UCT Trust UK, she is a Director of the German School London and a member of the Royal College of Music’s audit committee.
 
“I choose to support UCT, because I believe that high quality tertiary education is essential for South Africa’s growth and success. Our Universities teach us to think and to question and to learn, and to challenge ourselves to build a better future.”.

USA

Jeannette Safi - USA

Jeannette Safi is Chair, President, and Assistant Treasurer of the UCT Fund Inc., having joined the Board in 2015. She is a New York admitted attorney, legal and business advisor, and strategist, with extensive corporate law experience, capital raising and management expertise, and transactional prowess. With over 15 years of experience advising global companies on all aspects of business formation and growth in both developed and emerging markets, Jeannette currently consults on corporate transactions and strategic matters across multiple jurisdictions.

Born and raised in Lesotho, Ms. Safi received her Bachelor of Laws (cum laude) from the University of Cape Town in 2006. Jeannette began her legal career at the world-renowned law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, practicing for over a decade in their New York, London, and Paris offices. During her tenure, she represented major financial institutions, investment banks, and global corporations, leading hundreds of deals that raised US$10 billion in equity financing and secured over US$70 billion in debt funding. Her expertise spans public and private equity and debt offerings, including IPOs, spin-offs, and acquisition financings.

More recently, Jeannette has broadened her practice to include transactional and advisory work in the venture capital markets. She is passionate about harnessing legal and business structuring and risk mitigation strategies to overcome barriers to international capital for EM/FM start-ups, particularly in South Africa and on the continent. She has a special interest in non-traditional capital raising vehicles and ecosystems, such as crypto-funding and blockchain regulatory regimes, and their intersection with conventional securities regulation.

Maintaining strong ties to the UCT community globally, Jeannette is committed to supporting UCT in the US, strengthening inclusion and diversity in alumni engagement and giving, and deepening the community of excellent UCT Ambassadors. As the first female chair of the UCT Fund, she aims to honour this distinction with a special focus on philanthropic initiatives addressing social exclusion and gender-based violence in the domestic law arena.

“I became involved with the UCT Fund because I believe in the transformative power of education. The opportunity to contribute to the University of Cape Town, an institution that has shaped my own journey, is deeply meaningful to me. As Chair, I am committed to supporting initiatives that empower students, foster innovation, and drive positive change both locally and globally.”

Roxsanne Dyssell 

Roxsanne is a board member of the UCT Fund.  She is the Managing Partner at Afamba International LLC, which specialises in the regulatory, financial, and technical management for prominent satellite companies such as SpaceX, Amazon, Apple, Globalstar and EutelSat across Africa.  Roxsanne is responsible for strategic direction, client relations, and fostering innovation within the team bringing together diverse teams composed of engineers, legal practitioners, financial experts, and more and ensure that they have the systems and tools they need to push the company in the right direction. 

Roxsanne, who completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental & Geographical Science, was the first and only person to get a university degree from her mother’s side of the family.  On her father’s side – they were UCT all the way: a grandmother who was in Fuller, aunts, uncles, siblings and cousins were all at UCT and a cousin lectured at UCT.

“I'm passionate about supporting educational opportunities and would be honored to contribute my expertise to the USA UCT Fund Board, helping deserving South African students achieve their academic goals”.

Duncan Robertson
Duncan Robertson is a partner and Chief Financial Officer of Bridger Holdings, LP, a private investment firm based in Palo Alto, CA. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer of OpenTable Inc., a Nasdaq-listed provider of online restaurant reservations, which was sold to Booking.com in June 2014. Prior to joining OpenTable, Duncan was CFO of SnapStick Inc., a mobile application software company, and Aricent Inc., a technology services company purchased by KKR and Sequoia Capital from Flextronics in June 2005. He also worked as vice president finance and investor relations at Flextronics Inc., an electronic manufacturing services provider. Duncan was a member of the board of directors of Care.com Inc. until it was acquired by IAC Inc. in December 2019 and was on the board of trustees (including board chair and chair of the investment committee) of the San Francisco Foundation for ten years. Duncan holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Cape Town and an MBA (with high honours) from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

"I have been forever grateful for the education and experience I received at UCT. Thirty-five years later, I am honoured to have the opportunity to join the UCT Fund board of directors as we expand this amazing institution’s reach among fellow alumni in the US. Access to an affordable quality education is a cornerstone for the success of future generations in South Africa - and I can’t think of a better way to contribute to that important goal". 

Valerie Mizrahi 
Valerie Mizrahi, FRS, is Professor Emerita, Senior Scholar and director of the Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she also serves as a Research Specialist in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, providing support for research development. 

Valerie was born and raised in Zimbabwe. She obtained her BSc, BSc (Hons) and PhD degrees from UCT. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Penn State University, she worked at SmithKline & French in the USA before returning to South Africa to establish a research unit at the South African Institute of Medical Research. She served as founding co-director of the Department of Science & Innovation/ National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research from 2004-2023 and directed an extramural research unit of the South African Medical Research Council from 2000-2021. She was based at the University of the Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg for 22 years before moving to UCT in 2011 where she served the professorial director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) until 2023. She is a former International Research Scholar and Senior International Research Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (USA). As director of the IDM, Valerie led its growth and advancement to become the largest cross-Faculty postgraduate research institute at UCT and leading centre of research excellence in Africa renowned for its research and training programmes in tuberculosis, HIV, HIV-associated tuberculosis, and other diseases prevalent in Africa.
Recognised by her peers as a global leader in TB research, Valerie has held an “A” rating from the National Research Foundation of South Africa since 2009. She has published more than 185 original research articles, reviews, commentaries, and book chapters. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, African Academy of Science and Royal Society of South Africa, Associate Fellow of The World Academy of Science, and member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. Her major awards include the 2000 Unesco-L’Oréal For Women in Science Award (Africa & Middle East), the 2013 Christophe Mérieux Prize from the Mérieux Foundation, Gold Medal of the South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2016), the Order of the Mapungubwe (Silver, 2007), SAMRC Platinum Award (2017), and Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship (2018). In 2023, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  

Valerie has served on numerous scientific advisory boards and review committees locally and abroad. She is currently a member of the Discovery Experts Group of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Board of Governors of the GSK Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation, and the scientific/external advisory boards of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, the Seattle TB Research Advancement Centre and the Africa Microscopy Initiative. Valerie has trained more than 80 postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows, some of whom have moved into leadership positions in South Africa and abroad. Valerie has sponsored and/or mentored many other postgraduate students, postdocs and junior faculty, and has made significant contributions to programs supporting the career development of dozens of early-career researchers from across Africa. 

“I hope to bring to the board an insider’s view of the myriad areas of research excellence at UCT, and in so doing, help foster a sense of pride and excitement within our alumni and donor communities”

AUSTRALIA

Noel McIntosh

Noel is director and trustee of the UCT Australian Trust.  He completed his Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering in 1965.  SHAWCO was a central part of his university days and in the 2010’s when he supported Prof Jackie Stewart in lifting SHAWCO out of its financial struggles.  A driving factor motivating Noel to be engaged in fundraising is assisting young people at UCT to have a similar life and experience to his, when he was given a bursary to study at UCT.

Noel worked at IBM and then at the start of the personal computer age, foresaw the need for touch typing skills across all professions and launched an extremely successful business TYPEQUICK.  This business was a runaway international success – exported to eleven countries and translated into 5 languages. As of 2024 it has trained over six million people across the world.

Noel now enjoys time to pursue his passions for vintage cars – having driven his 1913 Vauxhall around the world:  across Australia, the USA and from London to Vladivostok.  The latter adventure was done with his son.  Together with his family, Noel established the Marjorie McIntosh Midwifery foundation to train midwives and he has also put funding in place to finance SHAWCO’s Mum’s and Bubs clinic for five years.

“I am excited by the  possibilities of using my inventive mind and system capabilities to develop new fund raising ideas. We need to connect with alumni and help them support their passionate education aims. 
Connect, collect and have fun. Education makes better,  more honest people"
 

”.