Prize-giving function held for top performing Economics students from 2023

On 19 March 2024 the Department of Economics held their annual postgraduate welcoming and prize-giving function. The purpose of this function is to welcome the new intake of postgraduate students in the department and to celebrate the excellent academic achievements of our students in the previous academic year.

The event started off with an inspiring talk by Lisette Ijssel de Schepper from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER). Lisette is an alumnus from the Department. She started her career as junior economist at the BER in 2012 and was recently appointed as the first female chief economist at the BER. Lisette gave an overview of her career as economist and her positive outlook on life (and the economy), despite all the challenges and uncertainties. After Lisette's talk, the following prizes, which were sponsored by Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) and the Department of Economics, were awarded:

Top performance in Economics 114 and 144 in 2023

Second place: Aldrich Rossouw: BCom (Actuarial Science): Obtained an average mark of 93,1% for Economics 114 and 144.

Photo: Aldrich Rossouw (left) with Prof Ada Jansen (Chair of the Department of Economics) (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First place: Lars Arne Penzhorn: BCom (Actuarial Science): Obtained an average mark of 96,3% for Economics 114 and 144.

Photo: Lars Penzhorn (left) with Prof Ada Jansen (Chair of the Department of Economics) (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top performance in Economics 214 and 244 in 2023

Second place: Benjamin Roelofse: BCom (Actuarial Science): Obtained an average mark of 88,5% for Economics 214 and 244.

Photo: Benjamin Roelofse (left) with Prof Ada Jansen (Chair of the Department of Economics) (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First place: Jana Grobbelaar: BCom (International Business): Obtained an average mark of 96,5% for Economics 214 and 244.

Top performance in Economics 318 and 348 in 2023

Second place: Joseph Andrew Gray: BCom (Management Sciences): Obtained an average mark of 83% for Economics 318 and 348.

Photo: Joseph Gray (left) with Prof Ada Jansen (Chair of the Department of Economics) (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First place: Luca Reed Bester: BA (Law): Obtained an average mark of 84% for Economics 318 and 348.

The SA Cloete medal (for the best undergraduate student in Economics)

The SA Cloete medal for undergraduate students is awarded annually to the best third-year Economics student. Although performance in the third year carries the largest weight, students' performance in first and second year Economics is also taken into consideration. The medal is also awarded at the postgraduate level.

The SA Cloete medal for the best undergraduate student in 2023 was awarded to Luca Reed Bester.

Top performance in the Honours programme in Economics in 2023

Second place: We had three students that shared the second place position (each of them obtained a final mark of 76%). The students (listed in alphabetical order) were: 

Stephen Michael Dachs, Andre Louis Le Roux, and Stefan Rossouw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First place: Thomas John Janisch (obtained a final mark of 80%).

Top performance in the Master’s programme in Economics in 2023

Second place: Christiaan de Swardt (obtained a final mark of 78%).

First place: Cassandra Dulcie Pengelly (obtained a final mark of 80%).

The SA Cloete medal (for the best postgraduate student in Economics)

This medal is awarded to the top postgraduate student in Economics (from the Honours and Master’s class). This year, two postgraduate students were awarded the SA Cloete medal:

Thomas John Janisch and Cassandra Dulcie Pengelly.

The Prof Sampie Terreblanche prize

The Prof Sampie Terreblanche Prize is awarded to the postgraduate student (Honours or Master's) that wrote the best postgraduate research assignment that deals with inequality. This year, the prize was awarded to Rebecca Lucy Bruens for her Honours research assignment titled Counting the social class: The role of class imagery and subjective social location on preferences towards redistributive policy in South Africa for which she obtained a final mark of 83%. She was supervised by Dr Debra Shepherd.