Diab was Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Univ. of KwaZulu-Natal, the former Executive Officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and served as Special Advisor to GenderInSITE. She obtained her PhD from the University of Virginia, USA, in 1983. She was a fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the South African Geographical Society, the African Academy of Sciences and TWAS, and a member of ASSAf. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and served on numerous international committees such as the International Ozone Commission. She chaired the Gender Advisory Committee of TWAS. She served on the African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies and was Co-Chair of an OECD Expert Group on Reducing the Precarity of Young Researchers’ Careers.

Marwala is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and the rector of the UN University. He was previously vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg and deputy vice-chancellor for research, postgraduate studies and the library, and was previously dean of engineering and the built environment, University of Johannesburg. He was professor of electrical engineering, and Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair of systems and control engineering, University of the Witwatersrand. He has been chair of the Local Loop Unbundling Committee and non-executive director of SITA, EOH, Denel and City Power. He has received more than 40 awards including: Order of Mapungubwe, and President Award, National Research Foundation. He holds a PhD in engineering from University of Cambridge. He has supervised 47 masters and 37 PhD students and published 25 books, 300 refereed papers in journals, proceedings and book chapters and holds 3 international patents. He is a fellow of many organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Daya Reddy is Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and previously held the South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics. He completed a degree in civil engineering at UCT, and a Ph.D. degree at Cambridge University in the UK. The focus of his research is on is research focusing on mathematical modelling, analysis, and simulation, with applications in materials science and biomechanics. Reddy served as the inaugural President of the International Science Council (ISC). He is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, the South African Academy of Engineering, and a Member and former President of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is also an elected Fellow of the International Association of Computational Mechanics and of the ISC. He is a recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe, awarded by the President of South Africa for distinguished contributions to science, and of the Georg Forster Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.

Crewe is a Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, U. of Pretoria (UP); Em. Vice-principal of UP; former pres., Acad. of Science of South Africa; fellow, Royal Soc. of South Africa; fellow, African Acad. of Science, and Royal Entomological Soc. of London. He obtained degrees in chemistry and biochemistry at the U. of Natal in Pietermaritzburg. He obtained his PhD in entomology at the U. of Georgia where he developed his interest in chemical communication and social organization in social insects. He was director of the Communication Biology Research Group, U. of Witwatersrand, for 10 years; dean, Science Faculties at both the univ. of Witwatersrand and Pretoria, and pres., Entomological Society of Southern Africa. He has been awarded the Gold Medal, Zoological Society of South Africa, the Gold Medal, Acad. of Science of South Africa and Ordre National du Mérite rank Chevalier.

Mizrahi is Professor Emerita and Senior Scholar, former Professorial Director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Director of the Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Awards include the 2013 Christophe Mérieux Prize from the Mérieux Foundation and Institut de France; UNESCO-L'Oréal For Women in Science Prize (Africa and Middle East region, 2000); the Gold Medal of the SA Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2006); Platinum Lifetime award from the South African Medical Research Council (2017) and the Order of the Mapungubwe: Silver of South Africa (2006). She is fellow of the Royal Society, International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and Fellow of UCT. She has trained dozens of young researchers and participated in many capacity strengthening programs in Africa.