Colin Bundy

Professor Colin James Bundy (born 4 October 1944) is a South African historian and former Principal[1] of Green Templeton College, Oxford.

Professor Bundy was an influential member of a generation of historians who substantially revised understanding of South African history. In particular, he wrote on South Africa's rural past from a predominantly Marxist perspective, but also deploying Africanist and underdevelopment theories.[2] Since the mid-1990s, however, Bundy has held a series of posts in university administration. Professor Bundy is also a trustee of the Canon Collins Educational & Legal Assistance Trust.

Education

He received his secondary education at Graeme College, Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province.

Bundy was educated at the University of Natal (B.A.) and the University of the Witwatersrand (B.A. (Hons)). He was then a Rhodes Scholar at Merton College, Oxford (1968–70) and a Beit Senior Research Scholar at St Antony's (1970–72), graduating as an M.Phil. and D.Phil of the University of Oxford with a thesis entitled African peasants and economic change in South Africa, 1870-1913, with particular reference to the Cape (1976).

Career

Bundy was Director and Principal of the School of Oriental and African Studies (2001–06);[3] Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of London (2003–06); Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand (1997-2001); and Director of the Institute for Historical Research (1992–94) and Vice Rector (1994-97), University of the Western Cape.

He returned to Oxford as a Research Fellow at Queen Elizabeth House (1979–80) and in the Department for External Studies (1980–84), subsequently being elected an Honorary Fellow of Kellogg College. From 2006 until 2008 he was Warden of Green College, Oxford, becoming the first Principal of Green Templeton College on 1 October 2008, when Green College merged with Templeton College. He retired from this position on 1 October 2010.[4]

Publications

His publications include:

  • Remaking the Past: New Perspectives in South African History (Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 1987)

References

  1. University of Oxford: Appointments page
  2. Colin Bundy (1991). "Marxism in South Africa:Context, Themes and Challenges". Tramsformation 16: 56–66.
  3. "SOAS Honorary Fellows". SOAS.
  4. Oxford University Gazette: Notices

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
Robert Charlton
Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand
1997 — 2001
Succeeded by
Norma Ried-Birley
New title Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford
2008 — 2010
Succeeded by
Sir David Watson