Rob Adam

Rob Adam retired from the position of Managing Director of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) in October 2022 and now provides expert advisory services to organisations including the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Lancaster Group and the Paarl Africa Underground Laboratory. Rob was appointed Director of the South African Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Radio Telescope project in 2016 and became Managing Director of the SARAO when this new National Facility was declared by the Minister of Science and Technology in 2017. Rob matriculated from Bishops in Cape Town in 1972 and graduated from the University of Cape Town with a first class Honour’s degree in Chemistry in 1978. He subsequently obtained Honour’s and Master’s degrees in Theoretical Physics and a PhD in Nuclear Physics. He was awarded Honoris Causa DSc degrees by the universities of Cape Town (2022) and Stellenbosch (2023). From an academic perspective, Rob has held teaching and research positions in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and South Africa. He has co-authored over 40 refereed articles in theoretical physics, chemistry and astronomy, published widely on science and technology policy and co-authored a book on science and technology in the Republic of Chile. He is also currently a Professor of Physics at both the University of Stellenbosch and the University of South Africa and has served on the Council of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa. In 1995, after the first democratically elected South African administration assumed office, Rob joined government. In 1999 he was appointed Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology and held this position until 2006, when he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), South Africa’s statutory nuclear technology company. In 2012 Rob joined the private sector and became Group Executive: Nuclear at Aveng, a publicly-listed multinational infrastructure company, from where, in 2015, he moved to his positions at SARAO and the SKA. He was a member of the Council of the SKA (representing South Africa) and has chaired or served on numerous other Boards and Councils.