Professor Tebello Nyokong of Rhodes University was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s NRF Awards, held in Port Elizabeth, 2013. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Rhodes University and holder of the DST-NRF Research Chair in Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology, as well as Director of the DST-Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre focussing on sensors.

Tebello Nyokong speaks to Robert Berold and Janice Limson about her career as a chemist. Tebello Nyokong, who holds a research chair in medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology at Rhodes University, has become the first South African scientist to win the L’Oreal-UNESCO award for women in science, in the physical sciences. Only one laureate is selected from each of five world regions, and Nyokong is the 2009 laureate for Africa and the Arab states. She and the winners from the other four regions travel to Paris in March to each accept the award and a generous prize of close to R1 million. Nyokong now heads the new Nanotechnology Innovation Centre for medical sensors: the biggest single research investment in the history of Rhodes. Linked to other nanotechnology centres in the country, it is designed to bridge the gap between research and the market.

South African scientist Professor Tebello Nyokong scoops 2009 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. Announced on November 10, South African scientist Professor Tebello Nyokong has become the first South African scientist to win the L’ORÉALUNESCO award for women in science for research in physical sciences.

In September 2011, IT News Africa, named two Western alumnae, Uche Eze, HBA'06, and Tebello Nyokong, PhD1987 (Chemistry) in their list of top 10 most influential women in science and technology in Africa. Nyokong is a professor of medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology at Rhodes University and is recognized as one of the top three publishing scientists in South Africa.

University of Western Ontario President's Report 2004

Award-winning Grahamstown professor Tebello Nyokong is reaching for the stars after she was appointed to a prestigious United Nations panel tasked with using science to reduce world poverty.

Tebello Nyokong, DST/NRF Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology at Rhodes and a 2009 'L'Oreal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science' Laureate, has been invited by Ms Irina Bokova, the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Director-General, to sit on the newly announced UNESCO High Panel on Science, Technology and Innovation for Development.

Professor Tebello Nyokong was awarded the 2009/2010 CEO (Celebrating excellence in organisations) Most Influential Women in Business and Government (MIW) in the Education and Teaching Sector and was named as a runner-up in the Quality of Life category of the Department of Science and Technology's (DST) 2009 Distinguished Woman Scientist Award. Holding a DST/NRF South African Research Chairs Initiative Chair in Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology, she is also the Director of the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre (NIC) for Sensors. Her pioneering research into photodynamic therapy to harness light for cancer therapy and the early detection of human diseases and environmental clean-up continues to draw attention for more reasons than are immediately apparent.

The elimination of certain cancers with light, known as photodynamic therapy, is a relatively new technique that has mainly been used in Russia, the USA and some parts of Europe, but with remarkable effectiveness. Professor Tebello Nyokong of the Department of Chemistry , at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, is collaborating with Professor David Phillips of the Imperial College, London, as part of the AtlantIC Alliance which also involves Emory University, Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology, both in Atlanta, SA.

The Mrica-Arab State 2009 L'Oreal-Unesco Award for Women in Science recipient and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology, Tebello Nyokong, has been honoured by her own institution for her outstanding scholarly reputation and productivity. Rhodes University formerly conferred the title of Distinguished Professor on Professor Nyokong for her academic excellence and productivity at its recent Graduation ceremony.