Dr Heide Hackmann is the Interim Director of the Future Africa Institute and Strategic Advisor on Transdisciplinarity and Global Knowledge Networks at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She holds an MPhil in Contemporary Social Theory from the University of Cambridge in the UK and a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Dr Hackmann’s career, which dates back to the early 1990s when she worked at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa, includes more than 20 years of international experience in science and technology policy, global science strategy and systems development, as well as international science advice and diplomacy. Before joining the University of Pretoria, she served as the founding CEO of the International Science Council in Paris (2018-2022), and as Executive Director of the Council’s two predecessor organisations, the International Council for Science (2015-2018) and the International Social Science Council (2007-2015).
Dr Hackmann has also served as an advisor to the United Nations and remains active on the advisory boards of numerous international scientific organisations and initiatives. She has directed the production of major research-based reports, including the 2010 and 2013 World Social Science Reports, published in collaboration with UNESCO (2010, 2013) and the OECD (2013). Dr Hackmann is a Fellow of the International Science Council and a member of the Council’s Global Sustainability Commission.