This month it was announced that CHE graduate Wayne Visser has taken up the post of Research Director for the Cambridge University Programme for Industry.

Wayne, who was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, graduated with a Masters in Human Ecology in 1996. After graduation he was KPMG's director of Sustainability Services in South Africa and also set up the South African New Economics Foundation.

More recently he has been engaged in doctoral research at Nottingham University Business School's International Centre for Corporate Social responsibility in the UK acting as a visiting research fellow at the University of London School of Management's Centre for Research in Sustainability and External Examiner of the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry's Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business.

Wayne has also published a number of books, including one on the future of South Africa and another on why sustainable business "is a much better idea". Earlier this year he published 'Business Frontiers: Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Economic Justice'.

Wayne's PhD looks at meaning in the life and work of sustainability managers and finds a strong drive to "make a difference" and to "leave a legacy" among people working on social, environmental and ethical issues. Essentially, these people see themselves as champions of change at various levels.

Wayne has an enduring passion for Africa and its people. During his last trip in May - to attend the annual conference of the International Academy of African Business and Development in Accra, Ghana - he found an encouraging rise in interest on the role of governance, social responsibility and values in bringing about the African Renaissance.

Underlying all Wayne's work is the belief that society needs to make a fundamental shift in its approach to economics and business, and that this will only come from taking a whole-systems approach and reconnecting with human creativity and a sense of higher purpose.

Of his new post Wayne said: “As Research Director, I will be seeking to build a body of knowledge to underpin CPI's core mission of promoting learning, leadership and change in sustainability (www.cpi.cam.ac.uk). This will include research underpinning some of their core programmes, like the work they've been doing on business and poverty, climate change policy and sustainability in China. It will also seek to build a model of how learning, leadership and change towards sustainability happens in business and government.”

With so much 'heady' stuff going on in his life, Wayne gets soulful expression through painting and poetry, which can be seen at his website http://www.waynevisser.com