Previous positions include: Academic Vice President of the International University of Grand-Bassam (2012-2014), then a new American University in Cote d’Ivoire, Associate Provost for Distance and Online Education at Texas Southern University, Houston Texas; Dean of International Programs at SUNY’s Empire State College; holder of the Endowed, “Distinguished Leadership Chair” at Rocky Mountain College, Montana, USA; Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Research) at the former multi-campus Vista University, South Africa with 37 000 students on 7 campuses and Managing Director of ithinQ.com, a SAP-sponsored, start-up which pioneered online learning in South Africa.
He is the author of 14 books and over 70 journal papers on issues as diverse as Soil Microscopy, the Environment, Irrigation Design, Managing Higher Education, and Globalization. His accomplishments resulted in him being one of the 22 people featured in a kind of South African “Who’s Who in Scientific Research” titled Inquiring Minds. He has also undertaken consulting work for major international development agencies and national governments on issues covering a similarly wide range of issues.
Prof. Nyamapfene has served on several Boards, including roles as Chairman or Vice Chair on some of them. In two of those roles, he served as Chair of the Board of what is now the Zimbabwe Water Authority (ZINWA) and, later, Executive Chairman of the Water Research Commission of South Africa, a premier research funding body. In the area of the Environment, one of his most noted contributions was his selection from an international bid process which attracted responses from almost 300 candidates, to serve as one of 5 individual consultants who were selected to write “The Green Paper”, a discussion document which formed the basis of current environmental legislation in South Africa.