Saleem Badat is Research Professor in History at the University of the Free State. He was senior programme officer at the Mellon Foundation, vice-chancellor of Rhodes University, and head of the advisory body to the minister of higher education. He mentors Humanities early career scholars, and his research concerns are equity, redress, and social transformation. He is researching a book on the idea of the university in South Africa and co-editing a book on research and activism. His books include Tennis, Apartheid & Social Justice, The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid and Black Student Politics, Higher Education and Apartheid.