Marilet Sienaert-van Reenen

Marilet Sienaert-van Reenen is a literary scholar and research administrator.

Biography

Sienaert studied at the University of Pretoria where she completed her honours cum laude. In 1979 she made her first trip to UCT where she obtained her Master’s in French Literature. She then completed a year at the University of Montpellier in France before heading to KwaZulu-Natal where she spent 23 years as an academic teaching literature, French and later Afrikaans. Sienaert studied at the University of Pretoria where she completed her honours cum laude. In 1979 she made her first trip to UCT where she obtained her Master’s in French Literature. She then completed a year at the University of Montpellier in France before heading to KwaZulu-Natal where she spent 23 years as an academic teaching literature, French and later Afrikaans.

She pursued her doctorate at the then University of Natal’s Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, applying French literary theory to Dutch and early Afrikaans texts. After receiving her PhD, Sienaert began teaching poetry in the department where she delved into the works of Breyten Breytenbach, particularly on the interrelatedness of art and writing.

Dr Marilet Sienaert is the retired Executive Director: Research at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. In this role, she headed the Research Office, the Office of Research Integrity, the Postgraduate Studies and Researcher Development Directorate, and the Postgraduate Centre and Funding Office. Her remit included institutional strategic planning; sustainable and effective research management structures, systems and processes; research governance; policy development; building international partnerships, and researcher capacity development. Her career in research management spans 20 years. She continues to draw on this experience in her current capacity as a higher education consultant.

Prior to her shift into management, Dr Sienaert was a Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at the then University of Durban-Westville (now University of KwaZulu-Natal).