Prof Wikus van Niekerk is the Dean of Engineering the Pro Vice-Chancellor Institutional Efficiency at Stellenbosch University.  He holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and an Executive MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town.  

After completing his PhD he joined the University of Pretoria in the Sasol Chair in Vehicle Engineering. He moved to Stellenbosch University in January 2000.  He was the founding Director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies and played a leading role to establish research, education and training programmes in renewable energy. As Dean of the Faculty of Engineering he is responsible for six ECSA accredited engineering programmes with 3 500 undergraduate and 1 500 postgraduate students.

Prof van Niekerk is a Registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South African, an Honorary Fellow of the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering and a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering.