Tom Bisschoff

Tom Bisschoff was born in Pietermaritzburg in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, also called the last outpost of the British Empire by the rest of South Africa. He completed his high school education in this green and hilly city that reminds you of Bath in England.

After graduating in Accountancy he joined the teaching profession at a high school in Durban. He took up a lecturing post at the University of South Africa (UNISA - the largest distance university in South Africa) in 1976. In 1983 he became head of the Accountancy Department at a University of Technology (formerly known as a Technikon [Polytechnic]). In 1984 he was appointed professor and campus director at one of the campuses of Vista University (in 2004 incorporated into other existing universities such as the University of Johannesburg).

Since 1996 Tom has been Professor of Education Management at the University of Johannesburg (previously Rand Afrikaans University). He is presently the Head of Department.

Various articles appeared over the years in journals and he also authored and co-authored eight books in the field of Education Management and the teaching of Business Subjects. His most recent books are titled Public School Governance in South Africa (2007), Project Management in Education and Training (2004), Effective School Marketing (2004) and Financial School Management Explained (2003) . Tom holds an honours degree in Accountancy and a doctorate in Education and is a National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) rated researcher in the field of Education Management. He was a guest editor for a special issue on Education Management in Africa for the prestigious International Studies in Educational Administration (ISEA) journal and is co-editor of the South African Journal for Education Leadership and Management (SAJELM) .

He is the vice president of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM) and has been admitted, in 2006, as a fellow of this international body.