Prof Diane Grayson did her masters in plasma physics at the University of KwaZulu Natal and a PhD in physics at the University of Washington, where she was a member of the Physics Education Group. For most of her career she has promoted and conducted research on the effective teaching and learning of physics and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects. She served for six years on the International Commission on Physics Education, a commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, and organised an international conference, “What Physics Should We Teach?” She also served in the education portfolio on the Council of the South African Institute of Physics. She was Deputy Chair of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education Committee of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), and represented Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) at a number of meetings in Africa and Europe on improving science teaching and on inquiry-based science education.
During her career, she has worked in various academic and management roles at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Pretoria and the Witwatersrand, and has been a visiting academic at Umeå University in Sweden, University of Hiroshima in Japan and Curtin University of Technology in Australia.
Since 2013, her main focus has been on using systems thinking as a frame for promoting student success at university and higher education sector level, and on strengthening university teachers and teaching.
