DOCTOR PHILOSOPHY: CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS (HONORIS CAUSA)

Gaye Kemsley Le Roux was born on 20 May 1938 in Adelaide, in the Eastern Cape. She studied at the University of Natal and was subsequently awarded the Certificate in Quantity Surveying in 1962 With this qualification she became the first woman to qualify as a quantity surveyor in South Africa. In 2004 Gaye was awarded her PhD at the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE).

In 1970 Gaye joined the then UPE in the Department of Quantity Surveying as a lecturer - a post she held until 1981. In 1977 she became a partner in QS Publications, becoming the sole owner in 1997. In 1982 she was promoted to Senior Lecturer and in 1983, to Professor and Head of Department of Quantity Surveying. She lead this department with unprecedented success for the next 16 years.

Gaye has been actively involved in professional bodies since the start of her career being a member of the SA Council for Quantity Surveyors from 1984 to 2001 and a member of the SA Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession in 2001 and 2002. In 2001 Gaye was appointed as chairperson of the Assessment of Professional Competence Committee and at the same time was also chairperson of the Education/Continuing Professional Development Committee. From 1984 to 2002 she was a national board member of the Association of SA Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) and in 1987 was elected as the National President of the Association - to date, the only woman to have held this office. From 1977 to 2002 she was a member of the ASAQS Eastern Cape Chapter Committee and was elected chairperson from 1979 to 1980.

In 1989 Gaye was a member of the Advisory Board of Real Estate Surveys in Stellenbosch and also co-authored the book “Everyman’s Building Contract”. She is also the co-author of the first two South African textbooks on quantity surveying.

From 1997 to 2002 Gaye was director of the QS EduTech Centre, which was an instant-information resource helpline established in Port Elizabeth in 1997. From 1989 to 2001 she was the founder/director of Entrepreneurial Development Southern Africa (EDSA), a Section 21 Company which provided skills training to emerging/informal sector contractors in all the provinces.

Since 1998 Gaye has been a member and deputy chairperson of the National Standards Body 12: Physical Planning and Construction, as part of the SA Qualifications Authority (SAQA). During 2000 she was appointed the Registrar of the SA Council for Town and Regional Planners and was a member of the Stakeholder Forum of the Construction Industry Development Board. Currently Gaye fills the position of Registrar of the South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP). She is the first woman to fill this position.

Gaye has played an instrumental role over a period of 29 years in growing and developing quantity surveying as a niche area at this university.  NMMU is now regarded as one of the leading universities in the country in this field. Her involvement at a national level and her leadership in the profession has contributed not only to the enhancement of the profession in South Africa, but also internationally.

Professor le Roux has made a substantial contribution to advancing the frontiers of broad-based knowledge through teaching and learning, research and social engagement in the field of the built environment in general, and specifically in quantity surveying. In recognition of this contribution and her innovative visionary leadership, it is an honour for NMMU to confer the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Construction Economics, (honoris causa) on GAYE KEMSLEY LE ROUX.