London, UK and Bloemfontein, South Africa: Restorative Justice For All (RJ4All) and the University of the Free State (UFS) are pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Theo Gavrielides, RJ4All’s Founder and Director, as Visiting Professor in the Department of Criminology, Faculty of the Humanities, at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The appointment was approved by the Executive Committee of the Senate at its meeting on 8 June 2026 and will run from 1 July 2026 until 30 June 2029.
The appointment reflects University of the Free State‘s vision of building a university rooted in critical scholarship, social justice and community engagement, one that sees research not as separate from the communities it studies but as a tool for repairing and strengthening them. For RJ4All, it opens a further route to embed restorative justice thinking within academic teaching, research supervision and criminological scholarship on the African continent, building on the organisation’s long-standing community practice in Rotherhithe, London, and its international policy work.
Prof. Theo Gavrielides is one of the world’s leading authorities on restorative justice, with a career spanning grassroots community practice, national policy reform and international peacebuilding. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of RJ4All Publications, the publishing arm of RJ4All, and has published extensively on social justice, peacebuilding, violent radicalisation and extremism, power and race, gender-based violence, institutional child abuse, youth justice, health and social care, and the legal philosophy of punishment.
Restorative justice cannot be built from a distance. It has to be rooted in communities, tested against real harm and real relationships, and then carried into the institutions that shape people’s lives, including universities. I am honoured to take up this appointment at the University of the Free State, and I look forward to bringing RJ4All’s community-based approach into conversation with the Department of Criminology’s teaching and research, and to learning, in turn, from the department’s work in this region.Professor Theo Gavrielides, Founder and Director, RJ4All International Institute
We are delighted to welcome Professor Theo Gavrielides as Visiting Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of the Free State. Professor Gavrielides has established an international reputation as a leading scholar in restorative justice and criminal justice reform, and his appointment reflects our commitment to strengthening international research collaboration and scholarly excellence. We look forward to working closely with Professor Gavrielides on joint research projects, postgraduate supervision, and high-impact research that addresses pressing criminal justice challenges in South Africa and beyond. We are confident that our partnership will meaningfully benefit our students, staff, and the broader Criminology community.Professor Francois Steyn, Head of the Department of Criminology, University of the Free State
Theo’s appointment as Visiting Professor at the University of the Free State is a well-deserved recognition of his academic leadership and commitment to restorative justice. His growing academic influence strengthens RJ4All’s vision of advancing restorative justice awareness, research and practice, while creating new opportunities to inspire positive change across communities and institutions.Dr. Charlotte Fernandes, RJ4All Chair of Board
Theo’s appointment at the University of the Free State, South Africa is a natural expansion of the qualities we value in his work at Central Saint Martins: rigorous scholarship, and an ability to translate years of practice into ideas and praxis that genuinely advance a field. It is a pleasure to see his contribution recognised in this new academic setting.Professor Lorraine Gamman, Design Against Crime, Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London
RJ4All and the University of the Free State hopes that this appointment will be the beginning of a longer-term collaboration between the two to promote restorative justice values in the context of South Africa.
For more information, contact: Prof. Theo Gavrielides, Founder and Director of RJ4All
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Information for editors
Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All)
RJ4All is a charitable international institute with a mission to address power abuse, conflict, and poverty through the use of restorative justice values and practices. We do this through a combination of restorative justice projects delivered both internationally and locally at the RJ4All Rotherhithe Community Centre in London. We advance community cohesion, equality, human rights, and redistribute power by supporting civil society and delivering social justice and poverty relief projects, educational programmes and high-quality volunteering opportunities for marginalised groups.
For more information: https://rj4all.org/
The University of the Free State (UFS)
The University of the Free State (UFS) has a proud history as one of the oldest, most respected institutions of higher education in South Africa. It opened its doors in Bloemfontein in 1904 as the Grey University College, with six students in the Humanities. Today it is a multi-campus institution, with two diverse campuses in Bloemfontein and one in Qwaqwa in the scenic Eastern Free State, accommodating close to 40 000 students in its seven faculties, with an increasing number of international students and associates, and an ever-widening scope of active involvement in and contribution to its surrounding communities.
For more information: https://www.ufs.ac.za/about-the-ufs
