Rate My Professor Christo Doherty

Christo Doherty is an Associate Professor in the Wits School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand. He holds a BA, BA(Hons) and MA from the University of Natal. Professor Doherty is a photographer and video artist whose academic work focuses on the intersection of art, technology and innovation. He founded the Digital Arts Department in the Wits School of Arts and developed programmes in digital animation, interactive media and game design, establishing Wits as the first South African university to integrate new technologies into its art curricula. He co-founded the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival and served as its first Creative Director. He previously held the position of Chair of Research in the Wits School of Arts and currently serves as Acting Angela and David Fine Chair in Innovation at the Wits Innovation Centre, where he oversees innovation research and development across the university and directs the ArtSci4Innovation programme, which facilitates collaborative projects between artists and scientists in engineering and physics.

Professor Doherty has contributed to advancing artist-in-residence models and the conceptualisation of innovation within African research universities, including explorations of artificial intelligence applications in African contexts. His leadership roles have supported institutional initiatives at the intersection of the arts and innovation ecosystems at Wits.