Oguttu took up the position in 2003 and the family moved to SA. Her husband was pursuing a master’s degree by correspondence with the University of Pretoria at the time and a year later was also appointed to a teaching position at UNISA. “We get to drive here together every morning,” she beamed. She completed her doctorate in international tax law in 2008 becoming only the second woman in SA to do so and the first black woman in the country to obtain the qualification. “Prof. Lynette Olivier, the first woman to graduate with this doctorate, is a lecturer at University of Johannesburg and was very helpful to me during my studies. I think there are few doctorates in this area because tax law is a very lucrative qualification in the commerce industry so most graduates end up being lured away from academia. For that reason, I don’t get too preoccupied with being the first black woman with the doctorate. I think anyone could have achieved this if they put their minds to it although I am pleased if my achievements encourage black students to work harder.” In 2009, Oguttu received a grant from the USA’s University of Michigan - African Presidential Scholars Program, where she pursued her post doctoral studies in International Tax Law and was given an award for academic excellence and outstanding contribution to the intellectual community of the
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University of Michigan. Oguttu can also take credit for another first – she is the foremost black woman to be admitted as a full professor in the college of law at UNISA. She was appointed in 2010 and delivered her inaugural lecture in the same year on the complex topic of tax pairing.
Foundation (NRF) has rated her a C2 researcher, a rating which she said she is very proud of. “The highest NRF rating one can get is an A which is given to the real ‘centres of knowledge’. These are the people who are known to publish textbooks in certain subject areas and there are only one or two
The first black woman professor in UNISA’s College of Law is a recent recipient of a national “Distinguished Women in Science” Award presented to her by the then Science and Technology minister Naledi Pandor... “The inaugural lecturer is an hour long address that a new professor is required to give in front of invited guests and academia. My lecture was attended by officials from the South African Revenue Services as well as the National Treasury. I was nervous in the beginning but this spurred me on and the comments from my peers thereafter were very positive.” Professor Oguttu has published several articles and conducted a significant amount of research in her area of specialisation. The South African National Research
of them in the country. Then come the B graded researchers who are also highly rated specialists in their areas of research. Not far behind are C rated researchers and it pleases me to see my work quoted by students in their theses and others writing about tax law in general. SA was isolated in terms of tax law due to apartheid and therefore there is a significant opportunity to contribute to its development by way of research.” In recognition of her work, the Women in Science Awards (WISA) granted Oguttu the second runner up position for the 2012 “Distinguished