Professor Stephanie Burton is Professor in Biochemistry, in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and a senior Professor at Future Africa, at the University of Pretoria (UP). She is the former Vice-Principal for Research and Postgraduate Education at UP (2011 to 2020), and she is also appointed as an Honorary Professor in Biochemistry at Rhodes University.

Professor Burton holds an MSc in Organic Chemistry (1990) and a PhD in Biochemistry (1994) from Rhodes University.  She lectured in Biochemistry at Rhodes University, and in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. She subsequently served as Director of Postgraduate Studies, and Director of the Biocatalysis and Technical Biology Group, at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, before taking up her position as DVC at the University of Pretoria.  Her research interests are in biocatalysis, applied biochemistry and sustainable processes.

Professor Burton is the immediate past President and a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (RSSA), and she has served as a member of the Council, and as the interim President, of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). She is a Research Fellow for Universities South Africa (USAf), a member of the Governing Council of Future Earth and Co-Chair on the Board of the International Academy Partnership (IAP).

Professor Burton is leading and coordinating several national projects on postgraduate training, capacity development, and mentoring for early career academics, on behalf of USAf, including the USAf Community of Practice on Postgraduate Education and Scholarship and the Advancing Early Career Researchers and Scholars (AECRS) programme.  

During 2024 Professor Burton represented ASSAf at the S20 Science Forum meetings hosted by Brazil, and she co-chaired the national organising committee for the S20 Science Forum being hosted by South Africa in 2025, in association with the 2025 G20 Summit.  She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the 2025 G20 Initative on Bioeconomy .