Temba Maqubela

Biography

Mr. Maqubela was born in King William’s Town, a small city in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. He attended high school in Umtata from 1972 until a few weeks before his intended graduation in 1976, when he was arrested—while in his mother’s biology class—and detained for anti-apartheid activities. Later that year, he fled South Africa for Botswana and ultimately finished high school in Nigeria. He graduated with honors from Nigeria’s University of Ibadan, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. From 1984 to 1986, he taught physical science and A-level chemistry at Maru-a-Pula School in Botswana.

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Mr. Maqubela arrived in the United States as a political refugee in 1986 in New York City; he landed his first U.S. teaching job at a public school in Long Island City. Mr. Maqubela then spent nearly three decades at Phillips Academy, Andover. He joined Andover as a chemistry teacher in 1987, left from 1992-94 to earn a master’s in chemistry at the University of Kentucky, then returned to Andover, where he chaired the chemistry department; directed (MS)2, a math and science program for minority students; and became dean of faculty. From 2006 to 2013, he was both dean of faculty and assistant head of academics.

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At Groton School, Mr. Maqubela is a organic chemistry teacher. A champion of inclusion, Mr. Maqubela has initiated groundbreaking efforts to contain tuition costs and to ensure access to deserving students from every income bracket. His signature initiative—GRAIN (GRoton Affordability and INclusion)—has sparked interest from numerous other independent schools. 

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Mr. Maqubela has been a member of The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) Board of Trustees and a keynote speaker on educational matters for the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA), the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS), and the Carney Sandoe Diversity Forum. Mr. Maqubela's many honors include the Desmond Tutu Social Justice Award in 2013, a White House Distinguished Teacher Award in 1993, an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2018, the University of Kentucky’s Lyman T. Johnson Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994, and his 2002 induction into the Northeast Section of the American Chemical Society’s Aula Laudis Society, honoring excellence in secondary school chemistry teaching.