Darren Lortan is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the Durban University of Technology, where he has held several leadership positions (including Executive Dean, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic and Acting Senior Director: Engagement). His interest in Community Engagement (CE) began through a project which marketed STEM professions to high school students. Over the years his CE interests included early childhood development; youth development and educational support; adult basic education; post-school training and local community skills development; and social entrepreneurship.

He has served as the Chair of the South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum (SAHECEF) and is the Chair of the International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE). Under his leadership, DUT has joined the Knowledge for Change Consortium (K4C) as a Local Training Hub.

Professor Lortan was also the principal investigator of the SAQA – DUT Articulation Research Partnership (2015-2020), a project that explored the factors that inhibit or enable articulation within the post school education and training sector in South Africa. In addition to his duties as the Head of Department of Mathematics, he is the National Project Coordinator of the Unfurling Post-School Education and Training (UPSET Project), which in March 2021, was established after being awarded a prestigious University Capacity Development Programme grant to enable implementation of articulation between Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges and Higher Education Institutions.