Dr Cheryl de la Rey is the Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Higher Education. She took up this position in May 2008 after serving as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor in Psychology at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Prior to that, she held the post of Executive Director: Research Promotion at the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Dr de la Rey completed her Bachelor of Arts, Honours and Master's degrees at the University of Natal (now Kwazulu-Natal) and her PhD at UCT. She has published books and journal articles in her discipline of Psychology.

Over the years, Dr De la Rey has chaired several education and research-related policy committees. Her current external commitments include the Council of the Botswana University of Science and Technology, the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI), the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and the national Science, Engineering and Technology for Women (SET4W) Committee. She is registered as a Psychologist by the Health Professions Council of South Africa, and is a fellow of the Psychological Association of South Africa and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. She holds a Visiting Professorship at the University of the Witwatersrand.