SA’s top scholars honoured

Thirty-eight of the country’s leading scholars and scientists were inaugurated as Members of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) at the annual Awards Ceremony on 9 November 2023.

As the official Academy of South Africa, ASSAf has as a core function to honour the country’s most outstanding scholars by electing them to Membership of the Academy. ASSAf Members are drawn from the full spectrum of disciplines.

New Members are elected each year by the full existing Membership. Membership of the Academy is a great honour and is in recognition of scholarly achievement. Members are the core asset of the Academy and give of their time and expertise voluntarily in the service of society.

The 38 new ASSAf Members bring the total Membership of ASSAf to 689. 

The new ASSAf Members are:

Prof Daynia Ballot – Daynia Ballot is a paediatrician with a sub-specialty in Neonatology. She is a full professor at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Armanda Bastos – Armanda Bastos is a Professor of One Health in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases at the University of Pretoria.

Prof Hans Beushausen – Hans Beushausen is the Deputy Dean for Research and Strategic Innovation of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and Director of the Concrete Materials and Structural Integrity Research Unit at the University of Cape Town.

Prof David Buckley – David Buckley is an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Astronomy, in the Faculty of Science, University of Cape Town.

Prof Daniela Casale – Daniela Casale is a Professor in the School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Makaiko Chithambo – Makaiko Chithambo is a Professor of Physics and Head of the Physics Department and formerly Deputy Dean of Science at Rhodes University.

Prof Katherine Cockcroft – Kate Cockcroft is a research psychologist and neuropsychologist by training and is a full Professor in the Department of Psychology, School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Prof Lesley Cornish – Lesley Cornish is the Director of the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Neil Coville – Neil Coville is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Lisa du Toit – Lisa du Toit is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Assistant Director and Senior Researcher in the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

Prof Philip Harrison – Philip Harrison is the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning funded by the National Research Foundation and hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Edward Kirumira – Edward Kirumira is the Director of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and an internationally recognised specialist in the field of medical sociology.

Prof Jasper Knight– Jasper Knight is a Professor of Physical Geography at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof David Limebeer – David Limebeer is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is also an Emeritus Professor of Engineering at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Professorial Fellow of New College Oxford.

Prof Florian Luca – Florian Luca is a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Thulani Makhalanyane – Thulani Makhalanyane is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology and NRF SARChI Chair in Marine Microbiomics at the University of Pretoria.

Prof Sioux McKenna – Sioux McKenna is the Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University where she provides support and development opportunities for postgraduate scholars and supervisors across the institution.

Prof Bruce Malado – Bruce Mellado serves as the Director of the Institute for Collider Particle Physics,  University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Hanri Mostert– Hanri Mostert is the DST/NRF SARChI Research Chair: Mineral Law in Africa, University of Cape Town.

Prof Juliet Pullian – Juliet Pulliam served as the Director of the South African DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) from July 2016 – November 2023 and is currently the Branch Chief for Real-time Monitoring at the US CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics.

Prof Umesh Ramnarain– Umesh Ramnarain is a Professor in science education and Head of Department of Science and Technology Education at the University of Johannesburg.

Prof Vimal Ranchhod – Vimal Ranchhod is a Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town.

Prof Sebastiaan Rothmann– Sebastiaan (Ian) Rothmann is a Work and Organisational Psychology professor and the director of the Optentia Research Unit at the North-West University.

Prof Alison September – Alison September is a Professor in the Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town.

Prof Karen Sliwa-Hahnle– Karen Sliwa-Hahnle is the Director of the Cape Heart Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town.

Prof Tholene Sodi – Tholene Sodi is a Registered Clinical Psychologist, currently employed as a Professor of Psychology and chair-holder of the SAMRC/DSI-NRF/UL Research Chair in Mental Health and Society at the University of Limpopo.

Prof Melissa Steyn – Melissa Steyn holds the DST-NRF National Research Chair in Critical Diversity Studies and is the founding Director of the Centre for Diversity Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Stephen Tollman – Stephen Tollman is a Research Professor in the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand where he directs the Medical Research Council/Wits University Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt).

Prof Marla Trindade – Marla Trindade is the Director of the Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics and holds the DSI/NRF SARChI Research Chair in Microbial Genomics at the University of the Western Cape.

Prof Salim Vally – Salim Vally is the DHET-NRF SARChI Chair in Community, Adult and Workers’ Education based at the Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg and a visiting professor at Nelson Mandela University. 

Prof Barend van Wyk – Barend van Wyk is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching, Learning and Technology at the Tshwane University of Technology.

Marcello Vichi – Marcello Vichi is the Director and founder of the Marine and Antarctic Research Centre for Innovation and Sustainability at the University of Cape Town. 

Prof Elizabeth Walton – Elizabeth Walton is a Visiting Professor of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand and Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham.

Prof Digby Warner – Digby Warner is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and a Full Member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town.

Prof Amanda Weltman – Amanda Weltman is presently the NRF/DHEST South African Research Chair in Physical Cosmology, at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. She is also the Director of the High Energy Physics, Cosmology & Astrophysics Theory group.

Prof Angela Woodiwiss – Angela Woodiwiss is the Director of the Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Prof Sarah Wurz – Sarah Wurz is a Professor in the Archaeology Division, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand. 

Prof Liesl Zühlke – Liesl Zühlke is a paediatric cardiologist and Vice-President of the South African Medical Research Council.