University of the Witwatersrand
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The University of the Witwatersrand (pronounced vit-vaters-rant, with flat vowels -- see South African English) is a leading South African university situated in Johannesburg. It is often referred to as "Wits" (pronounced vits).
Due to the 1959 Extension of University Education Act the school was only allowed to register a small number of black students for most of the apartheid era, even though several notable black anti-apartheid leaders graduated from the university. It became desegregated again in the last few years of apartheid. Due to the university's anti-apartheid student movement, and its left-wing political affiliations, it was sometimes referred to as "Moscow on the Hill".
It is the home of the Witwatersrand University Press, one of Africa's leading academic publishers. It is the oldest and largest university press in Africa.
History
The school was founded in Kimberley in 1896 as the "South African School of Mines". Eight years later, in 1904 the school moved to Johannesburg and changed its name to the "Transvaal Technical Institute". The school changed its name in 1906 to the "Transvaal University College" and in 1910, the school again changed its name to the "South African School of Mines and Technology". Finally, in 1922, the school was granted full university status after incorporating the College as the "University of the Witwatersrand". The area of Milner Park was identified as the location for the new university campus, and construction began in the same year. There were to be six faculties that offered degrees at the University: Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Law, and Commerce.
The school experienced significant growth after its incorporation as a university, growing from a mere 6,275 students in 1963 to over 16,400 in 1985. In 1964, the Medical Library of the Faculty of Medicine moved to Esselen Street, in the Hillbrow section of Johannesburg. During the course of the 1960s, the university opened many new schools and buildings, and acquired a limestone cave renowed for its archaeological material located at Sterkfontein. The Graduate School of Business was established later in 1968 in Parktown. A farm next to Sterkfontein named Swartkrans rich in archaeological material was purchased in 1968, and excavation rights were obtained for archaeological and palaeontological purposes at Makapansgat, located in Limpopo province. The next year, the Ernest Oppenheimer Residence opened next to the Business school in Parktown, and later in the same year, clinical departments at the new Medical School opened. In 1976, Lawson's Corner was renamed University Corner. Senate House, the university's main administrative building, was occupied in 1977. The university underwent a significant expansion programme in 1984, acquiring the Milner Park Showgrounds and renaming it the West Campus. In 1984, the Chamber of Mines building opened. A walkway was constructed across the motorway bisecting the campus, linking the East and West Campuses.
Faculties and Schools
The University has five faculties:
- [Commerce, Law, and Management]
- [Engineering and the Built Environment]
- [Health Sciences]
- [Humanities]
- [Science]
Noted Campus Buildings
- Art Galleries: There are two art galleries that are open to the public, the Gertrude Posel Gallery and the Studio Gallery. Both of these are located in Senate House. The Studio Gallery is renowned for having one the best collections of African beadwork in the world.
- Rock Art: The JD Roberts-Pager Collection of Bushmen rock art copies is located in the Van Riet Lowe building on the East Campus.
- Museums: The University hosts 14 museums. These include the Adler Museum of the History of Medicine, the Palaeontology Museum and the only Geology Museum in Gauteng Province. The displays cover a vast spectra including the Taung skull, dinosaur fossils and butterflies.
- Sterkfontein Caves: Near Krugersdorp. World renowned as one of the largest sources of hominid fossils in the world. The area has been awarded World Heritage status. The Robert Broom Museum is next to the caves.
Alumni and Former Faculty
- Lionel Abrahams, novelist, poet, editor, critic, essayist and publisher.
- Ian Bader, architect
- George Bizos, human rights advocate.
- Herman Charles Bosman, writer and journalist.
- Rory Byrne, chief designer for the Ferrari Formula One team.
- Arthur Chaskalson, former President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Chief Justice of South Africa.
- Johnny Clegg, musician.
- Raymond Dart, anatomist and anthropologist, discoverer of the Taung Child.
- Jonathan Drummond-Webb
- Elisabeth Eybers, poet.
- Clinton Fein
- Ruth First, anti-apartheid activist and scholar.
- Bruce Fordyce, marathon and ultramarathon athlete who won the Comrades Marathon a record nine times (eight times consecutively).
- David A. Forsyth, machine vision researcher.
- Natan Gamedze, Swazi Prince, Supreme Court Translator and Orthodox Rabbi.
- Richard Goldstone, judge and international war crimes prosecutor.
- Teresa Heinz Kerry, philanthropist and the wife of U.S. Senator John Kerry.
- Aura Herzog, Israeli writer.
- Gavin Hood, writer, producer and director, best known for directing Tsotsi.
- Jan Hofmeyr, politician.
- Joel Joffe, human rights lawyer who represented Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trial.
- Claire Johnston, singer best known as the face and voice of Mango Groove.
- Ahmed Kathrada, politician, anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner.
- Aggrey Klaaste, journalist and editor, best known as the editor of the Sowetan from 1988 to 2002.
- Danie G. Krige, Mining Engineer who pioneered the field of geostatistics.
- Ludwig Lachmann, economist and important contributor to the Austrian School.
- Tony Leon, politician and the leader of the Democratic Alliance.
- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of Nelson Mandela.
- Ismail Mahomed, first post-apartheid Chief Justice.
- Nelson Mandela, the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections.
- Ira Miller
- Eduardo Mondlane, the father of Mozambican independence.
- Patrice Motsepe, leading South African mining entrepreneur.Mamelodi Sundowns boss
- Phaswane Mpe, poet and novelist.
- Ezekiel Mphahlele, writer and academic.
- Lionel Ngakane, filmmaker.
- Seymour Papert, artificial intelligence pioneer and inventor of the Logo programming language.
- Cedric Phatudi
- Mamphela Ramphele, academic, businesswoman, medical doctor and anti-apartheid activist.
- Mark Sebba, linguist [link]
- Friedel Sellschop, physicist [link]
- Herbert Sichel, statistician.
- Joe Slovo, Communist politician, long time leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and leading member of the African National Congress.
- Paul Stevenson
- Helen Suzman, anti-apartheid activist and politician.
- Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, Zulu poet, novelist, and educator. The first black South African to receive a Ph.D.
- David Webster, social anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist.
- Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal, linguist and an expert in Bantu and Khoisan languages.
Nobel Prize Laureates
- Aaron Klug, 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Prize in literature
- Nelson Mandela, 1993 Nobel Peace Prize
- Sydney Brenner, 2002 Nobel Prize in Medicine
Books about the University
- The Golden Jubilee of the University of the Witwatersrand 1972 ISBN 0854941886 (Jubilee Committee, University of the Witwatersrand Press)
- Wits: The Early Years : a History of the University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg and its Precursors 1896 - 1936 1982 Bruce Murray ISBN 0854947094 (University of the Witwatersrand Press)
- Wits Sport: An Illustrated History of Sport at the University of the Witwatersrand 1989 Jonty Winch ISBN 0620138068 (Windsor)
- Wits: A University in the Apartheid Era 1996 Mervyn Shear ISBN 1868143023 (University of the Witwatersrand Press)
- Wits: The "Open Years" 1997 Bruce Murray ISBN 1868143147 (University of the Witwatersrand Press)
- A Vice-Chancellor Remembers: the Memoirs of Professor G.R. Bozzoli 1995 Guerino Bozzoli ISBN 0620193697 (Alphaprint)
- Wits Library: a Centenary History 1998 Reuben Musiker & Naomi Musiker ISBN 0620227540 (Scarecrow Books)
External link
| South African universities |
|
|---|---|---|
| Traditional universities Cape Town | Fort Hare | Free State | KwaZulu-Natal | Limpopo | North-West Pretoria | Rhodes | Stellenbosch | Western Cape | Witwatersrand Comprehensive universities Johannesburg | Nelson Mandela | Unisa | Venda | Walter Sisulu | Zululand Universities of technology Cape Peninsula | Central | Durban | Mangosuthu | Tshwane | Vaal | ||
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