Professor Ben-Erik van Wyk of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) was elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences on 21 November.
Van Wyk is one of two South Africans elected as Fellows and joins Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Innovation, Postgraduate Studies and the Library at UJ, making the University one of only two South African universities with more than one Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.
The Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology professor has a very impressive academic record, with some 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals, more than 300 presentations at international and national conferences, 19 botanical books and 15 chapters in professional books – several of which have been translated into foreign languages such as German, Polish and Korean.
Van Wyk has been involved with UJ since 1985 and specialises in the classification and naming of plants (plant taxonomy).
With numerous sought-after awards, including the 2009 recipient of the UJ Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Outstanding Researcher of the Year, Van Wyk has extensive collaboration with individuals, societies and professional bodies at international and national levels.
Van Wyk is also an internationally known specialist on the medicinal and other uses of plants by indigenous communities of Southern Africa and is the NRF Research Chair in Indigenous Plant Use at UJ.
With Van Wyk’s election, South Africa now has a total of nine fellows of the African Academy of Sciences.
