Happy 98th birthday to Wits University
The academic home of Nobel Laureates Sir Aaron Klug, Nadine Gordimer, Nelson Mandela and Sydney Brenner celebrated its 98th birthday on 4 October. The University of the Witwatersrand had its official opening ceremony on 4 October 1922 and it has gone on to achieve tremendous feats since then.
Wits University turns 98 years old.
The academic home of Nobel Laureates Sir Aaron Klug, Nadine Gordimer, Nelson Mandela and Sydney Brenner celebrated its 98th birthday on 4 October. The University of the Witwatersrand had its official opening ceremony on 4 October 1922 and it has gone on to achieve tremendous feats since then.
Wits University has its origins rooted in the South African School of Mines established in Kimberley in 1896. In 1904 it transferred to Johannesburg as the Transvaal Technical Institute, becoming the Transvaal University College in 1906 and renamed the South African School of Mines and Technology four years later.
According to Wits, other departments were added as Johannesburg grew and in 1920 the name was changed to the University College, Johannesburg. Full university status was granted in 1922, incorporating the college as the University of the Witwatersrand, with effect 1 March.
In October that year the inauguration of the University was duly celebrated. Prince Arthur of Connaught, Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, became the University’s first Chancellor, and Professor Jan H. Hofmeyr its first principal.
The period between 1947 and the 1980s was marked by considerable growth – student numbers increased rapidly to 6 275 in 1963, 10 600 in 1975 and 16 400 by 1985. In 1951 the university awarded its 10 433rd qualification; in May 1981 its 50 000th and by 1988 its 73 411th.
The acquisition of additional property in adjacent areas became imperative. The Graduate School of Business was established in Parktown in 1968. In 1969 the Ernest Oppenheimer Residence was formally opened in Parktown. In the same year the clinical departments in the new Medical School were opened. However, the Medical School moved premises again and is now situated in York Street, Parktown – the complex was opened on 30 August 1982.
Fast-forward to their 98th birthday and Wits University has many more reasons to celebrate. As of 2019 it was ranked 194th and 254th globally by Times Higher Education and the Centre for World University Rankings.
Wits currently has over 39 000 students enrolled with just over a quarter in the Faculty of Humanities and just under 25 per cent of them in the Commerce, Law and Management Faculty. Almost 50 per cent of Wits graduates are first-generation university students, 56 per cent of them being black woman. Wits has also produced over 400 National Research Foundation-rated researchers and 98 per cent of Wits research papers are published on international platforms.
Although Covid-19 may have disrupted the plans to celebrate the day, Wits University students and staff, past and present, should take pride in being part of one of the most important educational institutions South Africa has ever had.
