Trevor Letcher, professor of the School of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Natal, has received one of the highest awards made to a scientist in Southern Africa, the prestigious Southern African Association for the Advancement of Science Gold Medal for 2001.
Johann van den Berg, dean of the Faculty of Science, said the medal is awarded each year to a person who has contributed to the advancement of science, either on a broad front or in a specialised field of the natural sciences, and those human sciences that have traditionally taken part in the activities of the Southern African Association for the Advancement of Science.
“The medal is intended to enjoy the status of one of the highest awards to a scientist in Southern Africa,” he said.
Letcher received the Gold Medal of the SA Chemical Institute in 1999, the highest honour given by that organisation to “a person whose contributions in the field of chemistry or chemical technology are considered to be of outstanding merit”. It was made for his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, his achievements, and service rendered to the chemical community.
Letcher is a past president of the SA Chemical Institute, and the current president of the African Association of Pure and Applied Chemistry. An acknowledged world expert in his field, he has published more than 170 papers in scientific journals.
His book Chemical Thermodynamics for the 21st Century was published last year and he was appointed as one of the editors for Unesco’s Encyclopaedia on Sustainable Economic and Technological Developments, and McGraw Hill’s Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology. He has also co-edited a commemorative issue of the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics.
Letcher is currently assembling a database, along with Bice Martincigh, also of the School of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Natal, and graduate chemist Sandile Zondi to link all the chemical scientists of Africa.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, November 2001.