Ben-Erik van Wyk FAAS (born 27 December 1956 in Bellville) is a South African professor of indigenous botany and traditional African medicine at the University of Johannesburg.

Early life and education

Ben-Erik van Wyk was born on 27 December 1956 in Bellville, South Africa. In 1979, he received a Bachelor of Science from Stellenbosch University in Forestry and Nature Conservation. In 1983, he graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

with a Master of Science. In 1989, he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cape Town.

Career and research

Since 1984, Van Wyk has been teaching at the Rand Afrikaans University, where he has been a professor since 1990. Since 2005 he has been a professor at the Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, where the Rand Afrikaans University has been absorbed. Van Wyk researches African plant

plant classification The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lo ...

( taxonomy and chemotaxonomy) particularly for Apiaceae,

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

'','' and Asphodelaceae. In addition, he focuses on medicinal plants and

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

, including the ethnobotany of

Khoisan Khoisan , or (), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the or ( in t ...

and Afrikaners from the Western Cape. He is also involved in quality control and product development of medicinal plant products and crop development. Through 600 vibrant photographs of more than 120 distinct culinary herbs, spices, and flavourings that Van Wyk has collected from the distant reaches; his books transport us back to the earliest uses of spices by ancient civilisations and lead us on a journey of discovery from Ethiopia to China. Van Wyk is a member of several organizations, including the ''Aloe Council of South Africa'' (Chair), the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the

Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soci ...

, the Indigenous Plant Use Forum (Chair since 1996), the ''Association for African Medicinal Plant Standards'', ''Briza Publications CC,'' and the ''Presidential Task Team on African Traditional Medicine''. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of the South African Journal of Botany, the Official Journal of the South African Association of Botanists.

Awards and honours

Van Wyk has received several awards, including the ''Schlich Medal'' in 1980, the ''FRD President's Award'' in 1991, the ''

Havenga prize The Havenga Prize (''Havengaprys'' in Afrikaans) is a prize awarded annually by the ''Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns'' (South African Academy for Science and Arts) to a candidate for original research in the Sciences since 1945. ...

'' for Biology from the South African Academy of Science and Art in 2006, the ''Silver Medal'' from the

South African Association of Botanists South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

in 2007, and the ''Medal of Honor'' from the Faculty of Natural Science and Technology of the South African Academy of Science and Art in 2011. Van Wyk was elected a Fellow of the

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery a ...

in 2013.

Publications

Van Wyk has (co-)authored more than two hundred articles in scientific journals and (co-)authored more than 180 botanical names. His books and commentary have been published in Afrikaans, German, Polish and Korean, in addition to the English-language editions.

References

External links

Medicinal plants
with Prof Ben-Erik van Wyk - YouTube {{authority control Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences South African scientists 1956 births Living people University of Johannesburg alumni Academic staff of the University of Johannesburg South African botanists 21st-century South African botanists