Braam Van Wyk

Abraham Erasmus [Braam] van Wyk [1952- ] grew up on the farm near Wolmaransstad, North-West Province, South Africa. Interested from an early age in the natural sciences and plants in particular, he holds a master's degree in botany and diploma in higher education from the Potchefstoom University for Christian Higher Education and a doctorate from the University of Pretoria. Braam is an Emeritus Professor of Botany in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, where he previously held the Louis Botha Chair in Botany and was curator of the H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium [PRU]. He is an authority on the classification of southern African trees and has a special interest in plant systematics, biogeography, plant anatomy and palynology. Braam and his students/co-workers have published extensively on the botany of southern Africa. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Silver Medal of the South African Association of Botanists, Havenga Prize for Life Sciences from the South African Academy for Science and Arts, Allen Dyer Award of the Succulent Society of South Africa, North-West University Alumni Award for Research, Marloth Medal from the Botanical Society of South Africa and the South African Medal for Botany (Gold) from the South African Association of Botanists.