We shall remember them

The UCT community wishes to extend its condolences to the friends, family and colleagues of former students and staff members who passed away recently.

Emeritus Associate Professor Brian Paddon, who died on 20 June 2015, left a job in industry to join the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1969 where he remained until his retirement in 1994. He is remembered for helping many a young student struggling with the basics of chemical engineering, and young academics still finding their feet.

Emeritus Professor Peter Linder, who died on 3 July 2015, was an active member of the Department of Chemistry, which he joined as a senior lecturer in 1952 after obtaining a PhD from the University of Cambridge. During his time at UCT, he trained and mentored many research students who went on to pursue significant careers. He retired in January 1994.

Emeritus Associate Professor Bryan Davies, who passed away on 2 July 2015, was a freshwater ecologist in the Department of Zoology at UCT from 1980 until his early retirement in 2003. He was instrumental in the founding of the Freshwater Research Institute and highly regarded within the environmental community. He is remembered for being a passionate lecturer, postgraduate mentor and an enthusiastic researcher.

Douglas Roberts who was a prominent member of the University Building and Development Committee, passed away on 11 July 2015. Roberts graduated from UCT's Faculty of Architecture in 1961 and went on to study at the Venetian Scuole de'Arte, Italy, and at Yale University in the United States before returning to South Africa to establish the firm now known as R&L Architects.

Dr Khairunisa Parker, one of Cape Town's first Muslim women doctors, passed away at the Rondebosch Medical Centre on Sunday 12 July 2015 at age 81. Parker, who lived and was schooled in Salt River, enrolled for the medical degree at UCT in 1953 – an unusual step for a young woman at the time. She graduated in 1959 and went on to work at Langa day hospital where, while quietly tending to those who were affected and ill, she was eyewitness to many historic moments. She leaves behind her husband Abou Desai, her daughter Fatima and son Rasheed, her grandson Shadley and two adopted grandsons, Banele and Odwa.

Photo by Michael Hammond.