In remembrance: Professor Martin Werner Wittenberg

Dear colleagues and students

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our colleague Professor Martin Werner Wittenberg (61) on Saturday, 27 July 2024 after a long battle with cancer.

Professor Wittenberg was a professor in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He joined UCT in January 2004. Before moving to UCT, Professor Wittenberg taught at Wits University for a decade and was a visiting professor at Princeton University for a year. While at UCT, he spent a year on sabbatical at Yale University.

Professor Wittenberg’s main research was in the area of data quality of household surveys, and the analysis of inequality and labour markets in South Africa. He was a world-class researcher and made substantive contributions to international debates in these areas in top international journals. At the same time, he was far more interested in the usefulness and impact of his research than in building his reputation and would often publish excellent research in local journals if he felt that this was where their contribution to knowledge and better practice would be greatest.

Generations of graduate students experienced his post-graduate courses on econometrics and applied microeconometrics as step-changing in their development as economic researchers. This teaching was accompanied by generously given advice and mentorship to the students he formally supervised and to many graduates and colleagues in the School of Economics. He had a foundational impact on the quality of the graduate research being undertaken in the School of Economics. In addition, he equipped a remarkable number of talented students to successfully transition into top international graduate programmes and academic careers.

From 2010 to 2023, he was the director of DataFirst, a research data service dedicated to giving open access to data from South Africa and other African countries. Under his leadership, DataFirst won the National Science and Technology Forum’s Data for Research Award and was awarded the CoreTrustSeal, making DataFirst the only internationally accredited open data repository on the African continent. He made major contributions to advancing data analysis skills in South Africa, most notably through a ten-year partnership with Statistics South Africa which ultimately led to the UCT Post-Graduate Diploma in Survey Data Analysis for Development. Professor Wittenberg’s tenure at DataFirst exemplified excellence, with meticulous data scholarship and a dedication to building data research capacity, all underpinned by a deep commitment to ‘getting it right’.

Professor Wittenberg will be remembered for his dedication to rigorous scholarship and integrity as a researcher, the quality and depth of his mentorship of graduate students, his frankness and honesty as a colleague, and his commitment to building public goods that enable others to do better and more reliable research of their own.

The School of Economics will offer the Martin Wittenberg PhD Scholarship to honour Professor Wittenberg's years of contribution to the field and service to the institution. 

Professor Wittenberg is survived by his children Nozipho, Ali and Ben; as well as sisters Inge, Gertrude and Reinhild.

A private funeral attended by family and close friends was held on Friday, 2 August. A memorial service was held on Saturday, 3 August in Kramer Building on middle campus.

The university has offered support to the Wittenberg family during this time of grief. We convey our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and all who knew Professor Wittenberg.

Sincerely

The UCT Executive

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