Prof Paul Skelton was one of five people who receive Distinguished Old Rhodian awards recently. Skelton began his Bachelor of Science degree at Rhodes University in 1967 and continued to do his Honours, and Doctoral degrees.
Prof Paul Skelton was one of five people who receive Distinguished Old Rhodian awards recently. Skelton began his Bachelor of Science degree at Rhodes University in 1967 and continued to do his Honours, and Doctoral degrees.
“My interest in Ichthyology is rooted in two individuals – Prof Brian Allanson and Dr Rex Jubb, Skelton said at the ceremony, held in the run-up to the University's Founder's Day, 28 August. Jubb, awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Rhodes in 1970, had introduced Skelton to systematic Ichthyology, while Allanson was Skelton's first lecturer, he explained.
Skelton also singled out Tom Fraser and Rick Winterbottom and Mike Bruton as having influenced his career. Skelton took over from Bruton as Director of the Institute when it was still the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, in 1994, and continued as Managing Director in 1999.
This was when it became a National Research Facility under the National Research Foundation as the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. Skelton, who retired in 2011, is one of the founding members of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of Wetlands International and is currently the regional vice-chairperson for Southern Africa.
He has worked closely with the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission, to lead the freshwater biodiversity assessment of Southern Africa. The Distinguished Old Rhodian Award recognises Old Rhodians who, through their individual actions and achievements, have enhanced the reputation of the University.
Prof Alan Whitfield, together with Penny Haworth from the institute, nominated Skelton for the award. According to Whitfield, Skelton has guided and grown the institute through its transition from a Declared Cultural Institution under the Department of National Education into a National Facility in the Department of Science and Technology.
Whitfield says, “Without Paul’s dynamic leadership during the turbulent transition period for National Museums between 1994 and 1999, it is a distinct possibility that the Institute would not exist today. Skelton still lectures and supervises students at the institute and at the university.
Others awarded the Distinguished Old Rhodian Award were the late Duncan Buchanan (1954); Trevor Evans (1963); Steuart Pennington (1971); Paul Skelton (1967). Emerging Old Rhodian Awards were given to Ayanda Mbanga (1990) and Eusebius McKaiser (1997).
