Evolutionary biologist and zoologist Terence (Terry) Robinson is Professor Emeritus at Stellenbosch University. Pivotal in the development of his career were the formative experiences at the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute under the directorship of the late John Skinner, a postdoc with TC Hsu at the MD Anderson Cancer Research Institute (The University of Texas Health Science Centre), as well as several years spent as a research associate at the Institute for Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine (Texas Medical Centre as part of David Ledbetter’s group).
At various times he was Head of Department, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University, and an NRF A-rated researcher. Terry spent extended periods as a research fellow at Cambridge University (funded by a Wellcome Trust Collaborative Research Grant with Professor Malcolm Smith), and as a CNRS visiting researcher at the University of Montpellier. He served on the editorial boards of several international journals, was a recipient of the Zoological Society of South Africa’s Gold medal award, The Havenga Prize for Life Sciences from the South African Academy for Science and Arts, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and was selected as one of the Legends of SA Science by ASSAf in 2020. The achievements of his graduate students and postdocs, many of whom hold senior positions at academic institutions nationally and abroad as well as in conservation and related industries, are a source of great pride.