The 2025 Chronicle

Rafah, Gaza, it has been a rich and rewarding journey that has given me direction and purpose and the realisation that we hu mans, despite the apparent world chaos that now prevails, are actually aligned, and deep down strive for the same things. For love, for peace, for solidarity, for family, for hope. Whatever our creed, whatever our philosophies, our politics, our leanings, our race, our gender, we are in sync. And behind all of this noise and smoke and pain and chaos, we do want calm and quiet and to live together in harmony, fairness and faith. And it was at Michaelhouse that my journey started. Where the principles and beliefs that have guided me all my life were seeded. Where dignity and honesty and humility and kindness and giving were nurtured and matured with a sense of pride and determination and commitment and camaraderie. And a lifelong desire to serve and support the underdog. These guid ing principles have steered me on my journey from one emer gency department to the next, from one country to another, and between conflicts where I have seen suffering beyond compre hension. My journey is not exceptional. I have done nothing special. I have done what I had to do and went where my heart sent me. But I have done it with enormous satisfaction and fulfilment and a deep pride for my early beginnings at this outstanding school, to which I will be forever grateful. Michaelhouse gave me the tools to do what I had to do. I dedicate this St Michael Award to my colleagues in Gaza. Quis ut Deus. than seven offers of scholarships from various universities and institutions. In 1977 he enrolled at the University of Iowa in the USA, where he received a PhD in musculoskeletal biomechanics, before proceeding to Oxford, where he completed a post-doctor al fellowship in orthopaedic engineering. From 1989 to 1995, Kit was professor of orthopaedics and biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia in the USA, where he directed the motion analysis laboratory and published significant findings on the treatment of children with cerebral palsy. His research publi cations on the locomotor function of these children who had un dergone neurosurgery to the spinal cord was key to demonstrat ing the long-term benefits of this radical surgical intervention. In 1996, Kit returned to South Africa to accept appointment as the Hyman Goldberg Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, a position he held until his early retirement at the end of 2009. In 1999, he was elected a Life Fellow of the University of Cape Town and, in 2005, he was elected a Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, in recognition of his outstanding contribution in this field. In 2009, Kit was awarded a Doctor of Science in Medicine degree from the University of Cape Town. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Engi neering at the University of Cape Town, as well as Extraordi nary Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Uni versity of Stellenbosch. It is instructive to note that Kit has completed visiting professorships at eight highly rated inter

service to his fellow man. Sandy embodies the humanitarian spirit, and it has been largely thanks to the principles and ethos nurtured at Michaelhouse that he has continued to fight for and serve his fellow man. Quis ut Deus. ACCEPTANCE RESPONSE FROM SANDY INGLIS Dear Michaelhouse community This is a huge surprise and an enormous honour, and I give my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to you all for this wonderful award. It is such an important and special award made by the Michaelhouse family that I am somewhat in awe and can hardly imagine that I am a worthy candidate. My work and career and life have evolved and moved in a large ly haphazard and erratic fashion, not following any obvious spe cific plan or recipe, but driven by a sense of exploration and adventure and a desire to serve those in need, and where I have felt I could make a difference. Emergency medicine has been my life and has been my ticket to explore, to adventure and to experience, and to serve those in need. It has given me a lens into the soul of humanity, to suffering and pain, to loss and bereavement, into the underbelly of societies and into cat astrophic war and conflicts. But it has also allowed me to expe rience love and life, and healing and health and joy and hope. Whether helping our countrymen and women in Mseleni, Zu luland, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, or Palestinians in Professor Kit Vaughan (Founders, 1970) is acknowledged for his groundbreaking work in the field of biomechanics of hu man locomotion, where he is considered to be a world authority. In South Africa he has done pioneering and inventive work in the development of medical devices, particularly in the field of breast cancer. Kit was born in Blyvooruitzicht, a mining town on the West Rand, where his father was a mining engineer. He attended school at St Peter’s Preparatory School in Johannesburg and then at Michaelhouse, where he achieved a first-class matric with a distinction in mathematics. Kit was a prefect in Founders and played for the First XV, and was awarded his colours for rugby and gymnastics. He recalls that his rugby highlight was converting a try from the touchline in the last minute of the fixture against Kearsney to win the match. After school, Kit attended Rhodes University, where he obtained his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science, with distinc tions in seven out of nine of subjects that he took. He then com pleted his honours at Rhodes with a first-class pass and dis tinctions in applied mathematics and physics. It is interesting to note that during the period 1975 to 1979, Kit received no fewer

CHRISTOPHER (KIT) VAUGHAN

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