Bernard Zipfel CURATOR OF FOSSIL AND ROCK COLLECTIONS
1988 with a National Diploma in Podiatry (a four-year course), and in 1989 with a National Higher Diploma in Podiatry. In 1991, he did a National Higher Diploma in Post School Education.
experiential learning experience. “At this point, I was awarded a PhD through Wits University and found it impossible to do my job and carry out research. I must add that my successors at UJ have done and are doing an excellent job in addressing some of the problems of the past.” Born in 1964 in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, to parents of South African and German descent, Bernhard matriculated from Krugersdorp High School in 1992. He never imagined he’d study beyond matric, and ironically, had several teachers tell him he was not university material. “It was only after military national service that I felt I wanted to study further.” He’d always had an interest in natural history and anthropology, and studied these as a hobby. “I felt that I was not ‘clever’ enough to formally study these, and intended to become a taxidermist. However, there were no apprenticeships at the time and no formal training in this field. By way of a detour, I am now living my dream,” he says. Dr Zipfel says he owes his success to a “tolerance of other people’s quirks, a social conscience and a passion for knowledge and truth”. “Above all, I like making the workplace a fun place to spend time in,” he says.
“The highlights of my time at UJ were my interaction with colleagues, both within the
faculty of health sciences and the university at large, and with the undergraduate students, I taught. It was very rewarding to see young students develop over the years, graduate, and become successful health care practitioners. It is very humbling when, after many years, I still get messages from students updating me on their successes, and in many instances, far surpassing any of my own achievements,” he says. Dr Zipfel says he is also proud to have been part of the transformation process of both staff and students within the Department of Podiatry. “My involvement with the department had become a way of life and part of my life. There were some low points towards the end of my tenure as head of the department and in my career in podiatry when the national health systems were under pressure, and it became extremely difficult for us to offer the best service to patients as well as give our students the best
Dr Bernhard Zipfel is a UJ alumnus and curator of fossil and rock collections at Wits University and, as such, oversees, curates, and maintains the extensive research and teaching collections housed at the Evolutionary Studies Institute
and School of Geosciences. This includes extensive fossil
collections, including dinosaurs, mammal-like reptiles, fossil plants, and fossil hominins. Dr Zipfel also undertakes scholarly
research in natural science, with a special interest in the
biomechanics and evolution of the human foot, the origins of hominin bipedalism, palaeopathology, and the preservation of natural history collections. He also conducts fieldwork in order to collect fossils. It all began with the study of feet. Bernhard graduated from UJ in
Excavating at the hominin fossil site of Kromdraai in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng
ALUMNI IMPUMELELO 80
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