Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal and the late Prof. Japie van Lill, CUT’s first Vice-Chancellor (1981-1996) at the memorial service of Ms Joan van Lill who also passed away recently.

Prof. Japie van Lill passed on over the weekend at the age of 84- three weeks after the burial of his wife, Joan (81).

He was highly respected academic within academia and this region for his vision and was instrumental in the establishment of the Central University of Technology in the early ’80s as a technical institution in temporary buildings. 

As CUT’s first Vice-Chancellor, he always believed that the university was about “Science in Practice”- an idea which is still practised within CUT’s programmes. He was the Vice-Chancellor from 1981 until his retirement in 1996. 

When expressing his condolences, Prof. Henk de Jager, Vice-Chancellor and Principal said the passing away of our founding member is not only a loss to his family, but also to the entire CUT community and the province.  “I had the honour to engage with Prof. Japie van Lill on a number of occasions since my appointment in 2017. Our recent engagement was at the memorial service of his late wife, Mrs Joan van Lill on 15 June 2019.”

“What impressed me most about Prof. Van Lill, was his friendliness, professionalism, stature and most importantly, his continuous passion for and interest in CUT. He left a legacy as the pioneer of CUT, and he was a remarkable leader in higher education in South Africa. The CUT Community is grateful to Prof Japie van Lill for his many years of great leadership and pioneering contributions to CUT. His legacy is continuing at our university, as our Senate Chamber is named after him. Our thoughts go out to his sons, Daneel and Riaan, friends and former colleagues in this time of grief. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” he said.