Prof Sampie Terreblanche receives Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pretoria

Posted by Johan Fourie on 2013-03-20

The Economics Department congratulates Prof Sampie Terreblanche who will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Economics from the University of Pretoria on 10 April 2013. This will be Prof Terreblanche's second Honorary Doctorate; the University of the Free State awarded him the degree Doctor Commercii (honoris causa) in April 2005. The University of Pretoria honours Prof Terreblanche for his life long contribution to the economic discipline in South Africa, and specifically for his role in the negotiated political transition of South Africa. UP applauds Prof Terreblanche's critical role in influencing the economic strategies of both the previous and current South African governments and his important role to keep the debate about and the need for socio-economic and socio-political reform in South Africa going. 

Prof Sampie studied at the University of Stellenbosch from 1951 until 1956. He attained a Bachelors degree in Law in 1954 and a Masters degree in Economics (cum laude) in March 1957, and a D.Phil (Economics) in March 1963. In his thesis, on the History of Economic Thought, he presented a critical analysis of the economic writings of eight prominent economists: Jeremy Bentham, Henry Sidgwich, Arthur Pigou, JM Keynes, JS Mill (all British), JM Clark (U.S.) and Adolf Wagner and Walter Eucken (German). He focused on these economists' views on the circumstances for state intervention in a market-orientated capitalist system. His plea for a social democratic approach, rather than a laissez-faire approach to economic policy was born from his conclusions to this thesis.

Prof Sampie was appointed as lecturer in Economics at the (then) University of the Orange Free State in 1957 at the age of 23.  He was promoted to senior lector in 1960.  During 1968/69 he attended Harvard University where he audited a number of courses and interacted with leading scholars, mainly specialists in Economic History and History of Economic Thought.

Prof Sampie Terreblanche was appointed senior lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch in 1965, and promoted to professor on 1 April 1968. At that time the staff complement of the Department of Economics consisted of only four people, who had to duplicate all the undergraduate lectures presented at Stellenbosch at the Bellville Business School. Prof Sampie was required to give lectures in almost all fields of Economics between 1965 and 1975. Over time he focused on his personal fields of interest, which were General History of Economics, History of Economic Thought and Modern Economic Systems.

Prof Sampie retired at the end of 1995 and became an emeritus professor. He continued lecturing until the end of 2011, thus ending a career of uninterrupted teaching in economics of 54 years. Prof Sampie claims to have the most "student points" (calculated as the amount of lectures given multiplied by the number of students present in every lecture) over the course of his term as lecturer and professor than any other lecturer in the history of the University. Roughly estimating, his ‘student points' should have reached one million if all students attended all of their lectures.

Prof Sampie has published 11 books, nine in Afrikaans and two in English.  He regards his 1986 book Politieke Ekonomie en Sosiale Welvaart and his 2002 book A History of Inequality in South Africa:  1962-2002, as his most important works.  Over the past 7 or 8 years he has been working on a manuscript entitled:  Western Empires: Christianity and the Inequality between the West and the Rest.  He hopes to complete the manuscript later this year.

Prof Sampie was a member of the Board of the SABC from April 1972 until March 1987 (Vice-chairman of the Board from 1982-1987). He was a member of the Commission of Inquiry Relating to Matters Concerning the Coloured Population Group (The Erika Theron Commission) from 1973-1976. He served on the Economic Advisory Board of the Prime Minister/State President between 1979-1985. He received the Stals Award for Economics from Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns in 1992. 

A week after receiving his second Honorary Doctorate in Economics Prof Sampie turns 80, on 17 April 2013. He and his wife Ina are still living in the same house that they bought in 1965 when he was appointed senior lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch. They have five children, four daughters and one son.  All five children studied in the social sciences, two obtaining their PhDs (one in Philosophy and the other in Economics). His granddaughter is currently busy with her honours degree in Economics.

Login

(for staff & registered students)



Need a password?
Forgot your password?

Upcoming Seminars

No seminars are currently listed. Please check back soon.
 
More...

BER Weekly

26 January 2024
Domestically, the theme of the week centred around monetary policy and inflation, with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) making its first repo rate decision of the year on Thursday. Furthermore, Stats SA released both consumer and producer price inflation data for December. Globally, monetary policy was also important, with the European Central Bank (ECB),...

Read the full issue
 

Upcoming Seminars

No seminars are currently listed. Please check back soon.
 
More...

BER Weekly

26 January 2024
Domestically, the theme of the week centred around monetary policy and inflation, with the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) making its first repo rate decision of the year on Thursday. Furthermore, Stats SA released both consumer and producer price inflation data for December. Globally, monetary policy was also important, with the European Central Bank (ECB),...

Read the full issue