Prof Sampie voted as Faculty's best lecturer during previous century

In celebration of the University's centenary, the Faculty of Economic and Management sciences invited its alumni earlier this year to nominate the best lecturer during the course of their studies. Almost 500 alumni participated and the vast majority voted for Prof Sampie Terreblanche as their best lecturer.

This one-off Alumni Best Lecturer award for the period 1929 to 2010 formed part of the Faculty's annual top lecturer competition this year, a competition that has been sponsored by Die Burger since 2011.

The name of Professor Sampie Terreblanche, who passed earlier this year, has become synonymous with the history of the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University. When he finally retired in 2006 (officially already in 1996), Prof Sampie concluded an uninterrupted career of some five decades as lecturer in economics.

Prof Stan du Plessis, former Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and now SU's Chief Operating Officer, once remarked, “Professor Sampie Terreblanche is a towering figure in the 90-year history of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University. One calculation shows that if you added up all the students in every lecture he gave during his career, the grand total would be about one million. It is, however, the quality of these lectures rather than their quantity which made such a lasting impression on generations of students."

Three of Prof Terreblanche's five children, Carine and Christelle Terreblanche and Dr Marié Kirsten, attended the top lecturers' prize-winning function last week.

In a tribute to Prof Sampie, Prof Andrie Schoombee, Chair of the Department of Economics, referred to the motivations given by alumni who voted for Prof Terreblanche. “These focussed on Prof Sampie's passion and enthusiasm, the fact that he challenged his students and made them think, his deep knowledge of his subject, and his interest in his students," he said.

“In my opinion his ability to teach his students critical thinking, was the one factor that made him stand out from many other top lecturers."

A website has been created to celebrate the life of prof Sampie Terreblanche.