A history of the Chemistry Department, University of Cape Town

Abstract

This history of the Department of Chemistry, UCT, includes material from its inception in 1876 until the closing years of the millennium preceding 1999. Several phases of growth are presented: first, as a one-man enterprise, Professor Paul Daniel Hahn introduced the teaching of Chemistry and fostered both pure and applied research; this developed with the founding of the University of Cape Town at the end of World War 1. A move into the new building at Groote Schuur followed, with a rapid expansion on many fronts after World War II. Apart from a brief interlude as a School comprising four separate Departments (1974–1988), the Department of Chemistry continued to grow in terms of student numbers, courses offered, and productivity of its research groups, until the present time. The Department has occupied a large building, named after its first full-time professor, since 1972. Advances in performance, consequent on improved, computerised instrumentation and teaching techniques, are evident.