The University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg showcases a rich collection of historical artifacts alongside cutting-edge STEM research facilities. This walkabout highlights the institution's role in preserving the past while advancing future innovations. With thousands of students and extensive campuses, Wits stands as a key educational landmark in South Africa.
The University of the Witwatersrand, known as Wits, maintains a vast array of treasures across its libraries, museums, collections, and art galleries, spanning various epochs and disciplines. Half of its students are enrolled in STEM courses, and nearly 80% of research focuses on these fields. The university operates on a R10-billion annual turnover, covering 400 hectares with 400 buildings across seven campuses in Parktown and Braamfontein, plus a rural site in Mpumalanga.
Wits owns the Wits Donald Gordon School of Medicine, Africa's only university-affiliated private hospital. It is finalizing the continent's largest school of public health at the Wits Education Campus in Parktown, including an advanced sports and exercise science institute. The new Bio-Hub in Houghton will host various Health Sciences research institutes.
Enrollment stands at 41,702 students and 2,500 staff, supported by 12 libraries, 42 sports clubs, and seven museums. The university has about 200,000 alumni worldwide, including 15 billionaires, and ranks in the global top 1%.
Established over 100 years ago, Wits features the Origins Museum with one of the world's largest rock art collections, tracing human evolution over 250,000 years. Nearby, the Evolutionary Studies Institute holds the largest fossil hominid collection, including the Taung Child Skull, Little Foot, Naledi, and Sediba. Wits contributed to designating the Cradle of Humankind as a World Heritage Site.
The Anglo American Digital Dome, upgraded for R55-million from the original planetarium, now serves as a data science facility for public cosmic explorations with 360-degree presentations.
In physics, the Structured Light Laboratory advances photonics for applications in imaging, communication, health, metrology, and teleportation. The William Cullen Library preserves key documents like Nelson Mandela’s handwritten Rivonia Treason Trial speech, Sol Plaatje’s Diary from the Siege of Mafeking, and David Livingstone’s southern Africa travel diaries.
The Wits Art Museum houses one of the world's largest African art collections and the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts with over 3,000 artists' books collected since the 1970s. Plans include a new cultural precinct connecting the museum, Digital Arts building, School of the Arts, Wits Theatre, and Chris Seabrooke Music Hall. Wits leads as sub-Saharan Africa's innovation hub for 21st-century solutions.