Respected public health specialist with extensive experience in fields of cancer and surveillance and cancer epidemiology, Dr Elvira Singh (MMed 2009), died on 27 February 2022. Sources: PAST, Wits University Elvira Singh (1976-2022) Her passion for and knowledge of Africa and its prehistoric past earned her the admiration and love of countless people across the continent and beyond.”
Tributes from colleagues indicate that Leenen was “a beacon of enthusiasm, intelligence and generosity that shined without limit. At the time of her passing, Leenen was leading the expansion of All from One into what she anticipated would become a global campaign. All from One uses the science of the shared origins of life and the African origins of people everywhere to promote continental pride and dignity, human unity and anti-racism, and the imperative for our survival to conserve Earth’s natural environments and biodiversity. One of the campaign’s inspirations was the late PAST patron and fellow Witsie Johnny Clegg’s Scatterlings of Africa song, which PAST adopted as its credo in 2011. In recognition of the tremendous social value of the origin sciences, Leenen co-led the creation of the All from One campaign with Rob Blumenschine in 2015. Recently, she led the creation of filmed Walking Tall theatre performances, termed “theamentaries”, which promise to greatly expand the project’s reach in and beyond Africa. In its original form as a live theatre performance followed by an interactive science session that won the hearts and heads of learners, Walking Tall visited schools and science festivals throughout South Africa and in seven other African countries, reaching over 1.4 million beneficiaries. To this end, and to help steer learners toward a career in the African origin sciences, she co-created the award-winning Walking Tall educational theatre project with Greg Melvill-Smith in 2001. Leenen saw the origin sciences as a gateway for young Africans to embrace scientific thinking. She was CEO of the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) since 2000 and raised funds to build the organisation into one of the largest, Africa-based independent organisations that support research, education and public understanding of Africa’s fossil history.
Leenen was a close friend of Wits and an ardent supporter of the palaeosciences. Obituaries 2022 Andrea Leenen (1972-2022)Īndrea Leenen (MSc 2011) passed away on 1 March 2022 after a short illness.
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