The University of Pretoria (UP) formally recognised its most distinguished academics at its 25th Annual Academic Achievers’ Awards, held on 23 October 2025, which celebrated excellence in research, teaching and community engagement. The awards acknowledged scholars whose work exemplified the University’s mission to generate transformative knowledge and contribute meaningfully to addressing both national and global challenges. Among the most prestigious accolades presented was the Exceptional Academic Achiever Award, conferred on senior academics who had already achieved the status of Professor and had consistently excelled in the areas of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning, research, community service and administration over a sustained period. Among the esteemed recipients of this honour was Professor Llewellyn Padayachy.

Professor Llewellyn Padayachy is the Head of the Department of Neurosurgery and Director of the Brain Tumour and Translational Neuroscience Centre (BTC@UP) in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

He is a globally recognised expert in minimally invasive surgical techniques for brain tumour and hydrocephalus surgery. As a neurosurgeon specialising in the care of children, he has pioneered several techniques for non-invasively assessing intracranial pressure and, as a result, has built a world-class neuro-ophthalmology laboratory within the BTC to further develop research capacity in the neurosciences. He has developed several productive research collaborations and served as a visiting professor and invited lecturer to some of the world’s leading institutes, including the University of Oxford, Baylor Medical College, Stanford University, Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen, and Carlo Besta Neurological Institute.

Professor Padayachy is an NRF B2-rated scientist, one of very few surgeons in South Africa to have achieved this recognition, underscoring his standing as an internationally recognised expert in this field. He has over 100 publications in leading academic journals and textbooks, has delivered over 175 invited and keynote lectures at national and international congresses, serves on the executive boards of several international neurosurgical organisations, and recently received the honour of being nominated as section editor for the leading international journal in pediatric neurosurgery.

Professor Padayachy is also a founding member of the African Paediatric Neurosurgery Section (AfPNS), the leading group on the African continent focused on improving the quality of care provided to children with neurosurgical conditions.

He has built a career as a leading surgeon-scientist by improving the diagnostic accuracy of non-invasive techniques and mastering a surgical skillset that enhances the safety of certain neurosurgical procedures for children and adults with conditions like brain tumours and hydrocephalus.