ASSAf lauded Crewe for his “contribution to the establishment of ASSAf as a well-recognised Academy within South Africa, the region, and internationally, and for the roles that he has played in international Academy networks and bodies, all of which have enhanced the reputation of ASSAf”.

Crewe is the Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria. He is also the immediate past-President of the Network of African Science Academies and Chairperson of the Board of the National Research Foundation.

He obtained degrees in chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg and was awarded a PhD in Entomology by the University of Georgia, USA.

His current research is focused on chemical communication and social organisation in honeybees and ants, particularly with respect to worker reproductive regulation. He is the leader of the Social Insects Research Group in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, a founding member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. His accolades include the Gold Medal of the Zoological Society of South Africa and he was granted the Ordre National du Mérite with the rank of Chevalier by the French government in 2006.