Professor Steve Cornelius, Head of Private Law at the University of Pretoria (UP), has achieved the distinction of having supervised 50 master’s students and 10 PhD students in his academic career of 23 years.

He attributes the high number to the popularity of his speciality. Private law, he said, “deals with the relations between people” and covers topics such as patents, family law, image rights, and artificial intelligence. It also includes intellectual property, which alone covers half the doctorates he has supervised.

Some subjects are by their nature also more fashionable, he said, such as sports law, in which he has a personal interest (he was a competitive shot put, discus and hammer throw athlete) as well as affiliations, having served on the board of Cricket South Africa, and currently on the Independent Doping Hearing Panel of the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport. In March this year, he was appointed to the Council on Anti-illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime of the Asian Racing Federation (ARF), which governs horse racing in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as South Africa and Mauritius.

His connection with sport hit the news worldwide in 2018, when he quit the Disciplinary Tribunal of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now known as World Athletics, in protest about the proposed testosterone-reducing treatment of athletes such as South African Caster Semenya – and made a statement by posting his resignation letter on LinkedIn:

“Sadly, I cannot in good conscience continue to associate myself with an organisation which insists on ostracising certain individuals, all of them female, for no reason other than being what they were born to be,” he wrote.

Even today the subject makes him frustrated: “The idea of putting somebody on medical treatment for non-medical purposes is such a violation of a person's body and integrity,” he said.

But Prof Cornelius’ popularity as a supervisor extends beyond his subject and his public profile. It’s his personality. He is amicable and jovial with a passion for both his discipline and people. “I don't take myself or many things seriously,” he said with a characteristic broad smile.

Dr Patrick Agejo, who graduated last year with a PhD on Biopiracy of plant resources and the rights of indigenous peoples in South Africa and Cameroon, said Prof Cornelius was “like a God-sent mentor because my relationship with him was wonderful. He is flexible and available to make sure you get what you want if it is within his reach.”

Agejoh, now doing post-doctoral research at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), will never forget how, when his final submission was delayed with a query, Prof Cornelius got his university bursary extended. And how, when lockdown for COVID-19 prevented an in-person graduation, Prof Cornelius made up for it by treating his triumphant student and three guests to a celebratory lunch at a restaurant.

Dr Michele van Eck, now a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Private Law at the Faculty of Law at UJ, said she didn’t just choose Prof Cornelius as her supervisor, but rather: “I ran after him.” She said it was truly a privilege to be taught by him at UJ, during her BCom and LLB degrees and in a postgraduate course on contracts. “He didn't know me at the time, but I knew him. He was so knowledgeable, he made everything make sense” she said.

As a supervisor for her doctorate on The Drafting of Contracts in South Africa, “we were on the same wavelength from the get-go, and it just came together beautifully. I couldn’t have asked for a better supervisor. He pushed me in a gentle way. It was never harsh. And that's what I needed. He has knowledge, wisdom, and experience. You can really talk to him about anything on the law and he just guides you in the right direction. He lived up to my expectations - and more,” she said.

Prof Cornelius said he enjoys supervising because of the personal contact, a welcome change when compared with undergraduate classes of 300 to 400 students, which don’t allow for any engagement.

His desire to study law stems from his days at Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in Pretoria and staring at the pictures of political leaders, including one of the then-banned Nelson Mandela, which adorned the walls of his history classroom. “Most of them were lawyers and I thought, if I'm interested in politics, I should study law.”

Academia won in the end, however. And supervising others’ research is without doubt a highlight.

“The best part for me is meeting the parents of the graduates I have supervised. To see the pride in their faces,” he said.

It makes him remember his late father, who encouraged him to complete his studies by the age of 30. A dutiful son, he graduated with an LLD at the age of 29.

“My father never actually told me in so many words that he was proud of me, but he never had to, because he was an embarrassment at every opportunity, with ‘You know, my son's got a doctorate.’

“When the Caster Semenya thing broke my brother said we could be glad my father had passed away recently; he would have made everybody crazy because I was on TV. But we always got that level of encouragement and so for me, it's special to meet other parents who are the same,” said Prof Cornelius.