A day in the life at the University of Pretoria. 01 October 1918

01 October 1918: UP’s first rector. On this "Day in the life of the University of Pretoria" Prof A.C. Paterson (pictured below) was appointed as the T.U.C.’s first rector.

Prof. A.C. Patterson © University of Pretoria Archives

Up until 1916 thee total administration of the TUC was carried by only a secretary and a typist. In 1916 prof A.C. Patterson, the Latin lecturer, was appointed as the registrar.  He officially became the first rector of the University of Pretoria by unanimous council vote on 1 August 1918 and took up the position two months later. He left the T.U.C in 1924 for University College of Auckland, New Zealand and died in 1932. UP’s history books remember him in the following way: “It is very seldom indeed that one comes across …a man with such a combination of outstanding qualities as he had: tremendous erudition, a brilliant intellect, a very keen sense of humor, coupled with business instinct, a flair for administration and immense energy.”

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