Ben-Erik van Wyk

Van Wyk was elected a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 2013.

Van Wyk is a member of several organizations, including the Aloe Council of South Africa (Chair), the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the Botanical Society of America, the Indigenous Plant Use Forum (Chair since 1996), the Association for African Medicinal Plant Standards, Briza Publications CC, and the Presidential Task Team on African Traditional Medicine. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of the South African Journal of Botany, the Official Journal of the South African Association of Botanists.

Since 1984, Van Wyk has been teaching at the Rand Afrikaans University, where he has been a professor since 1990. Since 2005 he has been a professor at the Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, where the Rand Afrikaans University has been absorbed.

Van Wyk has received several awards, including the Schlich Medal in 1980, the FRD President's Award in 1991, the Havenga prize for Biology from the South African Academy of Science and Art in 2006, the Silver Medal from the South African Association of Botanists in 2007, and the Medal of Honor from the Faculty of Natural Science and Technology of the South African Academy of Science and Art in 2011.

Ben-Erik van Wyk FAAS (born 27 December 1956 in Bellville) is a South African professor of indigenous botany and traditional African medicine at the University of Johannesburg.

Ben-Erik van Wyk was born on 27 December 1956 in Bellville, South Africa. In 1979, he received a Bachelor of Science from Stellenbosch University in Forestry and Nature Conservation. In 1983, he graduated cum laude with a Master of Science. In 1989, he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cape Town.