SA Professor who went from the University of Natal to becoming a world leader in medical, forensic, and environmental science receives incredible honours!
Pretoria, South Africa (22 May 2026) – This week’s graduation headlines have proved, again and again, that SA’s brightest minds are up there with the very best in the world.
The latest local academic to be celebrated has spent decades completely transforming global science!
Professor Robert Graham Cooks, a world leader in mass spectrometry, which is the science used to identify chemical substances, has been awarded an honorary PhD in Chemistry by the University of Pretoria.
Photo Credit: University of Pretoria
Born in South Africa, Professor Cooks’ academic journey started at the University of Natal before his research took him all around the world. Today, he is the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the USA. There, his incredible breakthroughs have created tools that save lives, solve crimes, and protect our environment.
His work is used across the globe every single day from helping track down toxic chemicals in our food and air to pinpointing the exact substances in murder investigations. He even developed portable, backpack-sized testing instruments that were critical in curbing China’s devastating 2008 melamine baby food scandal.
To celebrate his many professional achievements, along with his honorary PhD, he was also awarded the Chancellor’s Medal from the University of Pretoria, recognising the immense, positive footprint he has left on society as a whole.
Photo Credit: University of Pretoria
“Cooks has continuously achieved breakthroughs in the fundamental phenomena underlying mass spectrometry, and developed the associated instrumentation and analytical applications for chemical identification,” Professor Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UP, said.
Even with global success, Professor Cooks has never forgotten his South African roots and regularly returns home to share his knowledge and support local scientists.
“Through his work in many aspects of mass spectrometry, Professor Cooks has soared to great heights in global research and development,” Prof Petersen added. “Equally laudable is that he is a fine human being, generous with his knowledge and supportive of colleagues, students, and early-career scholars. It is with great pride and admiration that we confer this honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria on Professor Cooks”.
With over 60 international awards to his name and having mentored hundreds of PhD students and researchers worldwide, Professor Cooks is a true example of the heights South Africans can reach while lifting others up along the way!
Professor Cooks is one of more than 13,221 students taking the stage during the university’s Autumn Graduation season this May.
Sources: Linked above.
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