Hein Odendaal (born 17 July 1942) is a South African

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

and internationally recognised specialist in

Obstetrics and Gynaecology Obstetrics and gynaecology (also spelled as obstetrics and gynecology; abbreviated as Obst and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

Biography

A graduate of the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

and the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

, Odendaal returned to Stellenbosch in 1983 as Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, a position he held for 20 years. He also served as visiting professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

of Louvain in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and as coordinator of Obstetric Services in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 2003. He has served as an external examiner for undergraduate and postgraduate examinations at, inter alia, the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whethe ...

and the University of Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Prof Odendaal has contributed to 236 scientific publications, has delivered papers at more than 200 congresses around the world, and is the author of five medical books.

Education

Odendaal graduated from the University of Pretoria in 1966 with a M.B. Ch.B. and from the University of Stellenbosch with a M. Med. (Obstetrics and Gynaecology)(cum laude). He is a Fellow of the

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is ...

Memberships

A former President of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, College of Medicine of South Africa, Odendaal served on the Council of the World Obstetric Medicine Group from 2002. He was a member of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics' Advisory Panel on Maternal and Perinatal Health and Obstetrics from 2001 to 2003.

Awards and accolades

Odendaal is the recipient of, inter alia, the

Havenga Prize The Havenga Prize (''Havengaprys'' in Afrikaans) is a prize awarded annually by the ''Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns The Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) (literally ''South African Academy for Science an ...

for Medicine (1997), a Distinguished Reviewer Award from the

South African Medical Journal The ''South African Medical Journal'' is a monthly peer-reviewed open-access medical journal which has been published in South Africa since 1884. It is sponsored by the South African Medical Association and published by the association's publishin ...

, and the Rector’s award for excellent research from the University of Stellenbosch. He has a

National Research Foundation of South Africa South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions. History It was established on 1 April 1999 as an ...

rating as an established researcher with a sustained recent record of productivity recognised by his peers, and in 2009 was awarded an honorary membership of the SA College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odendaal, Hein 1942 births Living people University of Pretoria alumni South African gynaecologists South African obstetricians Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Stellenbosch University alumni University of Malawi alumni