Prof. Raymond Durrheim

Professor 

School of Geosciences

Biography

Raymond Durrheim (PhD, Witwatersrand, 1990) held the South African Research Chair in Exploration, Earthquake and Mining Seismology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg from 2007-2021, and now has a post-retirement appointment as a Professor in the School of Geosciences. He co-directs the AfricaArray research and capacity-building program, leads the DSI-NRF-SAIMI Community of Practice in Knowledge & Skills Development for Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, and is principal investigator of the ICDP project Drilling into Seismogenic Zones of M2.0 – M5.5 Earthquakes in Deep South African Gold Mines (DSeis, 2016-present). Ray is the author or co-author of more than 160 refereed articles published in journals, conference proceedings and books, and co-recipient of the Society of Exploration Geophysics Award for the Best Paper Published in Geophysics in 2012. Ray was chair of the first two SAGA Biennial Conferences (in 1989 and 1991) and SAGA president in 1995/96. He received SAGA’s Meritorious Service Award in 2010 and the Krahmann Medal in 2015. In 2021 Ray received two NSTF-South32 “Science Oscars”: the Lifetime Award for his outstanding contribution to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa, and was a member of the Wits School of Geosciences team that won the Data for Research Award.