Thomas Benjamin Davie

Davie graduated from Victoria College with a BA, before training as a primary school teacher.

[1] In 1933 he began his academic career in medical science, rising to become dean of the faculty.

[2] His tenure as vice-chancellor coincided with the Nationalist Party's introduction of legislation to govern universities.

UCT opposed the draft legislation that became the Extension of University Education Act, 1959.

Notable speakers have included former chief justice and UCT chancellor, Albert van der Sandt Centlivres, who delivered the first lecture in 1959; intellectual activist and struggle icon ZK Matthews; Walter Sisulu delivered the 30th TB Davie Memorial Lecture in 1990; and Nobel-winning Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka delivered the lecture in 1999.