Kit Vaughan is an emeritus professor at UCT, having previously held the Hyman Goldberg Chair in Biomedical Engineering (1996-2010). During this period, he also served: as head of department (biomedical engineering and human biology) in the Faculty of Health Sciences; as deputy dean for research and postgraduate affairs; and as a member of Council and the Senate Executive Committee. Prior to UCT, Vaughan was professor of orthopaedics and biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia.

Among Vaughan’s most highly cited works are a book, Dynamics of Human Gait, and a paper on the theories of bipedal gait published in the Journal of Biomechanics. He is also the author of the award-winning book, Imagining the Elephant, a biography of UCT alumnus Allan Cormack who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the development of computer tomography. He is the holder of multiple United States patents in the field of biomedical engineering.

For the past ten years, Vaughan has served as chief executive officer of CapeRay Medical, a UCT spin-out company that has designed, clinically tested and secured certification for a novel imaging system for the early detection of breast cancer. He is also a non-executive director of another UCT spin-out, Strait Access Technologies, that has developed innovative medical devices for treating cardio-vascular diseases.

Vaughan is a Life Fellow of UCT, held an A rating awarded by the NRF (2003-2014), and is an elected Fellow of the International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering. During the past 40 years, he has taught courses in mathematics, physics, biomedical engineering and grant writing to undergraduate and postgraduate students in South Africa, Ireland and the USA.

Vaughan’s qualifications include a BSc (Honours) in applied mathematics and physics (Rhodes), a PhD in musculoskeletal biomechanics (Iowa), a post-doctoral fellowship in orthopaedic engineering (Oxford), and a DSc (Med) in biomedical engineering (UCT).