On Thursday evening 8 February 2018, the Language Centre presented Prof Leon de Stadler with a hard copy of the Festschrift that honoured him for his professional contribution to his field of study. He had received the cover of the Festschrift at his farewell function upon his retirement, but the content stayed a surprise up to now. The SU Botanical Garden played host to an intimate function where he, together with his wife and daughters, the authors who contributed to the Festschrift and a few other special guests could celebrate this aspect of his life.
The introduction to the Festschrift highlights where it all started: “Leon de Stadler’s association with Stellenbosch University started in 1972 when he arrived on campus as a first-year student. This uninterrupted association would continue for more than four decades – up to his retirement in January 2017. Leon has made a significant contribution and has left an enduring legacy – as a student, even more so as a lecturer and particularly as Director of the Language Centre. He has excelled as a lecturer, researcher, academic manager and valued colleague. Honouring him with a Festschrift cannot really do justice to his contribution or to the role that he has played – the students he has trained, the colleagues he has inspired, the research he has published and the work he has done, which still continues and thrives, are all a living testament and commemoration.
Nevertheless, with this Festschrift volume, colleagues in South Africa and abroad wish to acknowledge what Leon has accomplished and what a dramatic impact he has had on his field of study, on his students, on his colleagues and co-workers, on his department, on the Language Centre and on the University. Few can equal the extent and depth of his influence.”
The Festschrift was published as Volume 53 (2017) of the accredited journal Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus (SPiL Plus).
Dr Antoinette van der Merwe presenting the Festschrift to Prof Leon de Stadler
