The Royal Society of South Africa hosted an awards ceremony on the University of Pretoria ’s Future Africa campus on Saturday 4 November. The ceremony was the second of two, the first held in Cape Town during October, at which new Fellows of the Society were inducted and various prestigious medals conferred. At the Pretoria event, FABI Prof. Brenda Wingfield received the John F.W. Herschel Medal , presented by Royal Society President Prof. Stephanie Burton . This medal commemorates the achievements of the English polymath, mathematician, chemist and astronomer Sir John F.W. Herschel (1792-1871). The Herschel Medal of the Royal Society is specifically awarded to a South African scientist who has excelled in research across disciplines. In making the award, Prof. Burton highlighted Prof. Wingfield’s contributions across the fields of biochemistry, microbiology, genetics and plant health. In her acceptance speech, Brenda sketched the path of her research career, starting as a biochemist and now holding the Department of Science and Innovation SARChI Chair in Fungal Genetics. At the ceremony, a number of Fellows were inducted and signed the book in which all new Fellows have signed their names since the Society 1908. University of Pretoria academic, Prof. Jaco Greef was one of those inducted as a Fellow at Saturday’s ceremony.