Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Bernard Price Institute, University of the Witwatersrand
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1937-
History
As early as 1930, the possibility of establishing a lightning research laboratory was proposed, and later, Bernard Price, who was general manager and chief engineer of the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company, took steps towards the creation of a geophysical research institute. Price not only championed this endeavour, but also made a personal contribution towards its creation which was co-funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
In 1937, Wits established the Bernard Price Institute of Geophysical Research which was charged with conducting research into, inter alia, seismology, lightning, terrestrial magnetism, meteorology and radio communications. While this institute was separate from the Electrical Engineering department at Wits, many of the research activities were closely allied with Electrical Engineering. In fact, it was intended that the work of the institute would not only be to conduct pure research, but also to serve the electrical and mining industries.
(From "School of Electrical and Information Engineering @ University of the Witwatersrand - History of the School)