Born and educated in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa, Dr Dan Ncayiyana received his medical degree from the University of Groningen Medical School in the Netherlands in 1970. Following residency training at New York University Medical Center in the USA, he was Board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology in 1977 and was elected Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1979. After 10 years of private practice in the U nited States, he returned to South Africa to serve as Dean of the University of Transkei Medical School and subsequently as Vice President at the University of Cape Town. He is the long-standing Editor of the South African Medical Journal. His publications have encompassed obstetrics and gynecology, public health, medical education and medical publishing in developing countries. Dr Ncayiyana is consultant to the WHO and the World Bank.