Timothy Noakes

Known throughout the academic community for the high-caliber nature of his scientific insights and work, Dr. Timothy Noakes is Discovery Health professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He is also director of the Medical Research Council/University of Cape Town Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Newlands. Noakes was awarded a doctorate in science (DSc) in 2002, the highest degree awarded by the University of Cape Town. Publishing the first scientific article on exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is considered among his greatest achievements.

Noakes is a veteran of more than 70 marathons and ultramarathons, and his book Lore of Running (Human Kinetics, 2003) is considered a classic by serious distance runners. In addition, Noakes is an editorial board member for many international sport science journals and a former president of the South African Sports Medicine Association. In 1996, he presented the prestigious J.B. Wolffe Memorial Lecture at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting. In 1999 he was elected as one of 22 founding members of the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Science Academy. The National Research Foundation of South Africa considers Noakes an A-rated scientist, and in 2008 he received the Order of Mapungubwe (Silver) from the president of South Africa.