A lasting legacy
In Memoriam WE F ONDLY R EM E M BE R T HOSE WHO HAVE G ONE BE FORE US
Image: Layton Thompson
1920s
1925-2022
COLIN CARO [BSc 1947, BSc Hons 1950, MBBCh 1950, Med 1960, DSc Eng honoris causa 2010]
80 W I T S R E V I E W
One of the founders of bioengineering, pioneer in the study of arterial fluid mechanics, originator of the low-shearstress theory of atherosclerosis, scientist, and mentor Professor Colin Gerald Caro died on 21 February 2022 at the age of 96. He began his medical studies at Wits after matriculating at Parktown Boys High School in Johannesburg in 1942. At the end of 1944 his studies were interrupted to volunteer for the South African
Navy, where he served initially as an ordinary seaman at Saldanha Bay, and later aboard the frigate HMSAS Swale in the waters off the Cape and Equatorial East Africa. After demobilisation in early 1946, Caro returned to Wits, but changed direction to read for a science degree in physiology while simultaneously studying towards a medical degree. The BSc Hons and MBBCh were conferred in March and December of 1950, respectively. He
