St John's College and the Old Johannian Association are proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Golden Eagle Award, conferred on two deserving Old Johannians on Gaudy Day in recognition of the extraordinary impact they have made in South Africa and internationally.
This annual award celebrates the valued, lasting contributions of Old Johannians who have made a difference in their community, industry, arena of life or field of study.
This year's Golden Eagle Awards go to the late Prof Anthony M Meyers (Hill 1950 | Sixth Form 1951), awarded posthumously, and Richard Mayer (Hill 1984).
Richard Mayer (Hill 1984)
St John's College is proud to honour Richard Mayer, an Old Johannian who not only exemplifies service and leadership in South Africa but has also demonstrated a deep commitment to the development of athletics in South Africa.
During his time at St John's, Mayer distinguished himself in such diverse areas as public speaking, debating and athletics. His achievements at the College foretold his successes in life and reflect his numerous abilities and interests. In his final year, he was not only a Hill House Prefect but also captained the Cross-Country team, received colours for Athletics, was awarded the Chilvers Cup for Impromptu Speaking and the Gordon Dekker Current Affairs Prize.
His interest in running continued into tertiary education, and while studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand, Mayer was Cross-Country Captain from 1988 to 1990 and was awarded a Full Blue for road running in 1991, as well as a Half Blue for Sports Administration.
Mayer pursued a distinguished legal career and today serves as a director of Fullard Mayer Morrison Attorneys, a firm he co-founded in 1999. He is responsible for Labour Law, represents a number of major clients in the field of commercial debt collection, and is an experienced commercial litigator. Mayer is also a member of the Institute of Credit Management and has presented seminars on Credit Law and the Consumer Protection Act.
Yet his greatest legacy extends far beyond his career.
For more than three decades, he has devoted himself to the growth of athletics in South Africa, becoming one of the most respected coaches and administrators in the country. His early passion for distance running soon evolved into a remarkable coaching career. He was Head Coach of the Wanderers Athletics Club from 1997 to 2007, a period during which the club emerged as one of South Africa's foremost centres for middle- and long-distance running. The club won every sub-marathon team title available and produced seven South African champion athletes and eleven South African representatives, including the legendary Phalula twins and Violet Raseboya. In 2000, Mayer coached Johannes Maremane to join defending champion Josiah Thugwane and Hendrick Ramaala on the South African Olympic marathon team to the Sydney Olympics. In 2002, he accompanied the future South African Athletics president, Aleck Skhosana, as coach of the South African team at the Ekiden Relays in Japan.
Significantly, it is Mayer's generosity, integrity and quiet dedication that have defined his contribution. Countless runners have benefited from his wisdom and encouragement, and his influence continues to be felt across South African athletics.
He has written extensively on athletics. In addition to various scholarly and journalistic articles, he has also published a history of South African distance running entitled Three Men Named Matthews. It remains an authoritative work, referenced extensively in subsequent journals and articles.
Mayer's influence has been felt at every level of the sport. Combining technical expertise with an extraordinary gift for mentorship, he has coached athletes from schoolboy hopefuls to national and international competitors, often free of charge. His philosophy has always been grounded in discipline, humility and the belief that sport can shape character and enrich lives. His commitment and service have earned him the admiration and respect of both athletes and coaches.
Richard Mayer embodies the values that St John's College seeks to instil in its boys: perseverance, humility, leadership and service. Alongside a successful and renowned career, he has dedicated his life to nurturing talent and strengthening South African athletics. Through this, he has left an enduring mark on his sport and on the lives of all those privileged to work alongside him. In recognition of his exceptional and lifelong contribution to athletics, to mentorship, and to South Africa, St John's College proudly bestows upon Richard Mayer its Golden Eagle Award.
Prof Anthony M Meyers (Hill 1950 | Sixth Form 1951): 1933 – 2022
St John's is proud to honour the life and legacy of Prof Anthony Meyers – 'Tony' to those who knew him – an Old Johannian whose extraordinary contributions to medicine transformed countless lives and helped shape the development of kidney health and medicine in South Africa. He had a long and distinguished career as a physician and nephrologist – a kidney specialist – and also as an educator, pioneering many aspects of nephrology. Remarkably, he was an integral member of the team that carried out the first kidney transplant in South Africa in 1966.
During his time at St John's, Meyers was a committed student with an enquiring mind, qualities that stayed with him throughout his career and life. He was elected prefect in Hill House and was heavily involved in the Natural History and Scientific Societies. On the sports field, he regularly played for the First XV Rugby Team and captained the Athletics Team, winning the Geoffrey Cherrington Cup, awarded annually to the most deserving athlete on Sports Day. He also swam competitively, served in the Cadets, and sang in the College Choir. His time at the College was marked by the breadth of his interests and achievements.
Meyers studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, qualifying in medicine in 1960. He went on to postgraduate study at Wits and clinical training at Baragwanath and Johannesburg hospitals between 1963 and 1966. He headed the Division of Nephrology for many years, and from 1997 to 2001 served as Chief Physician and Professor and Head of Nephrology at the Johannesburg Hospital and the University of the Witwatersrand, after which he was awarded the title of professor emeritus. Following his retirement, he worked part-time as a consultant nephrologist at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital from 2002 to 2013, and in private practice at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre. He was widely regarded as the principal nephrologist in Africa.
His influence extended beyond the hospital and the lecture theatre. He served as President of the South African Renal Society, the Southern African Transplantation Society and the African Association of Nephrology, and for many years was an energetic Chairperson of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) of South Africa. In these roles, he pressed for the highest standards of care and encouraged collaboration across the continent. His work helped place South Africa at the forefront of renal medicine and brought hope and healing to generations of patients.
Meyers was known for his wonderful ability to connect with people from all walks of life and to maintain connections with them over time and distance. He is remembered as warm-hearted and friendly, always sincerely respectful of all people and deeply respected and admired by all who knew him. He was a devoted mentor, an inspiring teacher and a compassionate doctor whose kindness was only matched by his remarkable intellect. Above all of his professional and other achievements, his family remember him as a dedicated and present husband and father.
Prof Anthony Meyers exemplified the values of a true Johannian: scholarship, leadership, service and integrity. His life stands as a testament to what can be achieved when knowledge is coupled with compassion and when excellence is dedicated to the common good.
In recognition of his outstanding and lifelong contribution to medicine in South Africa and to humanity, St John's College proudly honours Prof Anthony M Meyers with the Golden Eagle Award.
