Board of Directors
Professor Bruce Sparks
Professor Sparks is one of six children. He grew up in a farming community and trained in Johannesburg. He is married to Louise, a retired high school teacher of English, Latin and History. She is a keen painter of ceramics, and a lover of Golden Retriever dogs. They have a son, Richard, a doctor who is married to Lou, and a daughter, Alexandra, who is a French and English graduate who has completed postgraduate training in Business Management. She is now a Web designer and public relations executive.
Professor Sparks is Professor and Head of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He is also Head of the Department of Family Medicine at Johannesburg Hospital and other teaching hospitals, responsible for emergency rooms, wards and surrounding clinics.
His involvement in his local college includes being President of the College of Family Practitioners of South Africa, and the immediate past Chairman of the South African Academy of Family Practice. Bruce was the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Wonca 2001 World Congress held in Durban.
His involvement in Wonca started in the early 1980s when he was the South African Representative on Wonca Council from 1983 to 1998. From 1992 to 1998 he was the Regional President for the Africa Region, and from 1998 to 2001 he was the Honorary Treasurer and Member at Large. He was elected Wonca President Elect at the World Council Meeting at Alpine Heath, South Africa in May 2001, and took over as President at the Orlando Conference in 2004.