Phillip Vallentine Tobias was born in Durban, Natal in 1925. He was the only son and second child of Joseph Newman Tobias and Fanny Rosendorff. He was appointed Demonstrator in Histology and Instructor in Physiology at the University of Witwatersrand, in 1945. In 1959 he became Professor of and Head of the Department of Anatomy, and served as Dean of Medicine from 1980 to 1982. Tobias was appointed Honorary Professor of Palaeoanthropology at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research in 1977 and Honorary Professor in Zoology in 1981.
Tobias received his Bachelor of Science Degrees in Histology and Physiology in 1946-1947, and in 1953 he received his Ph.D. His thesis was entitled “Chromosomes, Sex-Cells, and Evolution in the Gerbil.” In 1967 he was awarded D.Sc. for his published work on hominid evolution. All this was accomplished while he attended the University of the Witwatersrand.
His post-doctoral study and research began in 1955 at Cambridge University, England where he acted as Nuffield Dominion Senior Traveling Fellow in physical anthropology. Then in 1956 at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Chicago he acted as Rockefeller Traveling Fellow in anthropology, human genetics, and dental anatomy and growth.
Tobias has organized digs at the Sterkfontein caves and participated in almost all other major digs in Southern Africa since 1945. Tobias has also discovered some 25 archaeological sites in Bechuanaland Protectorate while on the French Panhard-Capricorn Expedition. Dr. Tobias also conducted a biological survey of the Tonga People of Zimbabwe. He has received numerous honors and awards over the years and is renowned in his areas of study.
Ingold, Tim. Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology: Humanity, Culture and Social Life. Routledge, London, England, 1994.
Sperber, Geoffrey, H. From Apes to Angels: Essays in Anthropology in Honor of Phillip V. Tobias. Wiley-Liss, New York, NY, 1990.
Written by Students in an Introduction to Anthropology Class, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota
Edited by Marcy L. Voelker, 2007