Justin Jonas was born in London and emigrated to South Africa with his parents in 1965. He attended school in Uitenhage, matriculating from Muir College in 1975, and enrolled at Rhodes University for a BSc degree in 1976. All of his tertiary degrees were obtained from Rhodes University, culminating in a PhD in Radio Astronomy in 1999. His PhD topic was the Rhodes/HartRAO 2.3 GHz radio continuum survey of the Milky Way.
He has worked in the Department of Physics and Electronics at Rhodes since 1981, starting as a research technician and progressing through the researcher and lecturer ranks, and was appointed as Professor of Physics and Electronics in 2001. From 2003 till 2006 he was seconded to be the Managing Director of the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (a post he again held temporarily during 2017/2018).
He has been closely associated with the Square Kilometre Array project since 2001 and is currently the Chief Technologist for South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO). This is a joint appointment with Rhodes, where he is Director of the Centre for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies (RATT). He has been intimately involved in the design and construction of the MeerKAT radio telescope and sits on the advisory committee to the SKA Organization. He is the recipient of the 2019 Rhodes University Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Achievement Award.
