Izak van Zyl received his doctoral degree (Thd) in Church History at the University of Western Cape in South Africa in the early 1980's. As a student of his, this writer was with his wife the only three Adventists attending his ceremony. This black and white photo is the only one I have of the occassion.
Dr. van Zyl wrote his dissertation on a topic of church history dealing with the problems of the Dortrecht Synod. His result was that the problems that they set themselves out to solve in this synod was not solved at all.
Many SDA's know only the names of Gerhard Damsteeg, or dr. Augsburger, or dr. Bacchiocchi, or dr. Kenneth Strand but dr. Izak van Zyl stands head and shoulders as one of them. For those students who studied under him, the experience with the Bible, History, EGW and Truth was unforgettable. He went unnoticed since he never blew his own horn or promoted himself in any way.