Thereupon Danie, as he is known, commenced an academic career at the University of Natal and settled in Durban, where he emerged as a talented teacher.  But, not satisfied with his formal qualifications, he left on a Canadian scholarship to study City Planning at the University of Manitoba, at Winnipeg, 1967-9.

On his return to Durban, he teamed up with Hans Hallen, which practice, Hallen, Theron & Partners, rose to become the dominant design practice of Natal during the 1970s, and garnered a plethora of awards including winning the design competition for the La Lucia Civic Centre in 1972.  But, Danie’s visions for the city were best demonstrated in his student’s projects, and a number of these ideas later blossomed into conspicuous projects in Durban.

Within the Institute, Danie proved himself a proverbial ‘can-do’.  When the national journal ceased, Danie co-founded CREDO (1966-73) a broadsheet pulsating with ideas; and following that tabloid, he launched Plan (1973-5), which became Architecture SA, and on which editorial board he subsequently served for many years.  In Natal, he founded NPIA Newsletter, which he edited during 1976-81.  This publication, now KZ-NIA Journal, is the only regional architectural journal in South Africa, and is now in its 31st year of continuous and sole sponsorship by the KZN-based national brick making company, Corobrik. Danie indeed laid the groundwork for others to build upon.

While at Natal, Danie first encouraged respect for the recent architectural past, and once in Port Elizabeth, for the conservation of the historical built environment generally.  He served as chairman of the Eastern Cape committee of the National Monuments Council; and was appointed to the Council 1989-94; and later to its executive committee.  Within the Institute, he simultaneously headed the national Conservation Committee, while proving instrumental in the establishment of an independent Eastern Cape Institute, especially during his term as Chairman of the branch in 1986.  In the 1990s he chaired the SACA Heads of Schools Committee.  Danie held similar offices within the SA Planning Profession, including that of national president, 1981-82.  Yet architectural education was his real calling, and his legacy is alive in the minds of a generation of architects whom he inspired at the University of Natal, where he served 1962-1981, and at the University of Port Elizabeth, where as Professor and Head of Department 1982-2001, he transformed the department into a design school of national importance.

First formal acknowledgement of his contributions came in 1977 with an Erepenning of the Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.  That was followed in 1982 with the ISAA Writer’s and Critic’s Award; and once he established himself in Port Elizabeth, the Cape Times Centenary Award for Conservation, in 1987.

The SAIA Medal of Distinction is awarded to Daniel Theron by his colleagues, with respect and with affection, for a lifetime’s achievement in architectural education; in architectural and urban design; and for his dedication in architectural writing and publication.