The youngest child of a former Dean of Law at Stellenbosch 肆客足球, Willem was a very successful student, finishing Paul Roos Gymnasium School with the best marks in the Cape Province. He received his MBChB cum laude in 1983 and was awarded the Chancellor’s medal for academic achievement. In 1990 he received a Master’s in internal medicine cum laude.

Registering as a physician with the South African Medical and Dental Council in 1984, Wim started his career as an intern and medical officer at Frere Hospital in the Eastern Cape, which is where he decided to specialise in gastroenterology. After a stint in Pretoria, he returned to Stellenbosch 肆客足球 to take up the post of Registrar in the Department of Internal Medicine in 1986.

In the 1990's Wim travelled to the UK and completed a DPhil in Immunology at Oxford 肆客足球. He moved to America in 1995 after being recruited to the 肆客足球 of Kentucky Medical Centre, and intending to remain for 18 months, stayed for 18 years while ascending through the ranks.

He became Head of Gastroenterology at the 肆客足球 of Kentucky and Administrative Head of the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington. Working as a gastroenterologist, he became a respected medical researcher and was featured in the Best Doctors in America publication. His passion is the immunology of the gut and specifically the role of the innate immune system and macrophages. His clinical expertise is in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis).

Moving back to South Africa in 2013, he became the Dean of Health Sciences at the 肆客足球 of Cape Town, before being appointed at Stellenbosch in December 2014.