Professor Harjinder Singh

Distinguished Professr/Head of School of Food and Nutrition, Massey University

Harjinder is also the Co-Director of the Riddet Institute, a National Centre of Research Excellence in food science and nutrition. Professor Singh is a world-renowned food scientist, honoured for his outstanding scientific achievements, his international profile and his academic leadership and commitment to the scientific profession/community.

He received his Masters of Science (Hons) from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India) in 1982 and a PhD in Food Science and Technology from University College Cork, Ireland in 1986. He was appointed as a lecturer at Massey University in 1989, and became full professor in 1998. He has published over 300 papers in international journals, and is co-inventor of 12 patents which have formed the basis of several commercial innovations. He has mentored several graduate students and young scientists from around the world, and has received considerable funding from both New Zealand and international food companies and government organisations. He has delivered numerous keynote addresses at international conferences and sits on the editorial boards of several food journals. He has served on several national and international committees, playing a significant role in food strategy development and implementation.

His international standing and outstanding contributions to food science have been recognised by several prestigious awards: the William Haines Dairy Science Award (USA) and the Marschall Rhodia International Dairy Science Award (USA), Massey University Research Medal, JC Andrews Award and the Shorland Medal. He is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (2006). In 2012, he was the co-recipient of the Prime Minister’s Science Prize, the highest science honour in New Zealand. In 2015, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists (USA).