Rattan Singh Bhatty was born on November 14, 1932 in Panjab, India. He graduated with a B.Sc. in agriculture in 1953 from the Government Agricultural College, Ludhiana, Panjab University. Later, he studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and obtained post-graduate Diploma (1958), M.Sc. (1960) and Ph.D. (1966) degrees. On completion of his doctorate degree he was selected by the National Research Council of Canada for a post-doctorate fellowship at the Prairie Regional Laboratory on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. In 1971 he was offered a position of Research Scientist (Assistant Professor Research) in the Crop Development Centre (CDC), Department of Crop Science in the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan. He was promoted to Senior Research Scientist (Full Professor) in 1981 and on retirement in 1998 appointed Professor Emeritus (by selection at that time). During his tenure at the CDC he was Adjunct Professor (1982-1998) in the Department of Crop Science and Plant Ecology, Associate Member (1976-1989) Interdisciplinary Food Science Graduate Program, and Visiting Biochemist (July1-December30, 1984) at the University of California, Davis.