Ron Bhatty Retires from Crop Development Centre
Ron Bhatty retired from the Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan on June 30, 1998, after 27 years working on grain crop quality, in particular, barley. In the barley community he is most recognized for his tireless work on hulless barley and in particular efforts to develop this type for food and feed.
Ron received his B.Sc. from the University of Punjab in 1953 and then moved many degrees north and west to Edinburgh, Scotland where he obtained an M.Sc. in 1960 and a Ph.D. in 1966 from the University of Edinburgh, where he studied cereal chemistry. He came to Saskatoon in 1967 as a post-doctoral fellow at the Prairie Regional Lab of the NRC where he conducted research on rapeseed proteins. Then in 1971 he took up the position of Cereal Chemist in the newly formed Crop Development Centre.
Ron has been recognized for his important contributions to Saskatchewan and western Canadian agriculture. In 1990 he was presented with the Global Agricultural Technology Exposition award for innovation. He was made a fellow of the American Association of Cereal Chemists in 1992, only the third Canadian and 16th person to be so honoured.
Ron has made many contributions to cultivar development, composition and quality of western Canadian grains, in particular barley, but also oat, lentil and flax. He has authored or co-authored 73 refereed publications, 15 refereed conference proceedings, 4 book chapters and 81 non-refereed technical publications and has participated in many national and international conferences.
Ron has served as associate editor of Cereal Chemistry, joint editor of the AACC monograph "Barley Chemistry and Technology", co-chair of the AACC symposium "Barley: A New Image," and chair of the AACC Technical Committee on Barley and Barley Products."
In 1996 Ron's career was crowned when he was presented with the Leadership Award by the Alberta Barley Commission. Ron has been appointed a Professor Emeritus (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan and continues to be involved with barley quality activities.