Vipen Sawhney earned a B.Sc (1965) and M.Sc (1967) from the University of Panjab and PhD (1972) from the University of Western Ontario. He accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Simon Fraser University in 1972 before coming to the University of Saskatchewan in 1975. Dr. Sawhney rose through the ranks serving as the Rawson Professor of Biology and Department Head from 2003-2007. In addition to his U of S appointment, he has been a visiting Professor and Fellow several times. Dr. Sawhney maintained a first rate research program throughout his career co-editing a book and authoring more than a hundred refereed papers. He is an internationally recognized plant geneticist focussing on understanding the processes and mechanisms controlling flower and pollen development in angiosperms using floral and male-sterile mutants in tomato, canola (Brassica napes) and Arabidopsis. By using microscopic, physiological (hormonal and environmental) and proteomic approaches, Dr. Sawhney has investigated the various factors, and their possible interactions, in plant developmental processes. His research on male sterility in tomato has been applied in the hybrid seed industry. He has received many awards and honours including the Master Teacher 2007, Earned Doctor of Science 2010 and the Award of Innovation from the University of Saskatchewan. He served as the President, Canadian Botanical Association, 2004-2006, President, International Association of Sexual Plant Reproduction and Research, 1998-2002 and Vice-President, Canadian Botanical Association, 1998-1999.

John Sawatsky was born in 1948 in Winkler, Manitoba. He received his B.A. Honours in Political Science at the Simon Fraser University in 1974. He has acquired much experience in the field of journalism at various universities including Carleton University and the University of Regina. Sawatsky was previously employed at the Vancouver Sun and B.C. Petroleum. He is presently a Journalism Trainer and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Journalism at the Carleton University. He is also a self-employed journalist and writer. Sawatsky has written "Men in the Shadows: the RCMP Security Service" (1980), "For Services Rendered: Leslie James Bennett and the RCMP Security Service" (1982), "Gouzenko: the Untold Story" (1984), "The Insiders: Government, Business and the Lobbyists" (1989) and "Mulroney: the Politics of Ambition" (1992). In 1976 he received the Michener Award for meritorious public service in the field of journalism. He has also received various other professional honours for other works he has completed. In 1985 Sawatsky returned to Ottawa where he now serves as an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism, Carlton University, and pursues a free lance career.