Dr. Tarlochan Singh Thind was borne on 10^th July, 1952 in village Said Pur, District Kapurthala, Punjab from where he obtained his school education. He did B.Sc. from Govt. College, Chandigarh in 1972. He received M.Sc.(Botany) in 1974 and Ph.D (Botany) in 1977 from Saugar University, Sagar (M.P.). He joined as Research Associate in 1977 and subsequently Asstt. Plant Pathologist in 1978 in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He became Plant Pathologist in 1988 and was elevated to the post of Senior Plant Pathologist in 1996. Dr. Thind served as Professor and Head, Department of Plant Pathology, PAU, Ludhiana from January, 2001 till February, 2012. He became Additional Director of Research in PAU in March, 2012. 
Dr. Thind is specialized in rational and need-based use of fungicides in plant disease control and has over 35 years of research experience in different aspects of fungicide use. He attended FAO sponsored international training course on fungicide resistance in Malaysia in 1984. Dr. Thind was awarded French Govt. Fellowship for Post-Doctoral research at INRA, Bordeaux, France from 1985-1987 where he worked on the problem of fungicide resistance in apple scab and grape black rot pathogens. He was a visiting scientist in the same institute in 1991-92 and worked on epidemiology and resistance development in grape powdery mildew to EBI fungicides. He was awarded ‘Le Grand Conseil Bordeaux’ Medal in 1992 for the research work done on fungicide resistance in France. 
He has handled several research projects as Principal Investigator funded by ICAR, DST, UNDP and Indo-French Centre for Advanced Research on epidemiology and management of fungal diseaes in vegetables and fruit crops through need-based use of fungicides. He has developed need-based, economical fungicide schedules for managing important crop diseases more effectively. Dr. Thind has pioneered work on fungicide resistance in plant pathogens in India and has reported several cases of fungicide resistance development for the first time in India and worked out its management strategies. He is National Advisor for the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (India Chapter). He has served as FAO Consultant in Cape Verde (W. Africa) in 1992 where he assessed the status of vegetable diseases. He was awarded ‘Fulbright Fellowship’ in 2001 for visiting University of California, Davis, USA in 2001 and 2005 where he worked on epidemiology of young grapevine decline. He has won several awards and honours for his work on fungicides such as ‘Pesticides India Award’ twice by Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology, ‘Prof. M.J. Narasimhan Commendation Medal’ and ‘Prof. M.S. Pavgi Memorial Award’ by Indian Phytopathological Society. 
Dr. Thind is a Member of Chemical Control Committee of International Society of Plant Pathology since 1998 and is Associate Editor of Pest Management Science, UK since 2003. He is Fellow of Indian Phytopathological Society, Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology and Indian Society of Plant Pathologists. He was elected President of Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology ( 2007), Indian Phytopathological Society (2010) and Indian Society of Plant Pathologists (2011). He was nominated Editor-in-Chief of Indian Society of Plant Pathologists and member of Editorial Board of Indian Phytopathological Society. He was nominated Expert by CIB to review the use of pesticides in India in 2006. 
Dr. Thind has published more than 140 research papers in leading journals, 6 books and 3 technical bulletins. He has attended several international conferences of plant pathology in countries like Australia, England, New Zealand, Israel, France, Germany, Italy and Malaysia and convened and chaired technical sessions. He has developed innovative teaching methods and guided several M.Sc. and Ph.D students in plant pathology. Disease control recommendations given by him have helped the farmers in realizing economical yield returns through effective management of crop diseases. 
Dr. Thind superannuated from the university service in July, 2012. He was awarded Scientist Emeritus by ICAR which he joined in August, 2012 after retirement in the Department of Plant Pathology, PAU, Ludhiana.