Dr. D.V. Singh (Dharam Vir Singh) was born on 3^rd November, 1944 at Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He did his B.Sc. (Ag.), M.Sc. (Ag.) and Ph.D. Plant Pathology, from Government Agricultural College, Kanpur. At IARI he served as Senior Wheat Pathologist (1977-82), Principal Scientist (1983-2000), Head, Division of Plant Pathology, (2000-06) and Emeritus Scientist (2006-08). He has to his credit 38 years research and teaching experience and guided 14 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. His major contributions are on wheat diseases like rusts, smuts, bunts and foliar diseases on various aspects particularly etiology, epidemiology and integrated disease management. His contributions on Karnal bunt of wheat have been recognized internationally. He has published more than 170 Scientific Publications in reputed National and International journals, 46 Review Articles, 11 Books, and 27 Popular Articles.

He organised a number of Conferences, Workshops, Symposia and several Training Courses on Plant Pathology. He successfully organized IPS Golden Jubilee International Conference on “Integrated Plant Disease Management for Sustainable Agriculture” in 1997. He contributed significantly for Indian Phytopathological Society as a Member (1964); Councillor, Delhi Zone (1979); Joint Secretary (1980-82); Secretary (1995-97 and 1998-2000); President (2003); Editor (1992-94) Member, Editorial Board (1983-85 and 1986-88).

In view of his outstanding contributions, various honours and awards were conferred on him such as Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize (1978-79); Shri Hari Krishna Shastri Memorial Award, IARI (2003); Dr. K.C. Mehta Memorial Award, NAAS (2005-06); Sharda Memorial Award (1990); Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), (1995); Fellow of Indian Phytopathological Society (FPSI), (1980); FAO Fellow under AHRD programme to North Carolina University, Raleigh, USA (1998); Visiting Scientist to CIMMYT, Mexico for Karnal bunt (1967); DANIDA Scholarship for Seed Pathology, Denmark (1971).

He served as Member, Board of Governors, IIT Roorkee (2005-11); Member, Board of Management of IARI (2001-03); and C.S. Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur (1984-86) along with various other Committees of ICAR Institutes and Agricultural Universities.

He served as Plant Protection Consultant for CABI (U.K) (2010-12) and Ministry of Agriculture for National Food Security Mission (NFSM) (2012-13).

He is a widely travelled Plant Pathologist having visited, Denmark, USA, U.K., Netherlands, West Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Mexico, Iran, Turkey, Russia Egypt, Nepal, Thailand and Taiwan.