Pieter Steyn established an international reputation for his world-leading work on the chemistry of fungal metabolites and other natural products and especially for his contributions to the isolation, structure elucidation and biosynthesis of the mycotoxins, a structurally and biosynthetically diverse group of toxic compounds produced as a result of fungal contamination of both growing crops and stored foodstuffs. He has long been recognised as the unchallenged international authority on mycotoxins. His internationally renowned group at the CSIR in Pretoria produced generations of highly trained and original scientists who have gone on to make their own contributions to the South African science base. He is a towering figure in the practice, management and administration of chemistry and food science worldwide. He was elected president of the International Association of Cereal Science and Technology, he has served on many editorial boards, conference organisation committees, and he has lectured extensively throughout the world.

John Darrell Comins is Chair of Materials Physics Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is Chair of the Interim Governing Committee of the Schonland Research Centre for Nuclear Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is Director of the Witwatersrand-NRF Raman and Luminescence Lab. He is also Professor of Solid State Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.