Wilhelm Heinrich Holzapfel is Chair Professor at Handong Global University and heading the Laboratory of Human Effective Microbes (Department of Advanced Convergence) and CTO at HEM Pharma Inc.. He graduated from University Orange Free State with his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Agriculture in 1963 and 1967, respectively. He received his Ph.D. from Technical University Munich (TUM) in 1969. He has been President of the International Committee for Food Microbiology and Hygiene and International Union of Microbiological Societies from 1996 to 2022. He also holds memberships of other professional societies, including South African Society for Microbiology (vice president 1986-1988), American Society for Microbiology, German Society for General and Applied Microbiology, Society for Applied Bacteriology, German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology, and the Hungarian Society for Microbiology (honorary).