Emeritus Professor Ben Selinger AM is an honours/masters graduate of the University of Sydney. He took a doctorate from the Technical University, Stuttgart, Germany, and was awarded a Doctor of Science from the Australian National University, where he taught and researched for 35 years, combining surface chemistry and spectroscopy.

A consuming hobby became the publication ‘Chemistry in the marketplace’, in press since 1975, along with decades on the board of ‘CHOICE’. He initiated a talkback segment, Dial-a-scientist, on local ABC radio, and was a columnist–feature writer for The Canberra Times and Burke’s Backyard.

He chaired controversial investigative commissions for the ACT, NSW and federal governments including the Independent Panel on Intractable Waste, and Orica’s chlorinated waste at Botany, and supervised the first (1984) removal of asbestos insulation in the ACT. He chaired the foundation board of a then-independent federal regulator for agricultural and veterinary chemicals.

He is a Fellow of the Academy of Forensic Science, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.