New Zealand Chemist is Honored for His Years of Dedication to Analytical Science
Rockville, Maryland, February 24, 2026 — Gary Swanson, President of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, announced today that New Zealand chemist Dr. Brendon Gill is the recipient of the 2026 Harvey W. Wiley Award, the Association’s highest honor for lifetime scientific achievement.
Dr. Brendon Gill is a principal research scientist at the Fonterra Nutritionals Laboratory in Waitoa, New Zealand, where he’s worked for over 20 years. He is renowned for his work developing methods for measuring vitamins and micronutrients in infant formula.
Gill was nominated for the award by Jackie Wood, senior research scientist at Fonterra, who stated, “Dr. Gill is the developer of numerous analytical methods for dairy and infant formula that are used every single day in Fonterra’s laboratories to support the manufacture of these products. Several of Dr Gill’s methods have been validated further and have become the definitive method defined in regulations in many countries of the world.”
Gill served as study director for four AOAC Official Methods developed as part of the Stakeholder Program for Infant Formula and Adult Nutritionals (SPIFAN) program and as project leader for two international standards developed within the International Standards Organization (ISO). These AOAC/ISO standards were adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
A member of AOAC since 2006, Gill has been the recipient of the AOAC Fellow Award in 2015; the Expert Review Panel of the Year Award in 2023, 2017, and 2015; and in 2017 he won the Method of the Year Award for AOAC 2016.05 to measure vitamin D in infant formula and fortified powdered milk. He also recently received the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry’s (NZIC) top science prize, the Maurice Wilkins Prize for Chemical Science.
Since 2018, he has been a member of the AOAC Official Methods Board, which serves the Association in a scientific and advisory capacity on methods and the process of their adoption and is currently serving as chair. Gill has also served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL and as chair from 2020 to 2023.
Swanson said that Gill “is an internationally renowned leader furthering the analytical science of infant formula and is more than deserving of this award. This recognition is a true reflection of his stellar scientific achievements and the lasting impact he has made.”
AOAC leadership will present Gill with the 2026 Wiley Award at the 2026 AOAC Annual Meeting & Exposition, from August 29 to September 2, 2026, in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. A profile of him by Richard A. Lovett, JD, PhD, appears in the January/February issue of AOAC’s Inside Laboratory Management.
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About AOAC INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 1884 with beginnings in the USDA and US FDA, AOAC INTERNATIONAL is an independent, non-profit membership association of analytical science professionals across government, industry, and academia worldwide. Its mission is to advance food safety and product integrity through standards, validated test methods, and laboratory quality programs. AOAC publishes outcomes in the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, and its methods and standards in the Official Methods of AnalysisSM. It also provides laboratory proficiency testing programs and facilitates collaboration and training of scientists and other stakeholders to address challenges with sustainable analytical solutions. www.aoac.org
