Ryk Lues holds a Masters Degree in Microbiology and a PhD in Food Science from the University of the Free State, South Africa. Currently he is Director of the Centre for Applied Food Sustainability and Biotechnology (CAFSaB) at the Central University of Technology, Free State and holds the CUT-W&RSETA Leadership Chair in Food Safety Culture and Sustainability. CAFSaB is a comprehensive research centre with niche areas in the fields of food safety culture and behaviours, functional fermentations, ethno-nutraceuticals, antimicrobial resistance and tolerance, food and waste technologies, water quality management and food safety assurance in vulnerable and informal communities. His main fields of specialization comprise social-behavioural aspects impacting organizational food safety culture, and renewable innovations in the food continuum. Through his involvement in Food Safety Culture, he has advised a number of production, processing, wholesale and retail, and hospitality industries and is an active member of the International Food Safety Culture Science Group (SALUS).

He has lectured, supervised, published and presented widely on food safety and related topics, including scientific and social media platforms, formal and popular publications, panel and guest discussions and podcasts. He has, since 2018 lectured and moderated for the Food Toxicology and Masters in Food Safety programmes at Michigan State University in the USA. He serves on several regulatory and legal advisory teams as advisor and expert witness, and has served as external/independent assessor for academic institutions and commercial ventures locally and abroad. He has initiated and capacitated several innovation and commercialization initiatives, including the DST Regional Innovation Forum of the Free State (RIFFS), the CSIR-TLIU Lejweleputswa Innovation Platform (LEAP), the THENSA e-Waste project and the Advanced Recycling Technology (ART) pyrolysis initiative. He is co-holder of 4 copyrighted beverage products and has initiated and/or participated in several spin-out enterprises in collaboration with the CUT’s Technology Transfer Office (TTO). He has been instrumental in the establishment of the CUT brewing project and consequent hosting of the Craft Brewing Intervarsity in collaboration with the beverage industry and the CUT hotel school.

Ryk has held various senior positions in higher education as well as the position of President-Elect of the South African Association of Food Science and –Technology (SAAFoST). He has held an NRF-rating, uninterrupted since 2001.