V.K. Khanna completed his M.Sc. in Genetics in first Class with a fellowship and then Ph.D. in Genetics with CSIR Fellowship, from Haryana Agricultural University. He did Post-Doctorate from CSIR and then joined G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar as an Assistant Professor in 1980. He was selected as Senior Research Officer in 1988 and then became Professor in the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding in 1998.
Dr. Khanna has 28 years of experience of teaching and conducting research on Wide-hybridization, Genetics and Biotechnology. He is In-charge of Cytogenetics and Molecular Marker Laboratory and Seed Testing Laboratory. He is Joint Director Research of the University. Dr. Khanna is the recipient of the ‘Best Teacher Award’ of the College of Agriculture. He also received ‘Vijay Rattan Award’ in 2005, ‘Bharat Vikas Award’ and ‘Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award’ in 2006 and ‘Gem of India’ Award in 2007 from various societies and institutes. He has also received two Best Paper Awards.