Professor David Hayman - named the Manawatu Standard's Person of the Year 2020. Massey University scientist Professor David Hayman has been named the Manawatu Standard’s Person of the Year 2020 for his work studying the coronavirus and for being a local source of information for the public about Covid-19. A world-leading infectious disease specialist and senior lecturer in Massey’s Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Professor Hayman has spent much of his career studying the Ebola virus, as well as the relationship between viruses and how they are spread between animals and humans (zoonotic transmission), with a particular focus on bats. Scientists suspect the latest coronavirus most likely crossed to humans from bats, which have been the source of several viruses harmful to humans, including Ebola.