CoRE Fund Committee

The Right Reverend and The Honourable Sir Paul Reeves

Sir Paul is a former Governor General of New Zealand and a former Primate and Archbishop of New Zealand.  In February 2007 he was appointed to The Order of New Zealand — New Zealand’s highest honour.  He chaired the CoRE Fund Committee for the first two selection rounds in 2001 and 2003. 

Sir Paul is currently the Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology.  He is the Commonwealth Secretary General's Special Envoy to Guyana and was the inaugural Chair of Toi Te Taiao: The Bioethics Council.

Sir Paul’s current interests cover constitutional reform, Maori social and political aspirations and the economies of Asia-Pacific countries.  He has been the Anglican Observer at the United Nations, elections observer in South Africa and Ghana, and chair of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission.

Dr Robert Beaglehole

Robert Beaglehole, a New Zealand Public Health Physician, trained in medicine in New Zealand and then in epidemiology and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since September 2001 he has been working with the World Health Organization in Geneva.

He joined the Director-General Elect's transition team in May 2003 and since then has held the position of Director in the Evidence and Information for Policy Cluster and is currently the Director of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion in the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster. In this role he is responsible for WHO's global technical programmes for the prevention and control of chronic diseases - especially heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases- and health promotion - especially the implementation of the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World. He was Editor in Chief of the World Health Reports for 2003 and 2004 and was responsible for the 2005 WHO report Preventing Chronic Diseases: A vital investment.

He has published over 200 scientific papers and several books on epidemiology and public health, including Basic Epidemiology, Global Public Health: a new era and Global Public Goods For Health; he is an editor of the Oxford Textbook of Public Health.

Ms Denise Church

Denise Church’s career spans environment and resource management, public affairs and strategic management in central and local government, industry and the voluntary sector.  She currently works as a consultant and company director, and is based in Wellington.

She has degrees in zoology, economics, resource management and urban and regional planning.   She has studied and worked in New Zealand, the United States and the UK and was Chief Executive of the Ministry for the Environment from 1996 to 2001. 

She is currently a director of Landcare Research, Chair of the Wellington Zoo Trust, Chair of WWF New Zealand, and convenes the Ethics Advisory Panel for the Environmental Risk Management Authority.  She consults in leadership, strategy and governance, with particular interests in education, research, and sustainable development.   She facilitates the public service’s Leadership in Practice programme.

She was made a Companion of the Queens Service Order (QSO) in the 2002 Queens Birthday Honours.

Howard Fancy

Howard Fancy has recently retired from his position as Secretary for Education and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Education which he has led since July 1996.

He led the Ministry through a series of significant organisational and policy changes. Major initiatives have centred on literacy, numeracy, information and communication technologies (ICT), teacher professional development, NCEA, Maori education, major school improvement projects, special education and the evaluation and monitoring of system performance. Major reforms have taken place in the early childhood and tertiary sectors. Over this period Specialist Education Services and Early Childhood Development have merged with the Ministry.

Prior to joining the Ministry of Education he was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Commerce, an adviser in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and a Deputy Secretary at Treasury.

Professor Bryan Gould

Professor Bryan Gould was a 1962 New Zealand Rhodes Scholar who joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1964 as the top entrant of his year after doing a postgraduate law degree at Balliol College, Oxford.

He returned to Oxford as a law don at Worcester College before election as a labour MP for Southampton Test in 1974.  After a stint as a television journalist between 1979 and 1983, he was elected as MP for Dagenham in 1982.

He joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1986, directed Labour’s election campaign in 1987, and contested the Labour Party leadership in 1992.

In 1994, he returned to New Zealand as Vice-Chancellor of Waikato University.  He stepped down from the University at the end of 2004.

He was a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford in 2005 and is currently a director of Television New Zealand.  In 2005, he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and in 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Waikato. 

Associate Professor Pare Keiha

Associate Professor Pare Keiha has a unique background that spans both academic and commercial environments. He is currently the Pro Vice Chancellor for Commercialisation, the Pro Vice Chancellor for Māori Advancement and Tumuaki of Te Ara Poutama, the Dean of the Faculty of Māori Development, at the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.

He maintains an active career as a professional director and is a member of the Institute of Directors. He is a member of the Board of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST), Legal Services Agency and the Te Whanau-a-Taupara Trust. His past directorships include Waitemata District Health Board, Metrowater Ltd, Port Gisborne Ltd and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). He is currently a member of the Māori Advisory Committee to the Commissioner of Trade Marks and Patents, a member of the Ministry for Research Science and Technology Vision Matauranga Advisory Committee and is honorary secretary for the NZ Chapter of the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in NZ.

His business experience covers strategic and business planning, project management and marketing. He also has research experience in the disciplines of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering for which he holds the degrees of MSc and PhD respectively.

His present academic pursuits include Māori development, competition law and policy, intellectual property law, corporate governance and the economics of the NZ primary products sector. He holds the degree of Master of Commercial Law in those areas of study.

Nigel Kirkpatrick

Nigel Kirkpatrick has spent his business career leading businesses and innovation globally. He started his career in 1982 with Unilever where he worked in the areas of research, business to business marketing and innovation. Nigel has working experience in New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Switzerland.

He left his role is global innovation leader in Switzerland to return to New Zealand as CEO of Industrial Research Limited. Industrial Research is a Crown Research Institute which has spun out many globally successful technologies based on its world leading research and technology.

His experience is in leading the creation of innovative products and businesses and ensuring they are marketed globally.

He is currently CEO of The Street, a high tech start up company, which is commercializing 3D technology for Internet-based solutions.

Dr Kevin Marshall

Dr Marshall is a company director and consultant in research and development planning. He is a chemical engineer/biotechnologist with over 40 years experience in agricultural research and development.

Before retiring in 2003, he served New Zealand's dairy industry in a number of roles including Group Director R&D for the New Zealand Dairy Board, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute and Managing Director of ViaLactia Biosciences Limited.

He is a director on the boards of HortResearch Ltd, Wool Equities Ltd, Keratec Ltd, Canesis Networks Ltd, Orico Ltd and Seafood Innovations Ltd. He is a member of the Innovation Advisory Board of Zespri Ltd and the Foundation's On Demand Advisory Group. He is a Fellow of both NZ Institute of Chemistry and NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) and was the 2006 recipient of the J. C. Andrews Award (NZIFST’s most prestigious award)

Dr Colin Webb

Colin Webb is the Deputy Chief Executive for the Tertiary Education Commission, in which role he has particular responsibility for strategic policy, universities and research.  He has previously worked at the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (as Group Manager, Investment Operations, and Manager of the Public Good Science Fund), and in a management role at the CRI Landcare Research.

He is an environmental scientist specialising in evolutionary biology (particularly the evolution of sexual systems, breeding systems, and pollination), the systematics of native and naturalised plants, and the biology of seeds.  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand for his contributions in these areas, and in 2006 was awarded the Hutton Medal for his contribution to plant sciences. 

He has continued his research while in management roles and is currently writing a book on the seeds of native monocotyledons (grasses, sedges, orchids, etc.) and assisting with a range of ecological and conservation projects that require seed identification.