Nā Te Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive update
Kia ora koutou.
Having recently welcomed the latest cohort of twenty-three Fellows to the Academy of the Society, we are reminded again of the importance and centrality of our Fellowship to the work of the Society.
Please have a look at the introductory booklet on our new Fellows. I am delighted that one of our Fellows from 2020, Distinguished Professor Steven Ratuva, is profiled later in this newsletter.
It was in February 1919 that the first Fellows were admitted to the newly established Academy of what was still called the New Zealand Institute at that time. We now have over four hundred Fellows, plus Honorary Fellows, making up the Academy. Along with its role in encouraging and recognising excellence in the sciences, technologies and humanities, the Academy provides independent and non partisan advice to the Royal Society Te Apārangi Council, government policy makers and the wider community on science, technology and the humanities.
It is this outward looking objective that we heard so much about during our consultations on the Long-Term Strategy, and the desire of not only our Fellows, but the entire membership of the Society, to be making a positive difference for our country and globally. There is no doubt in my mind that this positive difference is being made by many individuals from across our membership. Our opportunity for the future lies in increasing collective endeavour - enabling our various members and scholarly activity to operate collectively for good.
We have heard much in recent times about the importance of trans-disciplinarity, and recognition that a fundamental strength of the Society lies in us having all the subject domains under the one organisational roof. Learning from different expert perspectives on any of the complex (wicked) issues we face is, surely, a prerequisite to us finding meaningful and enduring solutions.
As the Society develops its operational plans for the next 3-year period, it is this unique strength that we will be tapping into, along with developing effective mechanisms that work well for everyone to have a greater involvement in this important, outward looking work.
Ngā manaakitanga,
Paul Atkins MRSNZ
Chief Executive
Royal Society Te Apārangi