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Academy Executive Committee Elections

Positions on the Academy Executive Committee can come up for election each year.

Chair of the Committee

The position of AEC Chair was up for election in 2023. The Committee itself, and Fellows on the Society Council, elect a new chair from among those with recent experience on the AEC Committee. 

Distinguished Professor Geoff Chase FRSNZ has been elected as the next Chair of the Academy Executive Committee for 2023-26.

Picture11 geoffGeoff Chase has a 36-year engineering sciences career, including 11 years of direct industry experiences, 22 at the University of Canterbury, where he still interacts regularly with industry. He has worked in diverse industries/areas including:
•         Automotive
•         Aerospace/Satellites
•         Semiconductor and Micro-Device Design
•         Embedded Software Engineering and Signal Processing
•         Earthquake Engineering and Monitoring
•         Bioengineering and Clinical Medicine
He has also founded 3+ start-up ventures and licensed technology in Earthquake Engineering and Bioengineering, consulted significantly, served as a company director, and sat on advisory panels for medical device companies. He has worked at some of the world’s largest companies and 2-person start-ups. Geoff has been the Technology, Applied Sciences, Engineering Convenor for the past 3 years.

Deputy Chair of the Committee 

Professor Susy Frankel FRSNZ was elected as the Deputy Chair of the Academy Executive Committee for 2023-25.

Picture13 SusySusy Frankel is a Professor of Law and Chair in Intellectual Property and International Trade at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, where she has been a teacher and researcher since 1997 and a professor since 2008. Susy has also held appointments at international universities, most recently as a Global Professor at New York University, School of Law in 2020. In addition, Susy has also served as Chair of New Zealand’s Copyright Tribunal and was appointed member of the Waitangi Tribunal in 2020.  Her research focus is broadly international intellectual property, including its relationship with Mātauranga Māori (and more widely indigenous peoples’ rights); and how the normative frameworks and rationales of intellectual property interact with innovation, creativity, trade and public goods (such as public health, cultural heritage, and funding of the arts). Susy is known for an approach to governance that addresses diversity concerns and for working effectively with others to ensure development that improves diversity.

Domain Convenors

Humanities Domain Convenor

Professor Nancy November FRSNZ was elected unopposed for a three-year term for the position from 1 July 2023.

Nancy NovemberNancy November is an eminent scholar of music in society and culture around 1800. She is a Professor of Musicology in the University of Auckland's School of Music. Her research encompasses sociocultural critique; cross-cultural studies in music and education; and methodological innovation, including creative practice research. She currently leads projects with New Zealand and international teams in the humanities, music, pedagogy and wellbeing, sociocultural studies, history, and art history. Having been involved in collaborative research on music, culture, and creativity throughout her career, she is well-placed to help assess humanities scholarship on a broad range of topics, taking in diverse perspectives and methodologies. She is committed to promoting humanities and creative arts nationally; opening access to and understanding of arts and culture in New Zealand today.

Biological and Environmental Sciences Domain Convenor

Distinguished Professor David R. Schiel FRSNZ was elected unopposed for a two-year term for the position from 1 July 2023.

Picture12 DavidDavid Schiel is an internationally eminent marine ecologist who has worked across a wide range of disciplines. These include aquaculture, fisheries, oceanography, and the ecology, diversity and functioning of coastal ecosystems. His recent research has focused largely on algal communities, their ecological relationships, impacts and management. He was a principal researcher on effects and recovery dynamics of the Rena Oil spill, has been working on the coastal recovery of the Kaikoura region after the devastating earthquake. In 2016, David was co-awarded Science Communicator of the Year (2015) and holds the title of Distinguished Professor at the University of Canterbury.

Co-convenor

Māori knowledge and development Co-convenor

Professor Gail Gillon FRSNZ has been co-opted for a two-year term for the position from 1 July 2023.

Picture14 GailGail Gillon (Ngāi Tahu Iwi, Ōraka Apirima Rūnuka) is the Director, University of Canterbury Child Well-being Research Institute and Co-Director of Better Start National Science Challenge, E Tipu E Rea- A $34M 10-year research programme. Professor Gillon is a leading international expert in the efficacy of phonological awareness and oral language interventions for children at risk for literacy difficulties. Her work has resulted in the transformation of both speech-language therapy and teaching practices throughout the world and she has received multiple prestigious international awards for her research. Professor Gillon is the first New Zealander to be made a Fellow of the American Speech-Language Therapy Association for her outstanding contributions to the profession and has received Life Member Honours of the New Zealand Speech-Language Therapy Association.