Sam Robinson is a well known Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer who is highly respected in the red meat industry and an acknowledged farming leader.
Formerly Chairman of Richmond Ltd before its acquisition by PPCS, Sam Robinson is a member of the Prime Minister's Growth and Innovation Advisory Board, is a Director of the Port of Napier, and was a member of the Government's Food & Beverage Task Force. Until recently he was also the Chair of the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AGMARDT).
He farms close to Waipukurau.
Jane Adams Appointed July 2007
Dr Adams has wide ranging experience in food
technology in public and private sectors and is currently employed
by Zespri Group Ltd in as Innovation Leader, managing research into
kiwifruit productivity and market access as well as extension services.
After gaining a PhD in plant biochemistry, Dr
Adams joined Goodman Fielder Wattie Ltd as an export and development
manager for a company involved in new innovations in fresh food. She
was also technical advisor to the New Zealand Board of Goodman Fielder
Wattie Ltd and undertook one of the first waste audits of a major
company in New Zealand. She later joined the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries Quality Management Division, became a registered quality
systems auditor and developed quality assurance systems for several
food companies. She then developed her own consultancy business in
post-harvest science and science management. In 1996 she joined UNITEC
Institute of Technology as a senior academic manager and became Dean
of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences.
She has been involved in strategic management
of research both at an institutional and national level. She
contributed to national research strategies for food science and
technology and for forage crops and reviewed applications for
research funding for the Foundation for Research and Technology
from 1992 to 1998. In 2006 Dr Adams became a Member of the New
Zealand Order of Merit for her services to food science and
technology. She is currently chairperson of the New Zealand
Horticultural Science Advancement Trust and a member
of Sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand.
Danny Chan Appointed July 2005
Danny is the Executive Chairman
of Alpha Asset Management Ltd and has had interests in floriculture,
education, seafood processing and security systems. Until 1994, he
headed the Taiwan office of Fidelity Investments of the USA, the world’s
largest fund management company. He was formerly a director of Airways
Corporation Ltd and Everbright Pacific, a subsidiary of the Chinese
government-owned China Everbright Ltd. Danny has lectured in managerial
finance and business analysis at Victoria University of Wellington.
Danny is currently a director
of the following companies (and subsidiaries thereof): Academic Colleges
Group Ltd, Assessment Services Ltd, BioPacific Management Ltd, FlowerZone
International Ltd, Griff Trading Ltd, Guardall Security System Ltd,
Orient New Zealand Property Trust, Orient Pacific Management Ltd,
PhytaGro Inc, Tahere Callas Ltd and Talaford Investment Ltd.
Richard (Dick) Davison Appointed July 2006
Dick has farmed his 314 ha property
in Culverden, North Canterbury since 1976. A Lincoln University alumnus
with Diplomas in Valuation, and Farm Management and Agriculture, he
is a partner in Mossman and Davison Ltd Registered Public Valuers.
Dick has held a wide variety of positions on organisations such as
Federated Farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agriculture Strategy
Council, the Animal Health Board, Amuri Plains Irrigation Ltd and
the Ministry of Maori Affairs Maori Reserved Lands Committee. He is
currently studying towards a Masters degree in Professional Studies
with a major in Agribusiness at Lincoln University.
Dick is currently a director
of Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-op, former Deputy Chairman of Landcorp
Farming Ltd and a Trustee of the Central Plains Water Trust.
Graham Fraser Appointed January 2004
A dairy farmer for 25 years,
Graham has served as Chairman of the Dairy Board and Chairman or director
of numerous other companies involved in primary industries. He feels
strongly about the importance of biologically based export industries
and believes New Zealand can use its knowledge of agricultural science
and technology to create new markets in high margin products and services.
Graham is a director of Livestock
Improvement Corp. Ltd, Deer Improvement Ltd and Skellerup Holdings
(formerly Skellmax Industries Ltd).
Susan Huria Appointed July 2005
Susan is a specialist in Maori
issues and government relations, and runs her own management practice,
Huria Anders. She was previously a senior executive at Auckland International
Airport Ltd and has served on the boards of Radio New Zealand Ltd,
Ngai Tahu Development Corporation and Workbase, the national centre
for literacy in the workplace. She was a member of the Advertising
Standards Authority’s Liquor Review panel and is an external expert
for the Tertiary Education Commission’s Innovation Development Fund.
Susan is currently a director
of Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Centre for Housing Research
Aotearoa New Zealand and Auckland’s Whitecliffe College of Arts &
Design. She is also a director of a number of private companies, a
Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and a Member
of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
Andrew MacPherson Appointed June 2008
Andrew MacPherson was CEO of textiles R&D institute Canesis Network (which was acquired by AgResearch in 2007) and prior to this was CEO of AgResearch’s fully owned subsidiary, AgVax. A trained Veterinarian, he is currently chairman of the Johnes Disease Research Consortium and a director of the Animal Health Board.
Mr MacPherson owns an east coast sheep and beef station and lives in Wellington.
Robert Welch Appointed February 2007
He is a director and shareholder in New Zealand
Biotechnologies Ltd – a company that makes high-value plant extracts
for sale in Korea and Japan. He has a degree in agriculture from Lincoln
University, a degree in physiology from the University of Otago and
a PhD in reproductive physiology and biochemistry from the University
of Cambridge in England.
He joined AgResearch Ruakura in 1968, when it
was part of the Department of Agriculture, working in the Physiology
& Behavior Section. Soon after the formation of AgResearch, in 1992,
Robert joined its corporate office as the International Science Manager
and specifically advised the Board on developments in biotechnology.
Robert left in 1998 to found New Zealand Biotechnologies.
As well as product development, he did consulting in biotechnology
strategy for the New Zealand Dairy Board, New Zealand Wool Board and
New Zealand Meat Board, as they were then known. This led to the formation
of ViaLactia, Ovita and Covita. Robert then became Executive Secretary
of the Waikato Technology Foundation – the group that became Innovation
Waikato Ltd and established Innovation Park at Ruakura.
