Career change for Prof Richard Barker marks end of an era for Te Whai Ao board

Professor Richard Barker, formerly the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Sciences at the University of Otago, has stepped down from the Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre board, after serving as a director for 9 years.

 He has moved to Queenstown where is he heading up a team to develop a new University of Otago campus in the resort.  

 Professor Barker joined the Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre’s board the same year he was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago, in 2017.

Current board Chair, Charlotte Walshe, also joined that year. She says Professor Barker has brought a down-to-earth approach to the role.

 “Richard has been a valuable board member helping the Centre successfully develop and grow its impact over the last 9 years. His pragmatic perspective cuts through the complex, to simple straight forward approaches. He has been particularly valuable helping us navigate and leverage the best of our host university’s systems and people,” says Ms Walshe.

 With a background in mathematics and statistics, Professor Barker’s research speciality was Bayesian hierarchical modelling and statistical ecology. But despite all his scientific expertise, he was quick to acknowledge that he needed to develop his governance skills.

 According to the New Zealand Institute of Directors, “Professor Barker got into corporate governance by accident as a shareholder representative in a large-scale family-centred dairy farming business.  Feeling under-educated he set out to get as much governance training through the IoD as he could and was awarded the Otago Southland Branch Emerging Director Award in 2016.”

 He is former director and chair of Hopkins Farming Group Ltd, and is currently a director of Dinsdale Ltd, Oritain Global Ltd and Brain Research NZ.

Professor Barker retains a connection with the Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre as an Affiliate Member.    

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