» Home > About >

Business Links

Commerce Building Home of the School of Business

As the major business education institution in the Otago region, the School of Business is the principle provider of education to undergraduate students, post-graduate students and business practitioners wishing to extend their skill base. Wide use is made of practitioners and leaders from within the business community for both teaching and mentoring. Developing these relationships not only benefits the students, but adds value to the organisations concerned.

We are assisted in strengthening these links with the business community through our association with the Otago Chamber of Commerce, Taylor McLachlan and our Board of Advisors.

Board of Advisors
Distinguished Business Speaker Series
BNZ Business Seminar Series
New Zealand Marketing Magazine Awards
Maori Business Symposium - Intergenerational Wealth Re-igniting Indigenous Economies - 25 & 26 August 2008

Board of Advisors

The School of Business has a Board of Advisors, a group comprising 17 high-profile business executives from around the country. The Board meets three times a year to review teaching and graduate standards and advise on future directions.

Launch of Board of Advisors University of Otago

The Board

Lindsay Brown
Chair, Board of Advisors; Chancellor, University of Otago

The chair of the Board of Advisors, Lindsay Brown, is the University of Otago 's Chancellor, having replaced Eion Edgar in 2004. Lindsay has strong links with the University of Otago having previously held the position of Pro-Chancellor (Deputy Chair of Council) and was a member of the University Council and several university boards. Lindsay is a former partner of the accounting firm Deloitte and is a director of Southern Community Laboratories, Dunedin International Airport and Mercy Hospital in Dunedin . Lindsay is an alumnus of the School of Business .

Richard Bentley, Company Director
Richard Bentley is a Wellington-based company director and management consultant. Previous positions include management roles in Fletcher Challenge, and from 1989 to 2001 Chief Executive officer of the Natural Gas Corporation. He was subsequently a director of NGC Holdings for 5 years to 2005, and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee from 2003. He is currently Executive Chairman of Rissington Breedline Limited and Chairman of its South American subsidiary ONYC, Executive Chairman of MediaLab South Pacific Limited, Chairman of Wool Equities Limited, Crop and Food Research Limited, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and the Carter Observatory; and a director and former Chairman of Canesis Networks Limited. Richard is a professionally qualified civil engineer and a Distinguished Fellow of the NZ Institution of Professional Engineers, and has a Masters degree in Economics.

Alister Brown, Chief Executive, Merck Sharpe & Dohme New Zealand
Alister Brown heads the local subsidiary of one the world's pharmaceutical giants Merck Sharpe & Dohme, the company responsible for a number of breakthrough medicines such as Vioxx, Lipex and Propecia. Under Alister's lead the company has grown into a highly successful private sector business which has weathered government policy changes and market changes. Alister also sits on the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce New Zealand.

Barry Colman, Managing Director, Liberty Publishing
Auckland-based Barry Colman is best known as publisher of The National Business Review and the NBR Rich List . A former journalist himself, Barry has built an empire in the publishing business with his company Liberty Publishing. Barry has strong links with Dunedin and frequently visits the Carey's Bay Historic Hotel, which he owns. Barry sits on the boards of many companies including Forsyth Barr Group Ltd.

Geoff Dangerfield, Chief Executive, Ministry of Economic Development
As chief executive of the Ministry of Economic Development, Geoff Dangerfield advises the government on economic development policy, business and competition policy. The Ministry incorporates the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism, the Companies Office, the Trustee and Insolvency Service and the Intellectual Property Office. Prior to his current position, Geoff was Deputy Secretary of Treasury in charge of the Asset and Liability Management branch and Corporate Services. In the early 1990s, Geoff was advisor to the Prime Minister on fiscal and economic policy.

Tim Gibson, Chief Executive, Trade and Enterprise
Tim Gibson heads the agency Trade and Enterprise which combines the functions of Trade New Zealand and Industry New Zealand . Tim has an impressive management background in the dairy industry holding positions of Managing Director of Kapiti Cheeses, Managing Director of New Zealand Milk (Europe), and Group Manager (Global Strategy) and Regional Chief Executive ( North Asia ) for the Dairy Board.

Stephen Higgs, Partner, Polson Higgs & Co
Stephen Higgs is one of the founders of Dunedin-based Polson Higgs & Co which offers assistance to companies in audit and assurance, business services, human resources, information technology, market research, marketing, training and tax. With a background in taxation, Stephen is an expert in the area of commercial tax and teaches in the subject at the University of Otago . He is an alumnus of the School of Business.

John Judge, Chief Executive, Ernst & Young New Zealand
John Judge headed one of New Zealand's leading accountancy firms, Ernst & Young. He is also a leading advocate of the “knowledge economy” and sits on the Advisory Board of the Knowledge Wave Trust.

Jeremy Moon, Managing Director, Icebreaker
Jeremy Moon is founder and managing director of New Zealand 's largest merino wool adventure-wear exporter Icebreaker. Founded in 1995, Icebreaker is now in the top five of the Deloittes Fast 50, a register of the 50 fastest growing companies in New Zealand. Jeremy holds a MCom (Marketing) from the School of Business at the University of Otago.

Sir Tipene O'Regan, Company Director
Sir Tipene O'Regan is a prominent figure in Maori economic development. He currently chairs the Escorial Company Ltd, serves as Deputy Chair of Transit New Zealand and is a director of Whale Watch Kaikoura Ltd, Clifford Bay Marine Farms Ltd, Kutai Investments Ltd, Aoraki Salmon Ltd, and Te Tapuae o Rehua Ltd.  Sir Tipene previously held directorships with the Ngai Tahu Group until he retired in 2000. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury teaching “The Maori Experience of Globalisation”.

Ross Peat, Company Director
Ross Peat formerly ran the New Zealand branch of software giant Microsoft. Ross is a vocal spokesman on innovation and global competition. He was instrumental in setting up the Microsoft Innovation Centre for New Zealand Government, which works with national and local government agencies to identify innovative uses of IT that help address key business challenges.

Sam Robinson, Chairman, Board of Trustees, AGMARDT
Sam Robinson has been a sheep and dry stock farmer since 1973, and has extensive experience in the farming industry. He was the Chairman of Richmond Meats until July 2004, and until recently, was the Chair of the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust. Sam Robinson holds directorships with the Port of Napier and Farmlands.

Frances Stead, Managing Director, L'Oréal New Zealand
Frances Stead is highly respected in the fashion industry and the greater business world. In addition to leading L'Oreal New Zealand she is responsible for several high profile initiatives including the annual L'Oreal Fashion Week extravaganza and the charity Look Good … Feel Good, aimed at helping women to use beauty techniques to overcome the visual side effects of cancer treatment.

 

For all inquiries related to the Board of Advisors, please contact Amanda Mabon - phone 64 3 479 8115 or email amabon@business.otago.ac.nz