Robert Anderson appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor

Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey has announced that Professor Robert Anderson will be the University's new Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

Mr Maharey welcomed Professor Anderson's appointment. "Professor Anderson has held senior positions with the University for 33 years. He has been in leadership roles for most of that time and is currently a member of the senior leadership team. His wide-ranging knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the University, together with his reputation nationally and internationally, make Professor Anderson an obvious choice for this role."

He replaces Professor Sir Mason Durie, who retired last month from the roles of Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Assistant Vice Chancellor (Mäori and Pasifika). A replacement for the latter role will be named shortly.

Professor Anderson will remain College of Sciences Pro Vice-Chancellor, a position he has held since 1997. He re-joined Massey in 1978 after being a Fulbright-Hays Fellow and a PhD graduate in statistics and quantitative genetics from Cornell University in the United States.

But his links to the University date back to 1967, when he won a Victorian Government scholarship to Massey, having completed a three-year Diploma of Agriculture at Dookie Agricultural College in Australia. At Massey he completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in 1970, joined the staff in 1971 and graduated with a Master of Agricultural Science in 1975.

As Massey University Students' Association president in 1969, he became the first student member of the University Council. The association made him an honorary life member in 1972.

In 1979, at age 32, he was promoted to Professor of Animal Science and was head of his department from 1980-90. From 1985-97 Professor Anderson was the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences and he has headed the College of Sciences since it was established in 1997.

In 1986 Professor Anderson was awarded a Centennial Medal by the Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture for “Outstanding Contributions to the Fields of Biometrics and Animal Breeding and Services to Agricultural Education”. He is an elected Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. He was awarded the 2000 Thomson Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand for “Outstanding and Inspirational Leadership in the Management of Science ”. In 2007 he was made an Officer of the New Zealand of Merit (ONZM) for services to science, education and cricket (he umpired 49 first-class matches).

Professor Anderson is also active with external organisations and has served on many government and industry committees.