EUROPE, UK, NZ-UK Link Foundation announces two Visiting Professorships for 2013

Sir Graeme Davies, Chairman of the NZ-UK Link Foundation, has announced the two Visiting Professors, who will be visiting the UK from New Zealand in 2013 in association with the School of Advanced Study (SAS), University of London.

Emeritus Professor Anne Smith from the University of Otago’s College of Education is a highly respected
specialist in early years education and development. She has been involved in research, advocacy, and policy-making on childhood issues in New Zealand for almost 40 years. Professor Smith will be based at SAS between April and June 2013. She will give a public lecture series on early years education with special emphasis on Government policy and human rights during her time in the UK.

Anne Smith said of her appointment “I am honoured to have been awarded a Visiting Professorship by the NZ-UK Link Foundation, to help document and strengthen the relationship between research, policy and the implementation of children’s rights in New Zealand and the UK.

I have been inspired by world leading UK scholars and advocates, such as Alison James, Michael Freeman, Berry Mayall, Ted Melhuish, Peter Newell, Wendy Stainton-Rogers and Martin Woodhead, in my own research and advocacy.

Children in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom have lacked voice and visibility, and have faced poverty, violence, and lack of access to quality early childhood education, so we have much to learn from each others’ research and achievements to help improve children’s lives. ”

Professor Arthur Grimes, the second Visiting Professor, is Senior Fellow at Motu Research, Chair of the Board of the Reserve Bank, Chair of the Hugo Group and Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland. He will be based at SAS between September and November 2013 and will deliver a public lecture series during this time.

Arthur Grimes said of his selection “I am delighted to be chosen as recipient of the 2013 NZ-UK Link Foundation Visiting Professorship. I completed my PhD in the UK at the London School of Economics under an outstanding group of professors including Sir Mervyn King, Charles Goodhart, Charles Bean, Lord Layard and (recent Nobel Prize winner) Christopher Pissarides. All these professors are now prominent policy-makers and academics in London. They influenced my own thinking hugely during my time at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. This visit will be an ideal opportunity to analyse and compare experiences in central banking and related policies with these and other leaders in the UK.”

Sir Graeme Davies said “The power of the NZ-UK Link Foundation lies in its ability to link specialists from our two nations in common areas where we can share excellence in research, current theory and policy. We were thrilled with Professor Anne Smith’s application and the panel immediately grasped the important links and relationships that Anne would forge while on secondment here in the UK. We are equally proud to announce that Arthur Grimes will be the second Visiting Professor and feel that his lectures on Central Banking and Governance will also have an impact on many institutions within the UK. The two Visiting Professors were chosen not only for the thoughtful proposals but also because their approaches and work have limitless possibilities of linking New Zealand and the UK on many levels and for years to come. A very important part of the Visiting Professor scheme is the location of the visitors in the School of Advanced Study in the University of London where they will benefit enormously from the excellent research environment of SAS, a national resource of outstanding reputation in the humanities and social sciences. ”