Harlene Hayne
Psychology researcher Prof Harlene Hayne has been
appointed University of Otago vice-chancellor, the first woman
in this role.
Prof Hayne (49), the university's research and enterprise
deputy vice-chancellor, will replace Prof Sir David Skegg.
Prof Hayne had all the qualities required to be a "truly
inspiring leader" of the university, University of Otago
chancellor John Ward said.
Prof Hayne became an Otago University psychology department
lecturer in 1992 and was later department head.
Prof Skegg had been appointed "as a scholar", and the Otago
University community had "wanted that emphasis on scholarship
to continue".
Through her appointment, the university would "continue to be
run by scholars".
It was significant the university had appointed someone still
with family responsibilities, having children aged 16 and 19,
she said.
Not least of the university's
challenges was "securing funding during these uncertain
economic times".
"We must ensure we continue to attract and retain the
world-class scholars necessary to maintain our high-calibre
teaching and research programmes.
"We must also continue to attract the best and brightest
students."
The university would continue to work with the Dunedin City
Council over matters of mutual interest, including over
issues such as access to alcohol.
Asked about student behaviour, she said there was sometimes
an overemphasis on a "small subset" of negative behaviour.
Otago University students were a "largely untapped source" of
ideas to make Dunedin a better place, and she believed that
many of their interests, including in sustainability,
recycling and fundraising, could be better used for the
community's benefit.
University officials said Prof Hayne had built an enviable
reputation as a leading researcher in memory development in
infants, children, adolescents and adults and her work had
been cited in legal proceedings both nationally and
internationally.
Her comparative analysis of the interviews conducted with
children in the Peter Ellis case, had given additional weight
to calls for the case to be reopened.
She was born in Oklahoma, and raised in Colorado.
She last year gained an ONZM for services to medical and
scientific research and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of
New Zealand.
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