Mr Peat has been a Dunedin city councillor and a council representative on the Otago Museum Trust Board for the past three years, but did not stand again at recent council elections.
At his last trust board meeting on Wednesday, he paid tribute to "transformational" developments at the museum under director Dr Ian Griffin, who took up his post in 2013.
A "big burst" of overall activity had recently taken place, including strengthening the care and protection of the museum’s collections by increasing the number of curatorial and conservation staff.
Those changes meant the Otago Museum was now more like a museum "that really looks after" its collections, Mr Peat said.
It was also the final board meeting for Royal Society of New Zealand representative Prof Peter Dearden.
Dr Griffin warmly thanked both board members for their positive contributions, and all board members for their work.
The museum would maintain close links with Prof Dearden through his co-ordination of the innovative "Lab in a Box" science education outreach programme, he added.
