Roy Ferguson
Roy graduated from the University of Canterbury with an MA in History and Political Science. He also graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an MA in International Relations.
His career was spent in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Overseas he was posted in the Philippines, Australia, the United States and as NZ Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 1999-2001 (at which time he concurrently became NZ’s first Ambassador to the DPRK).
He was New Zealand’s Ambassador to the United States from 2006-10. Returning to Wellington, he served as the Director of Intelligence Coordination in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2010-13, responsible for coordinating the New Zealand Intelligence Community and briefing the Prime Minister on intelligence issues.
He was awarded the Queens Service Order in 2014. Since leaving government he teaches, undertakes advisory assignments for government departments (including recent stints as Charge in Korea and Indonesia), and volunteers in his local community. He is married to Dawn and they have two sons and three grandchildren.
Simon Murdoch
Simon Murdoch is a graduate of Canterbury University with a BA in English and American Studies and an MA with First Class Honours in American Studies. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University in 2012.
He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972 and, after working in the Information and United Nations Divisions, was posted to Canberra from 1974 to 1977. He later served in Washington from 1983 to 1987 and returned to Canberra as High Commissioner from March 1999 to August 2002. He has also worked in the External Aid, Economic, Asian, and Australia Divisions of the Ministry. He was appointed as CEO and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade in September 2002. He retired in June 2009 was awarded the honour-CNZM- at that time.
Simon also worked on secondment in the Prime Minister’s Advisory Group (PAG) as foreign policy adviser from 1979-81 and returned, as PAG` s director in 1988 . He became Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1991, soon after its creation, until 1998. In November 1998 he was Visiting Professor (Public Policy and Management) at Victoria University of Wellington.
Since retirement, Simon has undertaken a range of public sector reviews and consulting roles, particularly in the fields of crisis management, national security and intelligence, as well as acting as NZ Special Rep for Afghanistan and Pakistan until 2012. He is an Associate of the VUW Centre for Strategic Studies, and has held governance positions on several public entities, including the Independent Police Conduct Authority. He chairs the Board of Nga Taonga Sound and Vision.
He is married (to Pip) with three adult children and eight grandchildren.
Richard Faull
Sir Richard Faull KNZM, FRSNZ, MBChB, PhD, DSc (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Rāhiri) is the Director of the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland. Sir Richard Faull fell in love with the human brain as a third-year medical student. Subsequently, over the last 40 years, he has pursued exciting research in the USA (NASA Ames Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and the University of Auckland unraveling the marvels and secrets of the human brain. He has established an international reputation for his research studies on human neurodegenerative diseases – Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy, Motor Neuron diseases and others – which was made possible through the establishment of a human brain bank in partnership with families, the community and the Neurological Foundation.
He has published over 400 research publications on the brain which have been citied over 34,000 times and has an H-index of 99. He established the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland in 2009 in order to facilitate world-class collaborative brain research between brain researchers across the University, neurologists and neurosurgeons in the Auckland Hospitals, and families/community organizations across NZ.
He is passionately committed to helping and giving hope through research to families and people who are touched by brain disorders.
Several awards have recognized his research achievements including: Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand; New Zealand’s highest scientific award, the Rutherford Medal; and received the Supreme Award in the 2010 World Class New Zealand Awards. Appointed Distinguished Professor at the University of Auckland in 2012 and a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) for services to medical research in the 2017 New Year Honours.
Roger Sowry
Roger was a member of Parliament from 1990 to 2005, during that time Roger served as chief whip (1994-1996) and chaired the health select committee (1993-1996). Following the 1996 election Roger was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Social Welfare, a position he held for 3 years. He also served as Associate Minister of Health (1996-1998) and Leader of the House (1998-1999). Roger retired from parliament in 2005 moving to become Chief Executive of Arthritis New Zealand.
Roger is currently a professional director and a partner of Saunders Unsworth Ltd and serves as a Member of the Board of New Zealand Health Group and Chairs Vital, Whakarongorau Aotearoa and Primary IT Boards.