I am currently extremely busy pursuing a life of retirement in a gorgeous location in New Zealand called Omokoroa.  Perched on the edge of a golf course which bounds the Tauranga Harbour, I am daily tempted to improve both my golf and my sailing.  There are distractions however, in the form of 3 puppies, a large garden and a desire to improve my guitar skills.  My children and grandchildren are spread over the planet – Dublin, San Francisco, Copenhagen and Auckland.  My wife Clare and I are consequently drawn to travel to see them all.

My professional life has been focused on education.  I have a strong belief in and commitment to education as a platform for the betterment of people everywhere.  I can’t personally solve all the problems of poverty and inequity in the world but I do believe that education is a key to lifting people out of less fortunate environments.  I was born in the Netherlands and I am a naturalized  New Zealander.  My parents were immigrants to Australasia escaping the consequences of the Second World War and my own commitment to education arose from their hard work and industry. My degrees are in Mathematics, Computer Science and Chemistry.

I taught Mathematics for 10 years in Secondary School as a pay back for a University Studentship  in New Zealand and developed software for computer education in my spare time.  I was involved in developing computer in education initiatives in New Zealand before being recruited by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the University of the South Pacific in using computers in their programmes.  At that time I was working as an Aid Advisor and raising aid money to allow the University to Computerize.

I returned to New Zealand after 4 years and  joined Massey University and worked there in various roles including that of Chief Information Office and Assistant to the Vice Chancellor. My focus was on the support and development of information technology used by researchers, teachers and administrators.

My next career step was to work in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as the Director of Information Technology. During that period I was privileged to serve as Director of JUCC and HARNET and to engage more fully with APAN. I was honoured to be elected to the APAN Board and to server as Chair and Deputy Chair of APAN and also to be involved with the TEIN initiatives for a number of years.

My involvement with APAN goes back to APAN18 in 2004 when I attended the July meeting in Cairns, Australia.  Subsequently, I was involved in supporting APAN26 in 2008 in Queenstown, New Zealand. I am particularly proud of the work done by JUCC in hosting APAN31 and APAN50 in Hong Kong – it has been a privilege to have participated in the Bi-Annual APAN meetings so consistently.

APAN as a federation of National Research Educational Networks was an important part of my ability to ensure that researchers were able to work globally.  Small economies and individual Universities can never hope to attract and retain the best researchers and teachers without the fundamental infrastructures shared amongst NRENS. APAN represents the best in collaboration, sharing and uplifting of capability and the capacities of isolated communities.  Unfortunately, the nature of the challenge has not diminished – while many of our APAN members have gained in strength and ability over the time I have been involved, there are still too many economies and universities that can not engage in the benefits of a digitally connected world.  APAN’s work is not done.

On my return to New Zealand with the intention to retire in my mind, I ended up failing my retirement exam and was invited to take on the role of Chief Executive Officer of REANNZ for an interim period, after which, I re-sat the exam and I’m happy to report that I passed!!

I have made many friends in this diverse APAN  community – people who have very similar motivations to my own for getting involved in this largely voluntary organization.  Seeing the extraordinary collaborations and outcomes generated by the wide range of working groups is simply inspiring. Seeing the impact APAN  has on the host economies is amazing – being able to generate a national focus on the needs of researchers and educators because of the APAN Meetings is a tangible reason for continuing to move the meeting venues across different economies.  APAN is an organization that exists because of the goodwill and hard work of its participants and the generosity of the NREN members – long may it continue!!

I am delighted to be able to continue my association with APAN as a Board Advisor and I am very proud of the work that has been done and will be done by APAN going forward.