Distinguished Professor Spoonley (left) and Professor White have been appointed to the Marsden Fund Council.
Pro Vice-Chancellor College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley and the college’s research director Professor Cynthia White have been appointed to the Marsden Fund Council.
The council is responsible for developing the strategic direction of the Marsden Fund that provides funding for investigator-initiated research in the fields of science, engineering, maths, social sciences and the humanities.
In making the announcement, research, science and innovation minister Dr Megan Woods said all the appointees were highly regarded researchers domestically and internationally and had a wide range of expertise that complemented the strengths of existing members.
Professor Spoonley, who has been appointed convenor of the council’s social sciences panel, is also a principal investigator on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded programme, Capturing the Diversity Dividend of Aotearoa New Zealand (2014-2020). He is a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and a research fellow of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.
Professor White will be the new convenor of the humanities panel. She has also held an honorary research fellow from the University of New England since 2012. She is currently a member on the humanities panel and is on numerous editorial boards and advisory panels, both in New Zealand and overseas.