About us
Management

The senior management team is comprised of our Chief Executive and Group Managers.

Chief Executive

Murray Bain

Murray Bain joined the Foundation as chief executive in April 2004.  His previous experience in the science sector included acting as director for a Crown Research Institute and a start-up information and communication technology company.

Murray was acting chief executive officer and chief operating officer for the Accident Compensation Corporation, a foundation executive in the establishment of Industry New Zealand, and an assistant governor in the Reserve Bank.  He began his working life as an IT professional with Trust Bank Canterbury and the Trust Bank Group nationally.  His various roles with Trust Bank Group included heading the treasury function, finance, and the banking side of the group.  Murray has a Bachelor of Science in pure maths and a Master of Commerce (honours) in economics from the University of Canterbury.

Group Manager Corporate Development

Rebecca Boyack

Rebecca joined the Foundation in May 2007 to lead the corporate development group.  She previously ran her own management consultancy business, Strategic Management Services, and assisted a wide range of organisations with their strategic and business planning, governance arrangements, and reviewing and developing their business support functions.

Before that, Rebecca worked at KPMG where she was a partner specialising in providing strategic management services to the public sector.  Rebecca was made a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management in 1999 in recognition of her management experience and spent five years as a director of the New Zealand Institute of Management central division board.  

Chief Science Advisor

Dr Prue Williams

Dr Williams has a BAgrSci (Hons) from Lincoln University and a PhD in soil science from Massey University.

She has more than 20 years' research experience in a range of topics relating to sustainable crop and pasture production systems in New Zealand. She has published more than 150 scientific papers, conference papers and reports and has been recently involved in developing international linkages with European research institutes.

Group Manager Industry & Environment

Richard Templer

Richard joined the Foundation in late 2007 and was appointed group manager in 2008.  Previously he was general manager research and development for Meat & Wool New Zealand.  He has also worked for Industrial Research as head of automation systems, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare as a research engineer, and spent time internationally with Volvo in Sweden and MacMaster University in Canada. 

In 2001 Richard was the New Zealand Institute of Management Young Executive of the Year and won the iPENZ Innovation award in 2002.  Richard has a doctorate in engineering. 

Group Manager Manufacturing & High Growth Firms 

Richard Bentley

Richard is currently Group Manager, Manufacturing & High Growth Firms. He has previously worked in the energy utility sector, in steel, in ICT, in pastoral agriculture, in food and biotechnology, in the conservation sector, and in education. His career includes two distinct phases - 20 years in management in New Zealand including the CEO role at the Natural Gas Corporation for 12 years, and 10 years in a range of governance roles in a wide range of New Zealand businesses with management consulting roles. Richard is tertiary qualified in Civil Engineering and Economics, a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ, a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Directors, and was awarded CNZM in 2006.

Group Manager Delivery Services 

Mike Russell

Mike joined the Foundation in July 2008 to lead the Process Improvement Project.  In June 2009 he became Group Manager, Delivery Services.  He is experienced in developing and implementing strategy, converting strategy into operations, improving service delivery and business processes in professional service environments. Previous assignments have included developing a new approach to process design and implementation, developing new governance structures, and working with an IT Service delivery team to improve effectiveness. Prior to that Mike worked for five years at EDS where he undertook a major programme turnaround role. He was a member of EDS' senior management team and was project sponsor for significant service delivery and business process improvement projects.

Principal Policy Advisor

Lee Robinson

Lee joined the Foundation in 2006 and heads the policy team. She started her career with an interest in fisheries research, but soon moved into fisheries management. She worked for the Ministry of Fisheries for over ten years where she held positions as an analyst working with both strategic and regulatory policy, before moving into a management role with a focus on compliance policy. She has a MSc, specialising in marine ecology.