Professor Robin Gauld receives Higher Doctorate from Victoria University of Wellington

This week Victoria University of Wellington alumnus Professor Robin Gauld received a Higher Doctorate from the University in recognition of his contribution to healthcare governance.

Sir Bill English and Robin Gauld
L-R: Neil Paviour-Smith, Sir Bill English, Professor Robin Gauld, Professor Grant Guilford

A Higher Doctorate is awarded for a substantial body of published work which indicates excellence, distinguished leadership and provides an original and prestigious contribution to the relevant field.

Professor Gauld is Dean of the Otago Business School at the University of Otago, where he is also a Pro Vice-Chancellor. His research into areas such as comparative health policy, clinical governance, primary care, and health information technology over the course of his academic career has had tangible outcomes for New Zealanders’ lives and has also made a strong impact in the international academic community.

Professor Gauld began his studies at Victoria University of Wellington in 1989 in the Public Administration programme. In 1993 he completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (first class), and the following year he completed a Master of Arts, also in Public Administration. He went on to receive a PhD from the University of Hong Kong, and in 1997 he took up a role at the University of Otago.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony on Thursday, Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford said: “Throughout his career Professor Gauld has demonstrated a strong record of sustained excellence in research, as well as a commitment to improving healthcare governance and administration and optimising health outcomes for New Zealanders.”

In 2013 and 2014, Professor Gauld conducted a study of public health governance in New Zealand’s District Health Boards for the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a unit of the World Health Organisation. The study provided in-depth insights into the reality of public hospital governance in New Zealand.

Since 2013 he has also been the founding Independent Chair of Alliance South, the alliance between the Southern District Health Board and WellSouth Primary Health Network. In 2014, he was awarded a prestigious visiting professorship at the University of London to give a series of lectures on topics including the English National Health Service reforms and what lessons the United Kingdom could learn from New Zealand.