2023 Professorial promotions announced

Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas congratulated the staff on their achievements, acknowledging the hard work and time they have dedicated to their career, and Massey.

"These promotions are a celebration of the rich tapestry of talent within our community. Each one represents a unique thread of expertise and dedication, and these staff are paving the way for a brighter future of innovation and impact within our academic landscape.”

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Folasāitu Professor Julia Ioane

O le ala i le pule o le tautua. In order to lead, one must serve.

Folasāitu Professor Julia Ioane has ancestral links to the villages of Fasito’outa and Leauva’a. Raised in South Auckland, Professor Ioane initially started her career as a youth and mental health worker.

Today, her research and publications encompass two primary threads. The first, within criminal justice psychology, considers youth care-and-protection issues, child, adolescent and youth justice offending. The second is on the merging of the Pacific and psychology worlds, including how clinical psychology training and practice might better serve the needs of Pacific peoples in order to respond authentically to the needs of underserved communities in Aotearoa.

In her research and teaching, she includes indigenous worldviews and input from community and clinical leaders to link theory with practice and systems in the real world, where change must occur.

She is a registered clinical psychologist with a practice in child and adolescent mental health and trauma, primarily in youth justice. She was an expert witness at the Abuse in Care Inquiry, consultant psychologist for the Judiciary in Samoa, provides expert opinion in court and is on governance/advisory boards across the justice sector and NGOs.

Professor Trisia Farrelly

Professor Trisia Farrelly has been involved in global plastics treaty negotiations since 2018 as a member of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Expert Group (Marine Litter and Microplastics) and was later elected to the Scientific Advisory Committee. Professor Farrelly is a Co-Founder and sits on the Steering Committee of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty: a body of over 300 plastic pollution scientists representing more than 50 countries.

Professor Farrelly is a Senior Editor of Cambridge Prisms: Plastics, Associate Editor of Frontiers in Environmental Health Policy and Law, and co-editor of the book Plastic Legacies: Pollution, Persistence, and Politics. She provides science-policy advice on the plastics treaty as Technical Advisor to the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.

She has won two Massey medals, for Exceptional Research Citizenship and Excellence in Teaching. In 2021, she was named a New Zealand Women of Influence Awards finalist, and this year won the WasteMINZ Award for Excellence.

Professor Farrelly is Co-Director of Massey’s Political Ecology Research Centre, university representative for the Association of Social Anthropologists Aotearoa New Zealand and Massey’s Association of Commonwealth Universities Blue Charter Fellows Coordinator. She co-founded the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance and the New Zealand Product Stewardship Council and was a member of New Zealand’s National Container Deposit Scheme Design Group.

Professor Jenny Poskitt

Professor Jenny Poskitt is the second of three generations who have graduated from Massey University. Professor Poskitt herself has a Diploma of Teaching, a Bachelor of Education a Master of Education Administration and a PhD. She is known for her international and national contributions to educational assessment.

Professor Poskitt has multiple scholarly and professional publications in assessment that have influenced policy and practice at the local school level, regionally, nationally and internationally, resulting in invited memberships of networks and advisory groups.

Her teaching includes undergraduate and postgraduate courses on assessment, educational leadership, professional learning and qualitative research methods. In recognition of successful master’s and doctoral research supervision, thesis examination, and considerable experience as a Massey doctoral convenor, Professor Poskitt was awarded the Massey University Research Supervisor Medal in 2022.

She is also known for her extensive contributions to academic citizenship within the Institute of Education and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her contributions extend to internal and external qualification review panels and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Academic Tāhuhu committee.

Professor Fiona Te Momo

Professor Fiona Te Momo, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakatere, Ngāti Konohi, is a Māori development practitioner and Regional Director for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences on the Auckland campus. Her academic background is grounded in Māori Studies, where the specialist areas of teaching and research grew to focus on development studies, Māori development, and whānau development. These fields focus on the positive development of whānau, hapū, and iwi that fosters the advancement of indigenous peoples in their respective communities.

Professor Te Momo is a registered social worker, which enables her to view wellbeing of Māori from an academic perspective, professional position and cultural lens. This view contributes to her understanding of mātauranga Māori as she works alongside whānau at the coal face. Extending this knowledge includes knowing the significance of key kaupapa such as the awa (river), maunga (mountains), moana (ocean), ngahere (forest), tangata (people), whakapapa (genealogy) and whenua (land); extending to knowledge in mātauranga-a-whānau.

She contributes to the advancement of knowledge for Māori development theoretically, practically, locally, nationally and internationally alongside other indigenous academics across the world.

College of Sciences

Professor Fakhrul Alam

Professor Fakhrul Alam received his Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in electrical and electronic engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and his Master of Science and PhD in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in the United States.

Professor Alam is a leading expert on indoor localisation and human sensing for smart homes and buildings. His research integrates sensors, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable robots and individuals to navigate while utilising the existing wireless and lighting infrastructure of buildings. His research also has direct applications to assisted living, aged care, human-machine interactions and environmental monitoring.

Professor Alam’s research has received more than $1 million in external funding from the likes of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Auckland Transport and New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an Associate Editor of IEEE Access and Topic Editor of Sensors, sits on the IEEE Conference Technical Program Integrity Committee and serves as a reviewer for the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Professor Alam is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international forums and has organised many international conferences.

Professor Vyacheslav Filichev

Professor Vyacheslav Filichev is a bioorganic chemist with an interest in the creation of new building blocks of DNA and RNA. Professor Filichev focuses on the discovery of novel therapeutics against viruses and cancer as well as the development of modern diagnostic platforms.

In 2002, Professor Filichev graduated from the St. Petersburg State Institute of Technology, where he did his Master of Science and PhD under the supervision of Professor Vladimir Ostrovskii who has direct academic roots with the discoverer of the periodic tables of elements - Dmitri I. Mendeleev. Before joining Massey in 2006, Professor Filichev did his postdoctoral work at the Nucleic Acid Centre at the University of Southern Denmark.

His collaborative research activity in the last 17 years led to the formation of an inter-disciplinary Nucleic Acid Chemical Biology Group based in the School of Natural Sciences, attracting new national and international connections in academia, industry and venture companies.

He is the author of more than 65 research articles and several patents with high potential and proven success in commercialisation. Professor Filichev teaches chemistry at all levels and promotes student-centered teaching practices in chemistry at Massey.

Professor Kelvin Goh

Professor Kelvin Goh began his academic journey at Massey University as a lecturer in 1998. His primary area of research centres on the characterisation of food biopolymers, with a specific focus on the physico-chemical attributes of polysaccharides (including starch) and their interactions with various food components to structure and design food products that promote human health.

Professor Goh's journey is distinguished by his scholarly achievements and his significant contributions to academic leadership, programme management and fostering international collaboration.

Since 2008, he has been the Academic Director in Singapore, effectively managing the Bachelor of Food Technology Honours degree programme in collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic and subsequently with the Singapore Institute of Technology.

His dedication to education is highly esteemed by both peers and students, as he seamlessly integrates his research interests into the classroom, offering students a research-oriented approach with practical, real-world applications.

Professor Goh contributes to various journals as a member of their editorial boards, serves as a guest editor for special issues, reviews research grant proposals and examines PhD theses, all of which underscore his commitment to advancing knowledge in his field.

College of Creative Arts

Professor Oli Wilson

Professor Oli Wilson holds the position of Associate Dean Research at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts. In this role, he oversees the College's research strategy and postgraduate programs. From 2015 to 2020, he served as the College’s music programme leader while establishing the Bachelor of Commercial Music, which rapidly grew to become New Zealand's largest contemporary music programme.

Professor Wilson’s current academic focus centres on advancing equity, resilience and sustainability within the creative industries. He contributes to various team-based transformative research initiatives through collaborations with industry and government partners, including the Ministry of Culture and Heritage (MCH) and other music and creative industry bodies.

Highlights include Amplify Aotearoa, a collaboration with Massey researcher Dr Catherine Hoad and Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) that reports on gendered opportunities and barriers in the music industry. Professor Wilson is a contributing researcher, in the MCH-funded Aotearoa Live Music Recovery Programme, collaborating with 18 music venues to enhance financial resilience through artist and audience diversification. He is also currently contributing to a MHC-funded project measuring the economic and wellbeing impact of New Zealand's live performance sectors.

Beyond academia, Professor Wilson undertakes music direction and keyboard responsibilities for the internationally renowned New Zealand band The Chills. His musical contributions extend to multiple New Zealand top-40 recordings, alongside tours spanning North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

College of Health

Professor Chris Wilkins

Professor Chris Wilkins is the leader of the Drug Research Team at the SHORE & Whariki Research Centre. He completed his PhD in economics at the University of Waikato in 1999 on violence in illegal cannabis markets. He joined Massey University in 2000, researching the rise of methamphetamine and MDMA. His research was quoted in the Government’s Methamphetamine Action Plan.

He has analysed the size of the illegal cannabis market and the involvement of organised crime. In the mid-2000s, much of Professor Wilkins’ research focused on the emergence of ‘legal highs’ such as BZP, including household surveys and policy responses. This attracted invitations to present at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the United States National Institute of Drug Abuse and the United Kingdom Home Office.

More recently, Professor Wilkins has studied cannabis policy reform, including the New Zealand medicinal cannabis scheme and overseas cannabis reforms. In 2020, he was invited to be a Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Panel member to assess evidence for the cannabis referendum. He conducted the first wastewater drug study and has led the annual New Zealand Drugs Trends Survey since 2017. In 2023, he was awarded a Health Research Council project grant to investigate the outcomes of overseas cannabis reforms and translate these to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Professor Lisa Te Morenga

Professor Lisa Te Morenga, Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, Te Uri o Hau, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, started her research career as a graduate of forestry science at the New Zealand Institute of Forestry before switching directions and returning to the University of Otago in 2004 to study human nutrition. This led to a PhD in exploring how diet composition affects the risk of diabetes, motivated by her desire to contribute to reducing the burden of diabetes amongst Māori.

Professor Te Morenga’s research spans the field of nutrition from dietary interventions, investigating the effects of nutrients, foods and diets on health outcomes, systematic evidence reviews and co-design with communities to develop innovative solutions to improving health and wellbeing.

She is a current Rutherford Discovery Fellow. In 2019, she was awarded the Hamilton Award for Early Career Research Excellence Award for Science from the Royal Society Te Apārangi in recognition of her research on dietary sugars. This, and subsequent research on dietary fats and carbohydrates, informed the latest World Health Organisation nutrition guidelines. Professor Te Morenga co-chairs Health Coalition Aotearoa, which advocates for evidence-informed Te Tiriti-led policy to reduce the promotion and consumption of unhealthy food and other harmful products.

Professor Kathryn Beck

Professor Kathryn Beck is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian with experience working in clinical, community and academic settings. She completed her PhD in 2013, investigating dietary determinants and solutions to iron deficiency in young women. Professor Beck is a World Cancer Research Fund Academy Fellow and has received more than $4 million in competitive research funding. This includes funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the New Zealand Heart Foundation and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Professor Beck has more than 80 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, has supervised over 50 PhD and Master of Science students to completion, and in 2020 received the overall Massey University Early Career research award.

Professor Beck’s research interests include dietary assessment, dietary pattern analysis, sustainable nutrition and ultra-processed food's impact on dietary intake and health. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Nutrition Journal and is currently a Senior Editor for the Journal of Sport and Exercise Science. Professor Beck leads the Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, an accredited programme with the New Zealand Dietitians Board.

Massey Business School

Professor Borhan Bhuiyan

Professor Borhan Bhuiyan is an expert in accounting and a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ). With a PhD from Lincoln University, Professor Bhuiyan's research encompasses corporate governance, auditing, corporate social responsibility and accounting, resulting in publications in prestigious international journals.

His research activities have received financial support from professional accounting bodies including CAANZ and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Global. Professor Bhuiyan has been honoured with awards from Certified Practicing Accountant Australia, the Massey Business School Early Career Research Award and the Emerald Literati Award, among other recognitions.

He is committed to advancing accounting education and serves as an Associate Editor for Meditari Accountancy Research and Accounting Research Journal. Professor Bhuiyan is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom and actively contributes to the development of the accounting field as a member of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand. His academic journey is marked by outstanding research contributions and an unwavering dedication to shaping the future of accounting education and business sectors.

Professor Nitha Palakshappa

A strong commitment to sustainability underpins the teaching and research that Professor Nitha Palakshappa is involved in. Her research brings a marketing lens to issues of sustainability in the fashion and food sectors and she draws important links to her discipline with a focus on ethical value chains, the power of brands to further sustainability goals, and conscious consumption.

Professor Palakshappa’s research has enabled participation in networks across New Zealand, India, the United States and Europe. Internationally, she has been involved in a project funded by the Swedish Institute for Strategic Environmental Research to examine Transformative Environmental Communication in Wicked Times: Reframing Communication for Sustainability.

Locally, she has co-led the Farming to Flourish project in Taranaki, providing a timely and pertinent focus on sustainability pertaining to food systems. Professor Palakshappa’s research has been published in a number of highly-ranked journals, and she has a teaching portfolio that extends from first-year introductory courses through to postgraduate offerings.

Recently, she has had the privilege of co-leading an interdisciplinary India study tour initiative. Three successful tours provided life-changing experiences for Massey students embedded in a deep understanding of sustainability, citizenship and responsibility. Over the last five years, Professor Palakshappa has been managing the Auckland campus’s branch of the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing. Working within this collegial and supportive group has been a career highlight.

Professor Jo Cullinane

Professor Jo Cullinane is an academic working in the field of management and employment relations. She has worked at Massey since 2017 and is currently Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor of Massey Business School, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Member of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Professor Cullinane has chaired Massey’s Academic Progress Committee and the Academic Progress and Performance Working Group since their inception in 2021. Through this work, she has helped Massey replace its academic standing system and build new student-centric support arrangements in line with philosophical commitments embedded in Pūrehuroatanga.

Professor Cullinane is also influential in Massey’s international and transnational efforts, having a major role in establishing the programmes utilised by Massey University College, and an instrumental role in establishing a partnership between Massey and Nanjing University of Finance and Economics.

Prior to joining Massey, Professor Cullinane was Dean Academic at Coventry University London and Director of Learning and Teaching at the University of Greenwich.

Professor Jing Chi

Professor Jing Chi joined Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University in 2004 from the University of Reading in England, where she obtained her PhD in finance. Professor Chi’s prior work experience includes conducting Initial Public Offerings in Huatai Securities Company in China and as an analyst in the London Stock Exchange.

Professor Chi received the New Zealand National Teaching Excellence award in 2013, authoring over 40 international refereed journal articles, and has championed Massey’s most successful international joint programmes since 2006. More than 700 students have joined Massey through these programs, with tuition revenue of more than $40 million.

As the university’s first Chartered Financial Analyst, Professor Chi led the School of Economics and Finance to develop the Bachelor of Business Finance major Chartered Financial Analyst pathway.

Professor Chi is an Associate Editor for Finance Research Letters, a mentor supervisor and chairs a supervisor mentoring circle at the university. Professor Chi was awarded the Massey Business School Star Award for Excellence in Student Support, Excellence in Enterprise and High-Performance Team, as a member of the Chinese Financial Research Cluster respectively. Professor Chi is also a proud mother of three.

Professor Kaye Thorn

Professor Kaye Thorn has a research background in management and international human resource management. She came late to academia, first working as an economic analyst in the New Zealand Treasury and then as a tourism consultant. Her PhD explored the motivations for living and working abroad, using a sample of highly mobile New Zealanders. Today, Professor Thorn’s main fields of interest are the area of careers and global mobility, with a focus on under-researched themes such as women’s careers, older women and skilled migrant women.

Professor Thorn has published in a wide range of top careers and international human resource management journals and has been recognised for her contributions through best paper awards and nominations at international conferences. Professor Thorn is currently Associate Head of the School of Management in Albany and enjoys working with the great team of dedicated academics and professional staff there.

Professor Liping Zou

Professor Liping Zou joined Massey University in 2004 with a background and qualification in accountancy, computer science and finance. Professor Zou's research focuses on corporate finance, portfolio management and strategy, corporate governance and machine learning in finance.

She has published extensively in highly-regarded international journals and played a significant role in the supervision of research students and promoting research excellence. In addition to her academic role in the School of Economics and Finance, Professor Zou is the Vice Dean and Adjunct Professor of Massey Institute at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics.

Recently, she has led a steering group to establish a joint research institute between Massey Business School and Nanjing University of Finance and Economics. In her spare time, she loves cycling, drumming, hiking, sailing, snowboarding and playing indoor futsal.

Professor Nives Botica Redmayne

Professor Nives Botica Redmayne is an expert in audit and assurance, in particular the economics and production of assurance services. Professor Redmayne’s area of research is in financial reporting for public sector and non-for-profit entities. She has published extensively in her areas of expertise and is a member of several academic journals’ editorial boards.

With her expertise and research, Professor Redmayne has contributed to the development of professional accountancy and auditing standards, guidance and policies in New Zealand and overseas. She is a Fellow of CAANZ and served as President in 2021. She was a member of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board from 2017-2022 and is a current member of the New Zealand Financial Market Authority Audit Oversight Committee. She is the Executive Board member of the Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research Association as well as the current President-elect of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand.

Associate Professors

Massey Business School

Dr Alexandra Ganglmair-Wooliscroft
Dr Niki Murray
Dr Sam Richardson

College of Sciences

Dr Khalid Arif
Dr Ebu Avci
Dr Nicola Brown
Dr Lovedeep Kaur
Dr Kristina Mueller
Dr Jon Palmer
Dr Thiagarajah Ramilan
Dr David Simpson
Dr Nicola Smith

College of Health

Dr Bevan Erueti
Dr Angela Moewaka Barnes

College of Creative Arts

Dr Hemi Macgregor

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr Wendy Holley-Boen
Dr Nicholas Holm
Dr Emma Hudson-Doyle
Ms Sarah Malthus
Dr Tracy Morison
Dr Vijaya Muralidharan
Dr Mershen Pillay
Dr Pikihuia Pomare
Dr Anna Powles
Dr Clifford Van Ommen