Leading businessman announced as Lincoln Hub chair

Another milestone in the development of a national agricultural hub at Lincoln has been reached with the appointment of a chair.

The chairs and chancellor of the five Lincoln Hub partners have announced the appointment of Graham Stuart as the inaugural chair of Lincoln Hub.

The Lincoln Hub is a venture between Lincoln University, AgResearch, Plant & Food Research, Landcare Research and DairyNZ to deliver science, technology transfer and capability more effectively and efficiently to the New Zealand farming sector.

"One of the key features of the hub will be better linking industry to research, and Graham Stuart is highly respected for his extensive primary industry experience and connections," says AgResearch chair, Sam Robinson. Mr Stuart was most recently the chief executive of Sealord, and has also worked for Fonterra, the New Zealand Dairy Board and Lion Nathan. He was recently a member of the Māori Economic Development Task Force. "This is a great opportunity to build a world class agricultural research facility where university, crown research agencies and the private sector are able to interact in a highly collaborative way to achieve great outcomes for New Zealand," says Mr Stuart.

He says he will finalise the composition of his board shortly, in consultation with chairs and chancellor of the five Hub partners. Lincoln University Chancellor Tom Lambie says Mr Stuart takes over from John Palmer, who agreed to act in an interim role to help get the Lincoln Hub started. "John has made an invaluable contribution over the last six months in leading the five chief executives and vice chancellor in the Hub conception and planning to get us to this stage," he says.

This announcement follows on from AgResearch’s recent announcement of a leading project-management company to oversee the AgResearch facilities programme, the initial stage of the Hub building projects.