Museum Appoints To New Senior Roles

Canterbury Museum has made appointments to three new senior roles who, with the Director, will lead the organisation through a significant period of change as it advances proposals to redevelop its Rolleston Avenue site.

Museum Director, Anthony Wright, says he’s delighted to have recruited three very talented people with the right mix of experience for these key new roles.

“Since the earthquakes the Museum has been very much in recovery mode. We have reached the point where we can focus on looking to the future and creating a world-class twenty-first century museum for Canterbury,” he says.

“The reorganisation of staff into three new groups led by the new appointees will create a more efficient and balanced structure, mirroring the general best practice model adopted by other museums worldwide. The new appointees’ collective experience and skillsets will create a strong Museum Executive Leadership Team.”

Sarah Murray, currently the Museum’s Curatorial Manager, has been appointed Head of Collections and Research responsible for the curatorial, inventory and registration teams and the Museum’s volunteers. Sarah has been with the Museum for 14 years as a human history curator and was appointed Curatorial Manager in 2015. Sarah has extensive research and collections experience as well as strong working relationships with Papatipu rūnanga and whānau. She will bring invaluable institutional knowledge to the new leadership team. Sarah has an MA(Dis) and BA(Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka.

Dr Margaret Noble has been appointed Head of Operations responsible for finance, security and risk, IT and HR. Margaret has held senior executive roles across the tertiary education sector in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Until recently she was Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Music, Sydney. Other roles include Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic Quality and Schools Engagement) at the University of Tasmania, and prior to that Chief Executive at Waiariki Institute of Technology in Rotorua. In the UK, Margaret also held the position of Pro Vice Chancellor (Learning and Quality) at the University of Greenwich, London. Margaret has a BA in Geography and History from Aberystwyth University, a PhD in Geography from the University of Hull and was awarded a professorship in 2009.

Rachael Walkinton is the new Head of Public Engagement with responsibility for customer experience, education, exhibitions, marketing and communications. She has held senior engagement and communication roles in New Zealand. Rachael spent 14 years in New York, including 10 years as Chief of Staff/Senior Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer at the Metropolitan Opera. Rachael is a board member of New Zealand Opera and brings extensive experience in the arts, stakeholder engagement, philanthropy and fundraising. Most recently, she was Group Communications Manager for Alliance Group Ltd in Christchurch. Rachael has an MA in History and a BA(Hons) in History and Political Science from the University of Canterbury.

© Scoop Media