Posted on 8 June 2021
Former Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Council Chair Murray Bain has been named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. He served as Council Chair from 2014 - 2020 and received the honour for his services to tertiary education and digital learning.
In extending Open Polytechnic’s congratulations, current Board Chair Vaughan Renner said Mr Bain provided outstanding governance leadership during a period of major change as the organisation successfully pursued a digital transformation strategy.
“There are very few tertiary institutions anywhere in the world that have transformed themselves so comprehensively in such a short space of time and Murray played a crucial role as Council Chair during that process.
“Throughout, he also kept a resolute focus on maintaining the affordability of Open Polytechnic’s programmes and on meeting the needs of Māori and other priority learners.”
Mr Renner also noted the success of Open Polytechnic’s iQualify online learning platform that was developed as part of the transformation programme.
“Under Murray’s leadership, Council supported major ongoing investment in technology innovation to support enhanced online learning and learner success.
“The iQualify online platform today not only underpins Open Polytechnic’s delivery for 30,000 learners but is used by over 230 schools and organisations throughout New Zealand.”
Murray Bain is a Northland-based company director involved across a range of sectors. He is Deputy Chair NorthTec, a Board member for the Southern Institute of Technology and Ara Institute of Canterbury, Deputy Chair of TSB Bank and Chair of TAS, a DHB shared services company. He has previously filled a wide range of director roles including Chair of the Open Polytechnic.
He has previously been the CEO of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, CEO of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Assistant Governor in the RBNZ, Chief Operating Officer with ACC and Head of Banking for Trust Bank NZ.