Above: The balcony door to the penthouse remains open on a surprisingly balmy Autumn evening.  Eyes front as the Speaker section of the evening begins.

Above: NZUGA Chairman (left) stands by as our (then) patron, NZ High Commissioner Rt HonJonathan Hunt ONZ take the podium to speak briefly to members and guests during the AGM part of the meeting in October 06.
 
Below: Committee member Jim Croll mans the bar, serving quality New Zealand wines.

Our earlier meetings:
 
Friday 3rd October2009
Multiple sclerosis and a tale of two countries.
 
Davild Miller tells us that as a young doctor, he was attracted to the specialty of neurology by some remarkable people with whom he worked in the neurology service in Wellington. While training there he also had an opportunity to survey all people with MS in the Wellington area. When he came to the UK to continue my training in the mid 1980s, there was an opportunity to do more MS research using a then new type of scanning called MRI, and to work with an eminent NZ neurologist, Ian McDonald. A lot has been learnt about MS from work undertaken in both the UK and NZ. The tale of two countries provides intriguing insights into causal factors and includes sensitive debate over the provision of costly new disease-modifying therapies. These and other aspects were discussed.
 
 
Friday 5th June 2009
From Earthquakes to From earthquakes to music: A life on the fiddle?
Dr Nigel Harris began his career in civil engineering, and has ended up a Violin maker!  His talk introducee some of the more interesting aspects of the violin, its origins and the history of its development.  The question "are old violins better then new ones?" was also addressed. Why can't we copy the violins of Stradivari exactly and get the same sound?  Research has been aimed at recreating the long-lost formulation of the varnish used by the Cremonese makers between 1550 and 1750. Other points of discussion include: the price of violins, modern theories about how the violin works, and the speaker's contribution to this research. This was all be told within a story about his life, education, engineering, and progression to becoming a violinmaker, reasons for leaving New Zealand and his contribution to violin acoustic research.  The result was a talk that gave a balance between human interest and more technical matters, which was of great interest to everyone in the room.
 
 
Friday13th March 2009
Am I the Very Model of a Modern High Commissioner?
 
Our NZUGA patron spoke at this meeting on what in his view are the objectives of New Zealand diplomacy in the UK and Europe, and what that means these days about what he and the others at the High Commission do in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  Derek will touch on the part that New Zealanders here in London play in that process - and what he sees as their view of New Zealand and of the High Commission. 
 
Derek is currently New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ambassador to Ireland and Nigeria.  Derek was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1948. He attended Victoria University (BCA), and Canterbury University (M.Comm, Hons - Economics).  He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969, initially in the Economic Division.
 
Derek is one of New Zealand's most senior diplomats.  He has considerable breadth of experience, his most recent position being Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington, responsible for trade and economic matters.  He was New Zealand's Ambassador to the European Communities from 1994 to 1999 and, in addition to the Brussels posting, has served previously in Suva, Ottawa and London (1985-1989).
Derek's interests include golf and New Zealand history.
Derek took up his current posting in March 2008.   He is accompanied by his partner, Ms Patricia (Trish) Stevenson.
 

New Zealand Universities Graduates' Association