Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation

The Ihorua Rangahau, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation holds responsibility for the University’s research policy, strategy, management and performance. They develop relationships with the University’s research funders and collaborators, promote and support innovation and enterprise at the University, oversee the operation of the Research and Innovation Office and chair the Board of UniServices Auckland Limited.

Simon Holdaway is our interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation for the period between the departure of former vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater, and the commencement of incoming vice-chancellor Nic Smith on 3 August 2026. 

At that point, Frank Bloomfield – currently interim Vice-Chancellor – will return to this role, and Simon will return to the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor Research Performance and Reputation, which he has held since it was established in early 2025.

Professor Holdaway has extensive research knowledge and had previously been Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research since mid-2021. Before this, from 2015-2021, he served as the Head of the School of Social Sciences. A professor of anthropology and archaeology, he has led research projects worldwide. In 2018, he was elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the Australian Humanities Academy and, in 2022, was elected a Fellow of Te Apārangi, the Royal Society of New Zealand.

You can read more about Simon in his University profile

Email: dvcr@auckland.ac.nz