Mr. Richard Thomson - Trustee
Richard is originally from Invercargill, having come to Dunedin to attend the University of Otago, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), a Masters in Arts, and a Diploma in Clinical Psychology. Richard worked as a lecturer in psychological medicine at the Otago Medical School, before resigning to work in environmental activism during the campaign to stop an aluminium smelter being built on Otago Harbour. During the campaign, Richard and his partner set up a small shop to pay the rent for the campaign headquarters, and discovered he enjoyed retail more than clinical psychology. Since then, they have developed the 17-store Acquisitions chain.
Richard became involved in health governance in the late 1980s as a board member on the Otago Area Health Board, and again around 2000, when he was appointed a board member of the Otago District Health Board, before becoming Chair of the Board in 2001. Richard was Chairman for seven years, and then remained as an elected Board member following that.
Amongst a number of other activities, he also chairs the Hawksbury Trust, which provides 24-hour residential care for approximately 100 intellectually disabled adults. Richard has been a board member of the Health Care Otago Charitable Trust since 2001.