13 November 2017

Sir Peter Gluckman

Sir Peter Gluckman is the Chief Science Advisor to the Government of New Zealand and Chair of the International Network for Government Science Advice.

© INGSA

© INGSA

Born in Auckland, Sir Peter Gluckman studied pediatrics and endocrinology at the University of Otago gaining an MBChB in 1971. This was followed by MMedSc in 1976 and a DSc in 1987 from the University of Auckland. He is Professor of Pediatric and Perinatal Biology and was the Director of the National Research Centre for Growth and Development, hosted by the University of Auckland, Head of the Department of Pediatrics and Dean of the university's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences as well as the founding Director of the Liggins Institute. In 2007, he was appointed Program Director for Growth, Development and Metabolism at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences. He also holds honorary chairs at National University of Singapore and the University of Southampton.

In 2009 he was appointed the first Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and in 2014, co-chair of the World Health Organization Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO). In August 2014, in Auckland, New Zealand, he hosted and chaired the Science Advice to Governments Conference, convened by the International Council for Science (ICSU). It was the first global meeting of science advisors, leading to the foundation of the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) of which he is the founding chair. Since then Sir Peter Gluckman has profiled himself as one of the world’s leading capacities in promoting and advancing global science advice and science diplomacy. In October 2016 he chaired at IIASA the first global workshop of science advisors in foreign ministries.

Director General Professor Dr. Pavel and IIASA Council Chair Professor Mike Clegg awarding the IIASA Distinguished Visiting Fellowship to Sir Peter Gluckman. © IIASA

Gluckman is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, an honor bestowed on just 42 New Zealand-born scientists since the Society's establishment in 1660. In 2001, Gluckman received New Zealand’s top science award, the Rutherford Medal. He is the only New Zealander elected to the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies of Science and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Great Britain. In 2007 he was made a Knight Companion for services to medicine and was appointed in 2015 to the Order of New Zealand, the highest New Zealand honor. Gluckman received the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Award for Science Diplomacy in 2016.


NOTE: The current information about the person might have changed since he/she has been awarded the Distinguished Visiting Fellow award.


Print this page

Last edited: 18 March 2019

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313