PROFESSOR DAN ARCHER
Dan Archer holds Australian citizenship and has had more than 30 years experience working in both developed and developing economies in Europe, North America, Australia and Africa. He has now lived in South Africa for more than 18 years. While trained as a geologist and initially working in the exploration/mining industry, Dan’s experience has since been distributed equally among the education, business and government sectors. His more senior positions included:
- BP Chair of Environmental Policy and Management (INR, University of Natal)
- Director Sustainable Development (Manitoba Industry Trade and Tourism)
- Assistant to the President (Manitoba Telephone System)
- Executive Director - Technology (Manitoba Industry Trade and Technology)
- Senior Policy Advisor (Manitoba Research Council).
Dan often found himself initiating, coordinating, facilitating and managing new projects and programmes, bringing together stakeholders from different backgrounds and working at the interface between sectors, including the development of public private partnerships. These experiences have provided him with skills in:
- business development, administration and management
- change management, public participation and development facilitation
- communications and fundraising
- policy analysis, advice and development; and programme development
- strategic and business planning.
These skills have been successfully applied to a diverse range of fields, including:
- science and technology
- environmental management and sustainable development
- entrepreneurship and leadership development
- natural resource management, marine and maritime studies
- medicine and health, and
- tourism development.
In the last 20 years, Professor Archer has developed more than 15 organisations distributed among the tertiary education sector, the public sector, the private sector and as public-private partnerships. This work has involved assessing and facilitating the establishment of appropriate organisational structures, developing the associated instruments of governance and management, establishing business plans and budgets, and building capacity to operate these institutions. In addition, he has been involved in numerous other projects: undertaking analyses/assessments, facilitating planning, and fulfilling the role of project manager.
Dan holds an MBA (Cape Town), and a BSc (Hons) and a PhD (Manchester), and has received additional training in negotiating, report writing, presentations and leadership. He is currently:
- Principal of Meeting of Minds cc (1997 - ): a consultancy that specialises in institutional development, focusing on multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional and inter-sectoral initiatives
- Director of Epidote Properties (Pty) Ltd. t/a Ulwazi (2003 - ): involved in establishing interactive educational experiences.
Since 1996, he has also maintained an adjunct relationship to the University of Natal/KwaZulu-Natal, where he continues to assist with the development of new initiatives. Dan has at various times participated in Rotary leadership activities, as vice-chair of a church board, in fundraising for scouts, as vice-chair of a community centre, and on a museum programme committee.