Obituary: made incomprehensible clear

ROSALIND WHITING 
Academic

Rosalind Heather Whiting always believed "life is short and life is precious".

So she lived hers with two simple rules — live simply and love generously.

Before her death, people would tell her that her pancreatic cancer was not fair, but she would reply: "Life is not about fairness. It’s about how you manage each situation".

She was supremely pragmatic and logical, very organised and reliable to a fault.

They were qualities that resulted in her becoming an award-winning academic at the University of Otago, a workhorse in community groups, an ever-present and supportive parent and partner, and a caring and thoughtful friend to many.

Ros was born to Jim and Isobel Whiting, in Eltham, Taranaki, on March 3, 1958, and was one of six children.

She was educated at Eltham Primary School before moving to New Plymouth, where she attended Merrilands Primary School, Highlands Intermediate and New Plymouth Girls’ High School.

While she was a high-achieving pupil at intermediate, it was at secondary school she shone in academia.

She was a great orator. Friends said only someone like Ros could give a winning speech in the fourth form about earthworms.

She was also very good at mathematics and lots of her cohorts wanted to sit next to her in maths class because she had the gift of making the incomprehensible comprehensible.

She got 99% in school certificate mathematics, not just because she was good at it, but because she was also a little competitive.

Her brother had previously scored 98% and she wanted to go one better.

High academic achievement resulted in her finishing secondary school as proxime accessit.

On leaving school, she initially wanted to become a primary school teacher.

But instead, she chose to do a bachelor of science in chemistry degree at the University of Otago.

It was during this time she first met her future husband, Ron Turner, and the pair became inseparable.

They ended up flatting together.

She graduated with her BSc degree in 1979, and it was the start of what one of Ros’ colleagues said was "a truckload" of university degrees.

She was a learner — she had a passion for knowledge.

So after her chemistry degree, she went to Adelaide University where she gained a diploma in environmental studies in 1983.

She and Ron kept in touch during this time, but even when she returned to New Zealand, it took a while for them to reunite.

Ron was in Taupo working on a landscaping business while Ros was working for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Roxburgh, researching the impact of the Clyde Dam on the Lower Clutha.

The two fostered their long-distance relationship with occasional catch-ups, and regular letters and phone calls.

Eventually, they both returned to Dunedin and were married — 17 years after they first met.

Ron was enamoured by how smart and interesting she was.

To him, her intellect was infectious, and her interest in others helped them to form many close and lasting relationships.

Her thirst for knowledge continued and she began studying accounting, graduating with a postgraduate diploma in commerce (endorsed in accounting) in 1992.

From there, she progressed to a master of commerce in accounting, which she earned in 1995, and finally in 2006, she graduated with a PhD in accounting, again from Otago.

During much of this time, she shared what she was learning by tutoring undergraduate students in the department of accounting and finance.

In 1992, Ros was promoted to assistant lecturer, and four years later she was promoted to lecturer.

In 2003, she was promoted again to senior lecturer, and in 2017 she became an associate professor.

During the 32 years between 1991 and her retirement in 2023, Ros chalked up an impressive list of achievements.

She had four areas of academic life — the "truckload" of degrees she had earned; the scholarly work she published; the broad range of teaching she performed; and finally, the significant service she provided to her department, the university and the wider set of non-university communities.

As a researcher, she published more than 50 scholarly papers.

One of her areas of expertise was gender and accounting history — a topic she wrote her PhD thesis on.

Ros’ most recent paper explored the struggles and career success of early pioneer women accountants in Great Britain and its former colonies: the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

She found that the struggles of these pioneer women accountants were not just personal, but much broader, extending to a quest for the social, political, economic and professional empowerment of all women.

She studied and published widely about pioneer women accountants.

Friend and colleague Prof Ralph Adler said he could think of no better exemplar of a pioneer woman accountant than Ros.

"I am sure that future researchers will one day be studying her."

Ros was passionate about teaching.

She loved students — she really enjoyed teaching and challenging them to think outside the box.

She taught a wide range of accounting papers, from 100-level to postgraduate level, and her students loved her sense of humour, and recognised and admired her expertise and dedication.

It was something that was also well recognised by her colleagues, and it culminated in her receiving multiple teaching awards.

In 2014, she received the Otago University’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2022 she was awarded the commerce division postgraduate supervisor of the year award.

As an academic at the University of Otago, she was expected to perform service to her department, the university and the wider community.

Ros was well known as a "workhorse" because of the mountain of service she gave during her career.

Highlights included chairing the department’s teaching and learning committee, and a 15-year span as acting head of the department, deputy head of department or head of department.

Fellow staff members loved and respected Ros’ leadership because she expected her colleagues to perform to their best, and she ensured they had the support to do so.

Ros was a people-person and always had time for people, no matter how much was happening.

She gave that sense of genuinely caring about others and wanting to know how things were going, both at work and in daily family lives.

She had a lovely way of putting you at ease, even when problems arose — she had a knack of taking a negative and turning it into a positive.

The support she provided made her a beacon of kindness, humility and just basic goodness.

Ros also provided substantial service to the School of Business — especially as the school’s staff representative on Senate, and joint academic leader of the School of Business’ student internship programme.

In recognition of all that she did for the School of Business, she was awarded the Otago Business School Citizenship Award in 2018.

Outside of the university campus, she founded Dunedin Community Accounting and served as its chairwoman from 2018-20; she was a member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand local leadership team; she held numerous volunteer treasurerships, including with the Maori Hill branch of the Plunket Society, Arthur Street School and the Roslyn Scouts; and she served on PTAs and swimming club committees, and even did sewing for Dunedin Pregnancy Help and Dunedin Women’s Refuge.

In light of all the volunteer work Ros did, she was recognised in 2018 by being made a Fellow Chartered Accountant — the highest honour anyone can receive from New Zealand and Australia’s professional accounting body.

Her zest for life and for getting on with tasks at hand in a way that encouraged others to follow and aspire to replicate, is testimony to her leadership and genuine commitment to always serving with integrity.

As exhausting as it was to keep up with the myriad service roles she engaged in, it was most remarkable and truly special that she did it all while still managing to always be present for her children, Stella, Jack and Gene, and husband Ron.

Ros and Ron encouraged their children to sign up for as many clubs, sports and activities as they could because they wanted them to have every opportunity possible.

She would help Ron to run them here, there and everywhere, all while advancing her prolific career at the university.

And on top of all that, she never failed to put her hand up and help out with all number of working bees, PTAs, community boards and fundraising committees.

She even found time to work in her garden.

For her, it was a way to relax, and it also meant there were always vegetables on the menu for family dinners.

Ros was diagnosed with pancratic cancer four years ago and had 70 chemotherapy treatments.

She never complained about the side effects.

Given how aggressive the cancer can be, she felt like it was a miracle how long she had survived.

Initially, she took six months’ sick leave, then returned to working half-time until she retired in April last year.

Throughout her career, she walked to and from work most days, from the Arthur Street School area to her university office.

The fitness level enabled her to swim in the 2024 Dunedin Masters Games, where she won two silver medals.

Many may question how Ros managed to fit so much into her life.

The answer is, being well organised and making lists for all, with lots of notes and instructions on them.

Even in her final days, true to form, she was still allocating jobs.

One of the last notes she wrote was a simple reminder to Ron: "Don’t forget to put the bins out on Monday night".

She died on July 22, and is survived by her husband Ron, children Stella, Jack and Gene, and grandchildren Kai and Jude. — John Lewis.