Parsons was the associate director campus life at the University of Auckland before taking over from Clayden, who stepped down from the role after seven years.

Parsons has a Master’s degree in Enterprise, Business Administration, Management and Operations from the University of Melbourne and is a Bachelor of Arts, Law from Flinders University.

She joined University of Auckland in 2017 and was working for University of South Australia for more than 12 years prior to that.  

She established UniSA Sport at the University of South Australia, the institution’s sporting body for representative, club and recreational sport.

At the University of Auckland, she also took charge of the health and well-being services for students and played a crucial role in tackling issues that contributed to student distress.

"The UTSNZ Board are delighted that Anne-Marie has agreed to take on the role as Chair," says Nicola Clayden.

"Anne-Marie has been a Director for 3 years and her demonstrated strategic thinking make her an ideal Chair. 

"She is a clear communicator with an excellent understanding of the tertiary sector, and its current challenges. 

"Her appreciation of the importance of sport to both student experience and wellbeing, and her desire to make a meaningful difference make her an exceptional new leader for UTSNZ."

Parsons is looking forward to guiding the next phase of the UTSNZ journey.

"Involvement in sport and recreation has the ability to change the lives of our students - it helps them to meet new people and make new friends, it keeps students active and healthy, it provides leadership opportunities and new experiences including seeing different parts of Aotearoa and the world - for many students, involvement in sport provides them with their most memorable experiences of their time at University," she said.

Meanwhile, the UTSNZ thanked Clayden, who was the inaugural chairperson for the new University and Tertiary Sport entity in 2016, for her services over the years.