Former Reserve Bank of New Zealand acting Governor Rod Carr has been elected chair of the Reserve Bank's board.Carr is the current Vice Chancellor of Canterbury University and was acting Governor for five months in 2002 between Don Brash, who resigned unexpectedly to join politics, and Alan Bollard, who was appointed by then Labour Finance Minister Michael Cullen for two terms totalling 10 years. Carr was a Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank from 1998 to 2003, before leaving to become Managing Director of Canterbury-based Jade Software. He was reappointed to the Reserve Bank board by the current National Finance Minister Bill English in July last year. Carr replaces Arthur Grimes, an economist who has chaired the Reserve Bank's board for the last 11 years.  The chairman's role is purely a governance role and has no direct involvement in monetary policy and prudential policy decisions, which are decided by Governor Graeme Wheeler, who succeeded Bollard in September last year.