The Selection Panel
The members of the Selection Panel are:
› Sir Ron Carter (Chair)
› Professor Sir Paul Callaghan
› Mick Brown
› Sir Eion Edgar
› Dr Lester Levy
› Fran Wilde
› Sir John Anderson (invited to join 2006)
› Jane Huria
› Alison Paterson
Sir Ron Carter, KNZM (Chair of the Selection Committee)
Sir Ron has a successful engineering background which led him to become Managing Director of Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Limited in 1986 and Chairman of Beca Group Limited in 1995.
Sir Ron was knighted in 1998 for his contribution to engineering and business administration and in 2001 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering by the University of Auckland.
He is Past Chairman of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority and current Chairman of the Committee for Auckland. He is currently a director of Air New Zealand, Trust Power Limited and the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited.
Sir Paul Callaghan is one of New Zealand’s best known and highly respected scientists, both within the scientific community and among the wider population. Sir Paul is a world leading scientist in the fields of nanotechnology and magnetic resonance.
Sir Paul is the Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington and is also the Alan MacDiarmid Professor in Physical Sciences in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at the University. He holds both Doctor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University and is a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Royal Society of London.
Sir Paul has taken on a role as a leader in science and science education in New Zealand and internationally. He has had a significant role in leading the establishment of New Zealand’s performance based research funding system for tertiary institutions. He has also led the development of science communication to the wider public and has taken it as an almost personal crusade to de-mystify science and convey the relevance and excitement of science for all of society.
Mick practised law for many years in Auckland before becoming a District Court Judge in 1980, an office he held until 1995. During that time he became the first Principal Youth Court Judge, personally responsible for much of the philosophy and development of the new youth court justice system which is envied and copied throughout the world.
Mick served on the University of Auckland Council for fifteen years and was Chancellor between 1986 and 1991. He was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Maori) at the University until late in 2005. He has been, and continues to be, a member of various charitable trusts, including the Auckland Cricket Association, The Child Development Foundation of New Zealand and Chairman of the Alcohol and Liquor Advisory Council.
Mick received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002.
Sir Eion Edgar is Chairman of Forsyth Barr Group Ltd, a Dunedin based firm of sharebrokers and investment bankers.
In 2009 he retired as President of the New Zealand Olympic Committee and is Chairman of the Winter Games nz and the Queenstown Resort College. He is also a Director of Fundit Holdings and Martinborough Vineyards Estates Ltd.
Sir Eion is a Trustee of The Arts Foundation of New Zealand, the Central Lakes Trust, the Halberg Trust, The Foundation for Youth Development (formerly Project K), the Rhododendrons for Dunedin Trust and the Skeggs Foundation. He is past President of New Zealand Soccer Inc, Tennis NZ and the Patron of the Wakatipu Trails Trust.
In 2003 he completed five years as Chancellor of the University of Otago. Previously he was Chairman of the NZ Stock Exchange and a Director of the Reserve Bank of NZ.
In 1995 he was awarded the Dunedin Citizen of the Year for his contribution to the arts, business, education and the sporting community. In 2003 he received the Distinguished Companion of NZ Order of Merit. This changed to a Knight Campanion of NZ Order of Merit in 2009. In 2004 he was named The NBR New Zealander of the Year.
Dr Lester Levy is the Chief Executive of Excelerator: The New Zealand Leadership Institute and Adjunct Professor of Leadership at the University of Auckland Business School. A graduate of Medicine and an MBA, he has extensive management experience across both the private and public sectors having been Chief Executive of South Auckland Health, The Mercy Ascot Private Hospital Group and The New Zealand Blood Service. His formative management career was in the multinational environment with 3M and Beecham Research Laboratories.
Dr Levy’s governance experience includes being the Chairman of Boards of Directors in the fields of healthcare, biotechnology and film and television production.
He has previously been seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as an advisor, has been awarded the King’s Fund International Fellowship from the King’s Fund in London, is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, is the author of the book, Leadership and the Whirlpool Effect, and is a frequently invited speaker on the subject of leadership.
Fran has leadership experience in politics, business and the community. Her political roles have included Minister and Government Whip in the 1984 – 1990 Labour Government, Mayor of Wellington and now Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
In corporate governance, Fran has been a Director (and in some cases Chair) in a broad range of companies – publicly-listed, privately-held, central government and local government owned. She was also CEO of the New Zealand Trade Development Board for six years.
Fran has a solid record in community and voluntary organisations and is active in the philanthropic sector. She also currently chairs the New Zealand International Arts Festival Board.
As well as the QSO, Fran has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington and is a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Management.
Sir John is currently Chairman of TVNZ, Capital & Coast District Health Board, the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and the Wellington Regional Strategy Committee, Commissioner of the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and serves as a director on the boards of Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust.
Sir John was formerly Chief Executive of the ANZ National Bank until his retirement in 2005, former Chairman of New Zealand Cricket, New Zealand’s representative director on the ICC – positions he held from 1995 until 2008 – and former Chairman of the New Zealand Sports Foundation.
He held advisory and governance roles for successive governments through the 1980s and 1990s and received the 1990 Commemoration Medal for Services to New Zealand and was knighted in 1994. In 1995 Sir John was awarded NBR “New Zealander of the Year”, in 2003 he received the Deloittes Top 200 Company Award “New Zealand’s Most Visionary Leader” and in 2005 was the inaugural winner of “The Blake Medal”. In 2006 his home town of Wellington awarded him the “Wellington Icon” award for a lifetime of services to business and the community.
Jane Huria is a shareholder and director of HSR Governance Limited, a Christchurch based company which specialises in governance and strategic review. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and delivers governance seminars on their behalf, as well as having developed and delivered governance training and development throughout the Commonwealth.
Jane’s broad base of commercial experience includes law, insurance, market research and the financial markets. She has served on a number of public and private sector boards over the past 15 years in the fields of property, electricity, information management, business development, seafood, and workplace insurance.
Jane is a member of the ACC Board, the Legal Services Agency Board, the Treasury Management Advisory Committee, the board of Winter Games NZ and she is a member of the Health Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal. She is Deputy Chair of Ilam School and serves on Te Roopu Manaaki, the Maori Advisory Board to SPARC.
Jane is Ngai Tahu and affiliates to Ngai Tuahuriri. She offers assistance in a personal and business capacity to a number of community organisations.
Originally a chartered accountant, Alison has a strong background in corporate governance in the areas of health, consumer issues, infrastructure, agribusiness competency and the central bank. She is currently Chair of Abano Healthcare Ltd, The National Research Centre for Growth and Development (University of Auckland), BPAC NZ Ltd, EACC Oversight Committee (Ambulance NZ), Stevenson Agriculture Ltd, Vector Ltd, Metrowater Ltd, Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga (University of Auckland) and Massey Council.
Previous board appointments include Chair of Waitemata District Health Board, District Health Boards New Zealand and Landcorp Farming and Deputy Chair of The Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Alison has also previously served on the boards of the Electricity & Gas Complaints Commission, Wrightson Ltd and Health Benefits Ltd.
Sir Peter Blake
"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."
Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe