2010

Ian Witten is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waikato.

An expert in computer software and digital technology, he established New Zealand as an international leader in digital library software now used by the BBC, New York Botanical Gardens and UNESCO.

As Head of the University of Waikato’s New Zealand Digital Library Research Group, Ian oversaw the development of Greenstone Digital Library software, providing ways to organise information and make it available over the internet or on CDs holding the equivalent of about 340kg of books. Greenstone has been adopted in more than 60 countries and used to collate information for disaster relief operations across Latin America, for combatting AIDS in Africa, and for development purposes in French sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Kerry Spackman is a world leading elite athlete coach with a focus on attitude and mental skills.

He has mentally prepared Olympic athletes and the All Blacks as well as written The Winner’s Bible, which covers his successful tools and techniques for helping world champions improve their performance.

In addition, he is widely recognised in Formula One for making landmark contributions in areas ranging from simulator design to driver optimisation. After analysing data telemetry, Kerry invented a multi-million-dollar electronic system, which won the NEEDA Award for the Most Significant Electronic Export from New Zealand.

He has a PhD in cognitive neuroscience. 

Investor and philanthropist, Julian Robertson KNZM (Hon) is best known as the Founder of Tiger Management and has been described as ͞The Wizard of Wall Street͟.

With several business pursuits in New Zealand including world-class golf resorts and world renown wineries, Sir Julian has been an active promoter of New Zealand’s economic and cultural attributes. In particular, he has been a staunch support of the New Zealand wine industry and determined to increase its profile in the US market.  

Notably, Sir Julian gifted 15 major artworks to the Auckland Art Gallery in 2009, including paintings by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Piet Mondrian dating from the late-19th to mid-20th century. Valued between $200 and $250 million, this is the most significant collection gifted to any New Zealand public gallery.

In addition, he serves on a number of boards and in 2010, pledged, alongside Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, to donate a portion of his assets to charity.

Ian McCrae is the Founder and CEO of Orion Health, New Zealand’s largest software exporter and an award-winning global provider of healthcare information technology.

Since 1993, Orion Health has grown from a company of four people to over 1250 staff in 27 offices worldwide, enabling healthcare to more than 90 million patients.  

Ian is passionate about the role that technology can play in providing highly personalised healthcare by using personal information that is captured and made available in real time.

Orion Health was awarded the Supreme Award at the 2012 New Zealand International Business Awards. 

Sir William Gallagher KNZM, MBE, HonD is the CEO and Chair of the Gallagher Group, a highly successful Hamilton-based exporter of animal management, fencing and security systems. Sir William has grown the company into one of the largest and most profitable private companies in the Waikato, employing 650 people in New Zealand, 400 overseas and bringing in annual sales of USD160 million.

He has made significant charitable contributions through the Gallagher Group Trust and is a major sponsor of the Rescue Helicopter, Waikato Stadium, Mounted Police, Gallagher Community Swimming Pool, Gallagher Hockey Centre and the Performing Arts Centre at Waikato University.  

Sir William’s achievements and contributions have been officially recognised on numerous occasions. These include his Knighthood in 2011 as well as being inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2012, being named Outstanding International Business Leader in 2009, and receiving the Excellence in Communication Leadership Award in 1996. In 1987, he became a Member of the British Empire and in 1990 received the Queen’s Commemorative Medal for services to New Zealand. 

With a research career spanning over 35 years, Sir Richard Faull ONZM, KNZM is recognised internationally as a leading expert on the workings of the human brain and the neurodegenerative diseases that can affect it, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.

In 2007, his research group provided the first evidence that the diseased human brain can repair itself by the generation of new brain cells, overturning the long-held view that the adult brain can only degenerate.

He is also the founder of the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank at the University of Auckland.

Sir Richard’s contributions to neuroscience have been recognized numerous times. In 1993, the University of Auckland awarded him a Personal Chair in Anatomy. In 2002, he was awarded the Inaugural Peter Gluckman Medal and Distinguished Faculty International Lecturer at the University of Auckland. In 2005 he was awarded the Liley Medal by the Health Research Council and in 2007, New Zealand’s top science honour, the Rutherford Medal.