2012

Tony Falkenstein is CEO of Just Water International, which he established in 1989. The company floated on the NZX in 2005.

Tony also owns the majority of Bartercard New Zealand, and is Director Buro Seating and Boyd Visuals. Furthermore, he founded Onehunga High Business School, introducing business as a subject to the National Curriculum.

Tony is a regular public speaker on topics of entrepreneurship, business education, and philanthropy.  His accolades include the University of Auckland’s Distinguished Alumni of 2011; Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2010; and named on the Fairfax Business Hall of Fame in 2008. 

Sir Graeme Douglas MNZM founded Douglas Pharmaceuticals in 1967. Since then, it has become one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical development and manufacturing companies in Oceania.

Sir Graeme was widely respected for his philanthropy and his support of the West Auckland Community. Notably, he has been a major supporter a number of medical and community causes including: the Waitakere City Stadium, the Waitakere City Athletics Club, the Cancer Society, the Neurological Foundation, the West Auckland Hospice, Medical Air Abroad, the Salvation Army, New Zealand the Heart Foundation, Auckland City Mission, the Liggins Institute and the Oliver Smales Memorial Trust. Sir Graeme and Lady Ngaire’s purchase of an MRI scanner for Starship Children’s Hospital remains the hospital’s largest single personal donation.

Sir Graeme was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1998 for services to the pharmaceutical industry and in 2010 made Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to philanthropy and athletics. In 2012, he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.

Sir Graeme died at the age of 87 and will be remembered as one of our greatest Kiwi innovators and businessmen as well as a pharmaceutical pioneer.

Sir Paul Callaghan GNZM FRS FRSNZ (1947–2012) was a world-leading, award-winning Kiwi physicist who specialised in nanotechnology and magnetic resonance. A highly-respected and inspirational leader and teacher, Sir Paul championed science and business as being crucial to New Zealand’s economic growth. His vision was for New Zealanders to get more value and return from their ingenuity by combining science, innovation and commercialisation, and creating a hub of smart, export-focused entrepreneurs, where a high quality lifestyle is achieved through excellence in education and R&D.

In 2001, Sir Paul was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and in 2004, he received the Ampère Prize from the French Academy of Sciences. The following year he was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand’s most prestigious prize – the Rutherford Medal. Sir Paul was appointed Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006 and redesignated a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011. In 2007, he received a Sir Peter Blake Medal. Subsequently, he also received the Gunter Laukien Prize for magnetic resonance as well as the Prime Minister’s Science Prize. The year before he died, Sir Paul was named New Zealander of the Year.