A-C
A list of the University’s most decorated alumni, including Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, inductees to New Zealand’s Royal Honours system, and other notable achievements where available.
Names are ordered alphabetically by surname, from A-C.
A
Professor Max Abbott CNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2016: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health, science and education
Dr Francis Agnew MNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2010: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Pacific Islands community
Bruce Aitken – Business
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2014
- Former President and CEO of Vancouver–based Methanex Corporation
Dr Judith Aitken – BA, MPP, PhD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2006
Richard Aitken ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2017: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and engineering
Ruth Ellina Aitken ONZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2011: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to netball
Barbara Ala'alatoa MNZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2014
Gretchen Albrecht – DipFA with Honours
- Distinguished Alumni Award 1999
Professor Charles Alcock – BSc with Honours (1973), PhD CalTech (1978)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2012
- Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006
- Received the American Astronomical Society’s Beatrice M Tinsley Award in 2001
- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2001
- Received the US Department of Energy’s Ernest O Lawrence Award for Physics in 1996
Foumana Alene-Tumataiki QSM
- New Year's Honours 2018: Queen's Service Medal for services to the Niue community and education
Sandra Alofivae MNZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2016: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Pacific community and youth
Dr Helen Anderson CNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2010: Companion of the Queen's Service Order for services to the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology
Margaret Armour QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Queen's Service Medal for services to the community
Sir Ian Athfield KNZM – DipArch
- Distinguished Alumni Award 1997
- New Year’s Honours 2015
Sir Graeme Avery KNZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2014
Dr Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2010: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori culture
B
Dr Allan Badley – PhD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2003
Judy Bailey ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2010: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to broadcasting and the community
Professor Ted Baker
- Royal Society of New Zealand’s Liley Medal for medical and health science in 2008
Alison Balance MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2017: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to natural history, filmmaking and broadcasting
Mark Robert Ball JP QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2013: Queen’s Service Medal for services to the community
Naomi Ballantyne ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2017: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the insurance industry
Franceska Banga ONZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2016: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and the community
The Honourable John Archibald Banks CNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2011: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local body affairs
Sir David Baragwanath KNZM – LLB, BCL
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2006
- New Year’s Honours 2011: Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services as a judge of the Court of Appeal
Christopher Barfoot QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2015
Peter Barrett NZAM
- New Year’s Honours 2010: New Zealand Antarctic Medal for services to Antarctic science
Dr Jonathan Baskett ONZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2015
Dr Michael Bassett CNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2018: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services as a historian
Metuakore Bates-Fa'asisila QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Queen's Service Medal for services to the Cook Islands community
Jacquie Bay NZM
- New Year’s Honours 2017: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science and education
Jennifer Beck ONZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2015
Robin Henry Eden Beckett MNZM
- New Year Honours 2009: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the design industry
Judge Andrew Becroft – BA/LLB with Honours (1984)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2010
- Principal Youth Court Judge of New Zealand since 2001
- Assisted with the establishment of the Mangere Community Law Centre in 1986
- Appointed to the Wanganui District Court in 1996
Raewyn Bhana JP QSM
- New Year's Honours 2018: Queen's Service Medal for services to the community
Debes Bhattacharyya
- Hind Rattan (Jewel of India) in 2010
- Glory of Bengal for significant professional contributions to engineering in 2010
Alan Bickers JP MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2015
Dr Roderick Bieleski MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2010: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to horticultural science
Emeritus Professor Bruce Biggs – MA
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2001
Emeritus Professor Judith Binney – BA, MA
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2007
Gavin John Bishop ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2013: For services to children's literature
Judge Charles Blackie VRD QSO
- New Year’s Honours 2017: Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for services to the judiciary and the community
Rt Hon Sir Peter Blanchard KNZM – LLB (1966), LLM (1968), LLM Harvard (1969)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2011
- Judge of the Supreme Court since 2004
- Partner in Auckland law firm Simpson Grierson
- Director of several listed companies
- Appointed to the High Court in 1992
- Appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1996
- Member of the Law Commission from 1990-1994
- Appointed a Privy Councillor in 1998
Associate Professor Robert Boas ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2010: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medicine, in particular pain management
Dr Alan Esmond Bollard CNZM – BA, MA, PhD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 1998
- New Year’s Honours 2013: Awarded for services to the state
Joel Bolton QSO
- New Year’s Honours 2017: Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for services to music
John Bongard ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2010: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business
Robyn Boswell QSM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2009: Queen's Service Medal for services to education
Philippa Boyens – BA
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2006
Emeritus Professor John Boys CNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2015
Dr Privahini Bradoo – Btech (2002), PhD (2008), MBA Harvard (2008)
- Young Alumna of the Year 2012
- Harvard Alumni New Venture Award 2011
- Speaker at the TEDx Auckland conference
- Named one of New Zealand’s top ten business influencers by Unlimited magazine in 2011
- Helped found Spark (now Velocity) and Chiasma at the University of Auckland, two initiatives focused on promoting entrepreneurship in New Zealand
- Co–Founder and CEO of BioMine, a green mining startup aimed at recycling metals sustainably and economically from electronic wastes
- Represented BioMine on the Obama Administration task force on e–waste
Dr Greg Brick FRACS – BSc (1974), MBChB (1977)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2011
- Established the Brick Family Scholarship to fully fund an undergraduate at the University of Auckland School of Medicine in 2004
- Listed in Boston Magazine as one of Boston’s best orthopaedic surgeons
Professor Margaret A Brimble MNZM FRSNZ CNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science
Broughton Professor John Broughton ED CNZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2016: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori health, theatre and the community
Mick Brown – LLD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2002
Gaynor Brown QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Queen's Service Medal for services to education
Marie Brown MNZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2014
Rachel Brown ONZM
- New Year's Honours 2018: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sustainable business development
Diane Edith Brown MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2013: For services as a writer and educator
Sir John Buchanan KNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire for services to industry
Elisabeth Phyllis June Burgess MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2011: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to women's health
Henri Burkhardt MNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2015
Dorothy Butler – BA, DipEd
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2001
C
Amanda Catherine Calder QSM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2011: Queen's Service Medal for services to the community
Associate Professor Ian David Campbell ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2013: For services to breast cancer treatment and research
Dr John Carnachan MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medicine and the community
Niki Caro – BFA, MFA
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2004
Dr John Manley Carter MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2011: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medicine
Victoria Carter ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2016: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts, business and the community
Sir Ron Carter ONZ KNZM – Honorary Doctorate in Engineering (2001)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2008
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2014: Awarded for services to Business and Engineering
- Distinguished Fellow and former President of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand
Castle Len Castle – BSc
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2004
Emeritus Professor Carrick Chambers – MSc, PhD Sydney, CSIRO
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2008
- Appointed Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney in 1986
- Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne for 20 years
Professor Stephen Chan OBE
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2010: Awarded for services to Africa and to higher education
Richard Chandler – BCom, MCom (1982)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2009
- Founder of Singapore–based investment group Orient Global
- Rated one of Asia’s top 50 philanthropists by Forbes magazine
- Established a US$100 million fund dedicated to improving the quality and availability of education for low–income communities in the developing world
Haami Chapman QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Queen's Service Medal for services to Māori
John Chen – MMus
- Young Alumnus of the Year 2008
- Received his master’s degree from the University of Auckland at the age of 18
- Youngest-ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2004
Vincent Cheng – PhD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2002
Pip Cheshire – BArch
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2003
Dr William John Childs ED MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2013: For services to health
Kitty Chiu QSM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Queen's Service Medal for services to the community
Mike Chunn ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2015
Dr James Church – MBChB, MMedSci
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2008
- Member of the first graduation class at the University of Auckland School of Medicine
Professor Ian Civil MBE ED CNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2016: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health
James Clovis Clad MNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2011: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to New Zealand–United States of America relations
Linda Clapham MNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2015
Professor George Raymond Clark MNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2009: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to biochemistry
The Right Honourable Helen Clark ONZ
- New Year’s Honours 2010: Appointed to The Order of New Zealand for services to New Zealand
Dame Marie Clay – PhD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2004
Dr Lynne Coleman MNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2015
Professor Terry Collins – BSc, MSc, PhD
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2007
Glenn Colquhoun – BA MBChB
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2005
Sandra Coney CNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2010: Companion of the Queen's Service Order for services to women's health
Dr Jeremy Cooper MNZM
- New Year’s Honours 2012: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for service to medicine
Brian Phillip Najib Corban
- New Year Honours 2009: Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to the community
Elizabeth Coutts ONZM
- Queen’s Birthday Honours 2016: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to governance
Sir Russell Coutts KNZM CBE – Engineering (1987)
- Distinguished Alumni Award 2015
- Olympic Gold Medal–winning sailor
- Five-time winner of the America’s Cup
- Co-designer of the RC44 high performance yacht
- Conceiving and co–designing the RC44, a one–design, a monohull class yacht raced throughout the world
Dr Penelope Brook Cowan – BA, MA
- Distinguished Alumni Award 1998
Neil Craig ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2016: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy
Professor Robert Crawford CNZM
- Queen's Birthday Honours 2015: Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tertiary education
Professor Emeritus Glynnis Marjory Cropp ONZM
- New Year’s Honours 2013: For services to research in the humanities
Dr Jeanette Rosemary Crossley MNZM
- New Year Honours 2009: Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science, in particular Addison's Disease