Susan McCormack is a New Zealand lawyer and former chancellor of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
In 1994, McCormack and Fiona Wakefield founded the first female law firm in Christchurch. [1] In 2003 the firm merged with Simon Mortlock Partners to become Mortlock McCormack Law. McCormack specialised in commercial and corporate law and had a key role in the development of the central city project The Terrace following the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes. [2]
In 2013 she was appointed pro-chancellor of the University of Canterbury, and in 2019 she left Mortlock McCormack after taking up the position of chancellor. [3]
McCormack has also held a number of directorships, including Lyttelton Port Company from 1998 to 2007, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2008, KiwiRail and she is a board member of Public Trust. She is also a member of the New Zealand Law Society and the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. [1]
The University of Canterbury is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's second-oldest university, after the University of Otago, which was founded four years earlier, in 1869.
David Francis Caygill is a former New Zealand politician. He was born and raised in Christchurch. He entered politics in 1971 as Christchurch's youngest city councillor at the age of 22. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1978 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. A supporter of Rogernomics, he served as Minister of Finance between 1988 and 1990. From 2010 to 2019, he was one of the government-appointed commissioners at Environment Canterbury.
Rosara Joseph is a New Zealand cyclist who won a silver medal for New Zealand in the Women's mountain bike racing event at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. She is also the current Oceania champion, a Rhodes Scholar at St John's College, Oxford, and a lawyer.
Dame Jean Marjory Herbison was a New Zealand academic, educator, researcher and Chancellor of the University of Canterbury. She was the first woman to hold the post of chancellor at a New Zealand university.
Arthur Edgar Gravenor Rhodes was a New Zealand Member of Parliament and Mayor of Christchurch.
Sir Ivor Lloyd Morgan Richardson was an eminent New Zealand and Commonwealth jurist and legal writer and a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Dame Margaret Clara Bazley is a New Zealand public servant. She began her career as a psychiatric nurse and rose through the ranks to senior leadership positions at psychiatric hospitals and district health boards. In 1978 she became the Director of Nursing at the Department of Health, the chief nursing position in New Zealand and at that time the most senior position in the public service held by a woman, and in 1984 became the first female State Services Commissioner. She subsequently held top positions at the Department of Transport and the Department of Social Welfare.
Amy Juliet Adams is a former New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party and the current chancellor of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. She was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 2008 to 2020, when she retired.
Henry Richard Webb JP FRMS was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He represented Lyttelton in Parliament for 2½ years and was a supporter of education in his later years. Born in Australia, he came to Canterbury in 1868.
Sir Andrew Patrick Charles Tipping is a New Zealand jurist who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand from 2004 until his retirement in 2012. He is New Zealand's longest-serving judge, serving on the bench for 25 years. Tipping was also a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. His tenure as a jurist has been widely acclaimed and his contributions to the shaping of New Zealand law are considered to be substantial and permanent.
Edward Bickmore Ellison Taylor, also known as E. B. E. Taylor, was a New Zealand lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was New Zealand Ambassador to Japan from 1961 to 1965.
Judith Olwyn Medlicott was a New Zealand lawyer and advocate. She served as chancellor of the University of Otago from 1993 to 1998, and was the New Zealand Mastermind champion in 1988.
Molly Morell Macalister was a New Zealand artist. Known for painting, woodcarving, and sculpture, her work is held in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Dame Helen Diana Winkelmann is the 13th and current chief justice of New Zealand – head of the New Zealand judiciary – having been sworn in on 14 March 2019. She is the second woman to hold the position, following her immediate predecessor, Sian Elias.
Neville Garde Austen Young was a New Zealand lawyer. He served as president of the National Party from 1986 to 1989.
Henry Cotterill was a New Zealand cricketer who played three matches of first-class cricket for Canterbury between 1875 and 1885, and worked as a lawyer in Christchurch for more than 60 years. His law firm, Duncan Cotterill, is the largest in the South Island as of 2020.
Tracey Lee McLellan is a New Zealand politician. From 2020 to 2023, she was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party. In 2024, she re-entered parliament after the resignation of fellow Labour List MP Rino Tirikatene.
Laurie O’Reilly (1942–1998) was a New Zealand rugby union coach, lawyer, lecturer and New Zealand's Commissioner for Children from 1994 to 1997. He was the first coach of the New Zealand women's national team, the Black Ferns.
Sir Alan Clifford Perry was a New Zealand lawyer and judge. He served as a judge of the Supreme Court from 1962 to 1979. However, he is perhaps best remembered for taking the case of Lee v Lee's Air Farming Ltd to the Privy Council in 1960, and successfully arguing for the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal to be overturned.
John Gerard Fogarty was a New Zealand jurist. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1990, and served as a judge at the High Court from 2003 to 2017.