Business leaders recognised and celebrated
The Business School was able to recognise and celebrate the immense contributions of two outstanding leaders in business through the international honour society Beta Gamma Sigma.
Jonathan Mason
We were delighted to recognise Jonathan Mason as our 2024 Beta Gamma Sigma Collegiate Chapter Honoree at the Beta Gamma Sigma Induction Ceremony in May this year.
Jonathan has been a friend and supporter of the Business School and the University for many years – not only philanthropically, supporting student development and scholarships, but also as an Honorary Adjunct Professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance for over 10 years.
He is a member of the University of Auckland Council and a Trustee of the University of Auckland Foundation. In 2020 he was inducted into the University’s Chancellor’s Circle, which recognises generous philanthropists who over the years have made important contributions to the University of Auckland, helping to shape its direction and achievements. He was previously a member of the Business School’s Advisory Board, and a member of the board of Trustees of the US Friends of the University of Auckland.
An independent director with over 30 years of experience in financial management roles in the oil, chemicals, forest products and dairy industries, he holds a BA from Beloit College, Wisconsin and an MA and MBA from Yale. He was CFO of Fonterra Co-operative Group, CFO and Executive Vice-President of Cabot Corporation (a US-based chemicals company), and CFO of Carter Holt Harvey. He also held senior financial management positions at US-based International Paper.
He is currently a Director at Westpac NZ and Zespri Group Ltd, and will soon be stepping down from his role as board President of the American Chamber of Commerce to take on a new position as Chair of the NZUS Council. He joined the World Wildlife Fund New Zealand Board of Trustees in 2018, and he was previously Chair of Vector Limited and a director of Air New Zealand.
Jonathan is a true leader in business, and a valued supporter and friend of the University and the Business School. We are immensely proud of his achievements and appreciative of all his support and the difference he is making in the School and at the University.
Geoff Whitcher
Geoff was nominated as our 2023 Beta Gamma Sigma Honoree. As he wasn’t able to attend last year’s induction ceremony, we hosted a special lunch last month to recognise and celebrate everything he has done to transform how entrepreneurial thinking is fostered in the Business School, the University and in New Zealand. From the Knowledge Wave conferences in the early 2000s, to his involvement in the IceHouse, the enormous role he has played over the last 24 years in transforming the entire University to be a leader in the entrepreneurial space – building bridges between academia and industry, instilling an entrepreneurial culture and spirit of innovation – cannot be understated.
Geoff is known as a pioneering legend for his contribution to an innovative and entrepreneurial knowledge economy in New Zealand. He joined the University in 2000 as the commercial director of University of Auckland Developments. He was a founding Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and was the driving force behind a number of initiatives that have impacted the transformation of the Business School, including Chiasma, the Entrepreneurs’ Challenge, the Masters of Bioscience Enterprise, the Master of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship and most notably Spark, now Velocity. Since 2003, the CIE community that Geoff has nurtured over the last 20 years has ignited 291 ventures, created 2,460 jobs in 184 countries and raised over NZ $3.1 billion in investment!
Geoff is a mentor to many emerging entrepreneurial and business leaders in New Zealand, known affectionately by his mentees as “the godfather”. He has influenced many lives, helping us to produce a new breed of graduates who are innovative, entrepreneurial and business savvy - graduates like Fady Mishriki and Priv Bradoo. In 2016, he was one of only 18 people worldwide to win the inaugural Rhodes Trust Inspirational Educator Award, nominated by one of his mentees, alumna and Rhodes Scholar Alice Wang.
In 2017 he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and education, and in 2018 Geoff joined the Business School as an Executive-in-Residence.
Geoff has had an enormous impact and changed countless lives for the better. The lunch was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on all the incredible things that wouldn’t have happened if Geoff had not been involved with the Business School.