Year: 1963 - 1965
Occupation: Structural & Civil Engineer

In the 1950s Peter immigrated to New Zealand with his parents and his 5 siblings. After completing his PhD at the University of Canterbury, Peter made a career as a Civil and Structural Engineer. Initially he carried out design and construction of buildings then moved to research and teaching. He has developed computer methods to solve complex engineering problems, taught engineering topics at universities and polytechnics, then moved on to research in geohazards, principally earthquakes and their impact on the built environment. In his area of expertise he has published many research papers in Journals and at Conferences Peter has made a significant contribution into research into geohazards with presentations such as Microzoning effects on damage in two large New Zealand earthquakes.

Year: 1954 - 1956
Occupation: Broadcaster

Garry spent his working life in Wellington, as the owner operator of several bars, working for Lions Brewerey and for a time the Dominion. He was best known as the host of ZB’s The Great Weekender since 1983. Garry spent 50 years in broadcasting starting with sport in1958 on ZB. Over the years he reported various Olympic and Commonwealth Games for Television New Zealand. Garry chaired the board of New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and was involved in countless good causes, including setting up the Flagstaff Club. It would be difficult to find a more popular personality. He had friends in every corner of the city, seemed to know everyone, and was a most obliging person.

Year: 1961 - 1965
Occupation: Cinematographer

Since the 1960s, Alun Bollinger has worked with just about every significant Kiwi director: among them Roger Donaldson, Geoff Murphy, Ian Mune, Gaylene Preston, Vincent Ward, Jane Campion and Peter Jackson. In 1966 Bollinger joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation as a trainee cameraman and, in the following years, developed his craft shooting 16mm news bulletins. In 1977 Bollinger worked as gaffer to Director of Photography Michael Seresin on the Roger Donaldson feature Sleeping Dogs, which is often seen as marking the relaunch point for New Zealand cinema. He went on to shoot several features in quick succession: Middle Age Spread, (1979); Sons for the Return Home (1979); and Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980). It was with his work on the dark and beautifully crafted Vigil, the first feature from director Vincent Ward, that Bollinger established his distinctive cinematographic style. Alun won awards for his work on End of the Golden Weather and gained international recognition for the filming of Heavenly Creatures. He has resisted the temptation to go and work abroad and has filmed most of our familiar movies, War stories, Forgotten Silver, Goodbye Pork Pie. A documentary about him labelled him as the barefooted camera man. Alun is described as the finest camera man in the world.

Year: 1961 - 1964
Occupation: Michael Christensen

Michael is a scientist specializing in fungi and in particular, endophytic fungi that have a unique partnership with important forage grasses that form the backbone of the pastoral farming industry that provides much of the wealth of this country. His career in science as a technical trainee at the Grasslands Division of the DSIR provided him with an apprenticeship-like training during which he was appointed to work in the field of plant pathology and opportunities to learn and to apply his talents with supportive colleagues. He says that a key thing that enhanced his career was joining with a group of young scientists as a lunchtime runner. These achievement-orientated people encouraged him to set a goal of achieving at a high standard in science research. As a result of his work he was promoted from technician to scientist. His work in science has resulted in many publications in international science journals, the highlight being as senior author of a publication in 2008 on the unique manner of growth of the endophytic fungi when in their host grasses. His finding over turned the long-held dogma on how fungi grow and changed peoples’ understanding. This finding was highlighted in Nature Reviews Microbiology and in Science. He was also a part of the world-leading research team of AgResearch that developed procedures to successfully utilize beneficial strains of these fungi to protect host grasses from insect pests and enhance growth and health of grazing livestock. This research has taken him to Japan, China and the USA. Michael is indeed a world expert.

Year: 1960 - 1963
Occupation: Olympic Gold Medallist – Hockey

Trevor Manning began his hockey career as Hatch Cup rep aged 13 and worked his way up to New Zealand representative. He was in the NZ hockey team to three Olympics 1968 Mexico, 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal and was goal keeper in the gold medal winning 1976 team. I n the final 13 minutes of the game, Manning saved a goal and had his knee cap shattered – despite his knee hurting he kept playing until the final whistle then realised something was really wrong. It did not stop him getting on the podium to receive his medal which he described as awesome!