Arise Sir ...

15/8/2009

Was there another school better represented at yesterday's investiture at Government House in Wellington than Otago Boys’ where no fewer than four Old Boys received Knighthoods?

With the current National government reinstating titles, which were abolished between 2000 and 2008, recipients of the Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (GNZM), Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) and the Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM) were given the option of taking up the titular designation of Sir or Dame.

Kneeling before the Governor-General Sir Anand Satayanand yesterday and arising as Knights were internationally respected theologian Emeritus Professor Sir Lloyd George Geering (1931-35); visionary paediatrician Sir David Charles Mauger (1953-57) who performed the first bone marrow transplant in New Zealand; retired High Court judge Sir John William Hansen (1957-62); and the world’s best match racing yachtsman and former Olympic champion Sir Russell Coutts (1975-79).

Congratulations to Sir Lloyd (Associate Fellow of the Foundation), Sir David, Sir John (Friend of the Foundation) and Sir Russell (Senior Fellow of the Foundation) – not only for the recognition they have deservedly received but for the contribution they have made in their fields of expertise and the differences they have made to the lives of those with whom they have come in contact.