This award is the most prestigious of the Awards Recognising People, and recognises an
engineer who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and is a role model for other engineers.

Gavin Cormack

Gavin Cormack’s career in engineering spans 45 years, culminating in the role of Executive Chairman of the board of directors of the Beca Group. During the 42 years he spent with Beca, he was instrumental in helping the company grow from a small New Zealand consulting engineering firm to a respected international player.

In the early part of his career he contributed to a number of successful civil engineering projects, but it is his more recent role as a leader that has been highly influential. Gavin’s leadership style has been described as soft on people and hard on results. He sets a clear strategic direction and vision and has the ability to take others along with him. Within the Beca Group, he encouraged passion for flexible lateral thinking and innovation, and recognition of achievement within the company.

Gavin has contributed more widely than in engineering. He is a past President and Committee Member of the Northern Club, served on the Board of King’s College, was a Board Member of Eden Park, Deputy Chairman of Ports of Auckland, Chair of the Centre for Advanced Engineering, and Vice President of the Federation Internationale de la Precontrainte. He was a Director and subsequently Chairman of the New Zealand Trade Development Board, now known as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and led trade missions to several countries.

In 2003 he was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand and was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering by the University of Canterbury in 2006.

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