Honorary doctorates for champs sport and business

Lincoln honorary doctorates for champions of sport and business

Golfing legend Sir Bob Charles and top New Zealand businesswoman Peri Drysdale will receive honorary doctorates at Lincoln University’s 2007 Graduation Ceremony in Christchurch Town Hall on 20 April.

Sir Bob’s doctorate is in Natural Resources and Mrs Drysdale’s in Commerce.

The citation for Sir Bob Charles notes that Golf is one of the six sports represented in Lincoln University’s Sports Scholarship programme and that New Zealand’s most famous golfer also has a close connection with agriculture. For the past 35 years he has operated a mixed farming unit at Oxford, north-west of Christchurch, where the focus is on sheep and deer.

Between golf and farming Sir Bob has therefore earned his living largely outdoors.

“The ‘outdoors’ environment in New Zealand is that great natural resource which has traditionally helped define Kiwis, and its influence is seen clearly in the life of Sir Bob Charles,” says the citation.

Sir Bob has carried New Zealand’s reputation as a sporting nation to the centre of the world stage, winning major golf tournaments on every continent in a career spanning nearly six decades. His biggest moment was winning the British Open in 1963 at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s Golf Links in Lancashire. He is the only left-handed golfer and the sole New Zealander to have ever won this tournament. In addition, his British Open victory was the first by a Kiwi in a major international golf tournament, so it was a mark-setting moment in New Zealand sporting history.

The citation for Mrs Peri Drysdale notes that as a significant education provider in the Commerce area Lincoln University “takes a keen interest in the business world and applauds its champions”.

Peri Drysdale is the Chief Executive of a family owned and operated Christchurch-based clothing and homeware company, Untouched World, and was the founder of its parent company Snowy Peak Ltd, established in 1981. The lifestyle brand Untouched World and the parent company’s knitwear brands Merinomink and Snowy Peak sell internationally.

For contributions to New Zealand’s manufacturing and export industries Peri was awarded an MBE in 1992. In 1992 she was named South Island Business Woman of the Year and last year she was named New Zealander of the Year by North and South magazine. Also last year her company received the Ethical Governance category prize in the Deloitte/Management magazine Top 200 Awards.

In particular it is the philosophy and ethical position expressed in her business activities and her emphasis on the importance of sustainability that are recognised with the award of the honorary doctorate.

Her business success is based on eco-friendly sustainable practices and the sustainable use of natural fibres.

As her citation says: “Untouched World is no ordinary fashion statement but an ethical, lifestyle brand based on the best of New Zealand values, and a personal creative desire on Peri’s part to contribute to a positive, sustainable future not only for New Zealanders but globally.”

ENDS

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