Dispatches

A sample of what has been happening in the lives of Massey's alumni.
To let us know what has been happening in your life visit the alumni web site and fill out a Keep us posted form

1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s

1940s

Diploma in Agriculture reunion
If you are interested in a reunion for 1949–1950 Diploma in Agriculture graduates, please contact Spencer Jones, who also asks that you pass word on to other graduates. Reunions have been held in 1971, 1975 and 1980.
The next reunion is planned for October or November of 2001. It has yet to be decided where the reunion will be held, but it will be in a location convenient to those who express interest.
Mr Spencer Jones
Toe Toe Road
RD 4 Taihape
Ph +64 6 388 9170

1950s

John Flood BA (History)
A retired teacher, John Flood has just completed his second book on local history, Greymouth Recalled, to add to his earlier published Runanga Recalled.

John Mayfield MSAgSci 1957 Retired Lt. Col.
Worked as Vocational Director and taught agriculture at a high school in Oregon and was also appointed the Superintendent of Schools for both Grants Pass and Josephine county in Oregon. He is now retired.

1960s

Clive Palmer BAgSci, MAgrSci 1962
Seven years as management consultant with major contracts in Mauritius, Botswana, completed Clive Palmer’s long career in science and technology. He established the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology with the Commonwealth Secretariat between 1987 and 1993 and was Director of International Affairs at DSIR for several years. Now retired, he is using his agricultural background to develop 2.5 acres in Waikanae. His youngest son is a third-year BTech student, continuing the family association with Massey.

Dr Robin Fenwick MAgrSci (Tech) 1964
Dr Fenwick’s work has spanned the globe with jobs in India, Kenya, Korea and two years in the USA during his 25 years with the NZ Dairy Board. His association with Massey University continued with a two-year term as Chair of the Milk and Health Research Centre.

Ray Metcalfe DipBusStud 1964
A year after graduating at the age of 64, Ray Metcalfe had a stroke which ‘cut his life off at the knees’. After a 90% recovery, he now resides in a council village in Napier. Ray keeps his mind active by reading a lot and last year gained a certificate at EIT in art experience. He finds his biggest challenge is keeping up with the world’s news.

Neville Green BA (English Lit) 1967
Neville Green’s family connection with the University continues with a daughter, grandson and granddaughter, also Massey alumni.

Dr Morgan Hewland BVSc 1969
Since leaving his Taieri veterinary practice of 25 years, Dr Hewland has recently joined the Ministry of Agriculture as a technical supervisor responsible for food safety in an export meat processing plant.

1970s

Tom Rogerson BEd 1975
Tom Rogerson has been asked to assist in the compilation and editing of a 50th anniversary publication of the activities of the International Council for Education of Persons with a Visual Impairment, of which he was Chairperson until 1985. This task will take him to the UK, Sweden and the USA.

Andrew McGrath BSc (Organic Chem) 1976

Felicity McGrath DipHort (Nursery Mgmt) 1976
The McGraths operate a fruit tree nursery in Cambridge, New Zealand, specialising in fruit varieties and their importation.

Terry Greatrex BA (Hons) (Geography) 1977
With a background in journalism, Terry has now found his niche in northern Japan working as an English teacher and international relations adviser for local government. He and his Korean wife have two adult children, and he owns a company that runs a language school and two bars in Furukawa City. Terry has published his experiences in a book called Raw Fish and Garlic with excerpts broadcast on National Radio. He always enjoys catching up with old friends on his short visits to New Zealand, and would like to return to live here some time.

Wendy Burnand DipDairyTech 1979
Wendy was seconded in August 2000 to Nippon NZMP, Japan. In 1997 she was a judge at the world cheese championships in Wisconsin, USA.

1980s

Peter Owen BHort Sci 1980
Since graduating Peter has done his OE, worked at MAF as a horticultural consultant and now co-owns and manages a flower production company, Eyebright Enterprises.

Sarah Peacey BA (English) 1982
Sarah and her husband manage more six million employees (bees) in their queen bee rearing business near Whangarei.

Patsy Armour BEd (Learning Disorders and Evaluation) 1982
Patsy returned to teaching in 1994 after raising her family. She is currently studying for a TESSOL Diploma through the Auckland College of Education to help in her present job teaching new English speakers at Otahuhu College. Most of her students are refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and are not even literate in their own language.

Barry Rait BEd and 3x PGDips 1982
Although retired and living in Invercargill, Barry is presently studying for MMtg (Communication). He is also heavily involved with veteran athletics in all throwing events.

David Grimshaw BAgr 1985
David returned to his homeland of the Channel Islands in 1989 to a variety of employment, including mining, farming, supermarket management, statistics and wine sales. His wife Jo is in charge of the children’s ward at the local hospital and David works in a law office and owns rental apartments. They love to travel. Estonia is their latest destination.

Craig Norgate BBS (Accounting and Finance) 1986
Craig is the CEO of Kiwi Co-op Dairies and also a Director of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, the NZ Dairy Board, Mainland Products Ltd, Kiwi Dairy Products, Food Solutions Group, Fencepost.com and Peters and Browne Pty.

Dr Sean Sullivan DipSocSci (Psychology) 1989
Recently awarded his PhD in General Practice, Dr Sullivan is currently Director of Research and lecturer with the Auckland School of Medicine by secondment. He was an inaugural member of the Compulsive Gambling Society of New Zealand in 1992 and completed his psychologist registration requirements in 1996.

John Bache BBS (Marketing) 1989
John worked in sales and marketing for Truck Investments in Palmerston North and Mobil Oil in Wellington then moved to Ohakune to concentrate on competitive snowboarding. John’s involvement with the New Zealand Snowboard Association as President at this time meant a trip to Croatia to attend the International Snowboard Federation (ISF) General Assembly. There he was elected Vice President to the ISF and in 2000 in Spain elected President. He has since moved to Austria to take up the position and work full time as CEO as well. He travels with the Motorola-ISF Snowboard Tour throughout Europe, Asia and North America dealing with a team of geographically dispersed staff, massive scale event management, television coverage, sponsors and 25 member nations. He has yet to complete the Master of Communications degree he started at Victoria University in 1999.

Timothy Stace DipAg 1989
Timothy is director of Kiwi Camping, a Hamilton-based tent manufacturing business employing 30 staff. Importing is becoming a larger part of the business and the company has grown substantially. Timothy’s aim is now to establish a northern hemisphere market to reduce the seasonality of the business.

1990s

Kay Daly BA (Psychology) 1990
Kay has been self-employed for the past five years as an orrientation and mobility consultant in Auckland. She has been involved with establishing the first formal orientation and mobility service for children.

Henry Glennie MBA 1991
Henry is living happily in Cairns running a bed and breakfast and would welcome any New Zealand visitors — try poincianalodge.com.

Angela Ross BBS (Accountancy) 1992.
Angela has left her chartered accountancy position in Blenheim for the unknown of Hong Kong. Her partner, David, has a job at the Outward Bound school there, but Angela has yet to find work.

Dr Isobel Martin BA (SocSci) 1992
Dr Martin gained a PhD in Public Health from Otago University in 2000. She thinks that is not bad for a kid who had to leave school at 16.

Dr Toni Withers BSc (Hons) (Zoology) 1992
After a three-year spell working in Brisbane, Toni is now a forest entomologist at FRI in Rotorua. She researches insect pest control in eucalyptus plantations in New Zealand and biological control of weeds through a subcontract to Landcare Research.

Dr Margaret Sims DipEd 1993
Dr Sims has co-written Program Planning for Infants and Toddlers: An ecological approach to support the Australian National Children Services Competencies and for early childhood training. She is presently the coordinator of Children and Family Studies at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia.

Hamish McKay BEd DipTchg 1993
Hamish will be familiar to TV3 rugby followers in his role as sports presenter. This involved trips to Australia, South Africa, France and Italy. Hamish married in 1999 and has a 12-month-old daughter.

Anna Carr PGDip (Museum Studies) 1994
Anna and her husband, Andrew, run a sea kayaking business from Dunedin called Wild Earth Adventures. Anna took up a position as lecturer at the Centre for Tourism at Otago University in February 2001.

Alex Roldan DipDevStud 1995
Alex is working as Assistant Regional Manager for the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in Davao City. The PBSP, a private volunteer organisation, is currently organising the private sector to respond to the peace and development problems in the southern Philippines. The new programme he is involved with seeks to improve the living conditions of the poor, the major cause of rebellion by the Muslim separatists. The PBSP aims to provide equal opportunity to access basic services, education and skills development.

Jane Craven BA (History) 1995
Jane is responsible for running the Orthopaedic and Regional Vascular Services at Auckland Hospital, setting up new systems in an effort to reduce waiting lists and provide timely clinical access and surgery for patients. She is also helping plan the new hospitals at the Greenlane and Auckland sites. She has found her history degree of immense value (combined with business studies subjects), and is currently finishing a PGDipBusStud endorsed in Management. Her degree took 13 years to complete starting in 1981.

Hans Dovendaus BA (SocSci) 1995
Moving house spurred Hans into writing House Removals in New Zealand. Starting a lavender farm spurred him into building a mobile herb distillation plant.

Alex Monckton BA (Phil) 1995
Alex has travelled in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and India since graduating and has worked in television in tropical Darwin and in the cooler climes of Brighton, England. He is also planning a Master’s degree in England.

Michelle Mollard BEd 1995
Michelle is presenting and producing a music show on Canterbury Television (CTV), soon to be screened on all regional channels throughout New Zealand.

Bridgette O’Carroll BSc (Micro and Genetics) 1996
Bridgette joined the army as a lieutenant in November 1999. She was due to deploy to East Timor as an Environmental Health Officer in early March.

Frances Harre BA (SocSci) 1996
Frances has operated her Auckland-based company, Career and Business Designs, for four years, and it’s going great! She appears monthly with Jude Dobson at 5.00 pm on TV1 to discuss career development.

Dr Ami Bergstrom MBA 1996
Dr Bergstrom is currently involved in merger and acquisition activities and teaching Internet for MBA courses at the University of Dallas, Texas.

Eric Schusser AdvDipPhotography 1997
Eric is currently working on an exhibition proposal of photography and interviews with ambulance officers in New Zealand. He is travelling the country gathering information. His exhibition and catalogue are planned for late 2001.

Tevita Veikoso BBS (Info Systems) 1997
Tevita has returned to his homeland of Tonga to work in the banking industry. He is a loan officer at the Tonga Development Bank.

Sian Muir MBA 1998
In December 1999 Sian had her second child, Finn. His big brother Mason was born the week after she started her MBA. Her husband, Gary, completed his PhD in Psychology in 2000 and now fills a postdoctoral position at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA. Since their move to the States in May, Sian has found a part-time research position at Tuck Business School, also at Dartmouth College. The Muir family were delighted to experience their first white Christmas.

Dr Herbert Biggs PhD (Psychology) 1998
Dr Biggs has recently been appointed Director of Academic Programmes with an international educational company, Global Education Designs, in Brisbane, Australia.
He is currently negotiating, planning and delivering academic courses for North American undergraduates in the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australian region.

Les Johnson DipSocSci (Psychology) 1998
Les Johnson is heavily involved in his chosen field of Podiatry as President of the NZ Society of Podiatrists and Director of the Australasian Podiatry Council.

David Cheng MBA 1998
David works as senior strategy consultant in Beijing for Accenture, a global management and technology consultancy. David’s project team is helping a Chinese state-owned organisation with a staff numbering over a million to become a commercial company.

Karen McLeod DipBusStud (Training and Management Development) 1998
Karen has moved to a rural district and is delighted to report she has learned to milk cows and ride a four-wheel motorbike.

Shaaban Hoza MVSc (Parasitology) 1998
Shaaban is presently senior vet tutor at the Vet Training Institute Dar-Es-Salaam. He has recruited a New Zealand volunteer to help him manage the Institute farm.

Annika Haywood BSc (Biochemistry) 1998
Annika is presently studying for her PhD in Biology at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. After only four months, things are going well and she looks forward to presenting her work in Parkinson’s disease in the future.

Michael Brown MPhil (Defence and Strategic Studies) 1998
Michael was deployed to the UN forces in East Timor in January this year.

Paul Banks BBS 1999
Six months after graduating, Paul suffered severe head and leg injuries after a 13 metre fall down an open stairwell to a concrete floor. Paul, who works as a fleet engineer for Tranz Rail, has made what the medical professionals call a remarkable recovery.

Peter Matthewson MPhil 1999
Peter is currently working for the Probation Service in Christchurch and preparing his thesis on rehabilitation of sex offenders for publication with Massey University lecturers Mike Garland and Celia Briar.

Michael McCrave MBA 1999
Michael has returned to his native land, the United States, after having spent 14 years overseas, the last six developing advanced IT infrastructure for the Royal New Zealand Navy. He looks forward to visitors to Washington and to trips back to New Zealand.

Louise Bilas BEd 1999
Louise is working as an International Exchange teacher in Alice Springs, Australia.

2000s

James Trigger-Hay BSW 2000
After a year working as a student support coordinator, James looks forward to being a ‘kept man’ by his GP wife Lisa in Tapanui and “sitting in the local pub telling stories.”

Lloyd Dobson MBS (Distinction) (Management) 2000
Lloyd has just completed a six-month tour of duty to East Timor as the officer commanding the New Zealand National Command Element in Dili. The tour included the Defence Select Committee and Prime Ministerial visits and the death of Pte Len Manning.

Barbara Stringleman BA (Classical Studies) 2000
Barbara Stringleman, aged 76 and retired, has experienced an enormous boost to her morale by having a degree at last.

Rohaizad Hamid DipStrategicStud 2000
Since returning to his homeland in Malaysia, Rohaizad has been appointed to commanding officer at Flying Instructor Training School and has found his newly acquired management skills of great value.

Susan Gray MBS HRM 2000
Susan is employed as National Services Officer at Te Papa in Wellington.

Amy Wilson BEd 2000
Amy presented a seminar based on her 300-level Physical Education research paper at the Physical Education Conference in July 2000. She is in her second year of teaching PE and health at Rosehill College in Auckland.

Chris Raine GDiploma Emergency Services Mgmt 2000
As district manager for St John Ambulance in Invercargill, Chris Raine is presently developing disaster plans with emergency services and other civil defence agencies from Otago and Southland.