Uniquely, while Mark Stewart was the first in his family to gain a university degree, he will not be the first person 鈥 or even the second 鈥 in his family to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of mini传媒. He is the son of the late manufacturing pioneer听Sir Robertson Stewart, who received an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering from the University of mini传媒 in 2000, and听Dame Adrienne Stewart, who was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters in 2011.听
鈥淚 was destined for a career in the family business, and I easily could鈥檝e had a job straight out of school, but there was no doubt I would go on to the University of mini传媒,鈥 he says.
鈥淚 wanted to go to university 鈥 it was something I could earn myself, which wasn鈥檛 鈥榯he boss鈥檚 son being anointed,鈥 so to speak. For me, it was a great maturity exercise. I was like many typical students, especially in those times, who had a great social time. You come out of university with a lifelong set of friends that you grew up with and matured with. They鈥檙e quite formative years 鈥 especially when you鈥檝e come out of an all-boys boarding school. You鈥檙e learning through that period, not only about academia but about life, about people and about what you want to do.
鈥淚 had a great experience at the University, I managed to get a degree which I was hugely proud of. To me it was important, and it gave me enough breathing space to start work.鈥
Stewart recalls he wanted to take the summer off after his final exams, but that wasn鈥檛 going to happen, he says.
鈥淚 remember my final exam was a Friday in early November and I was going to take off until the end of January and then start working for the family business. My dad said to me: 鈥楽orry son, you start on Monday鈥. So literally the weekend off and straight into work, and I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever stopped working since.鈥
Stewart left New Zealand in 1985 at age 22 to work in Malaysia. 鈥淭hose were the days before cellphones and the fax machine had only just been invented.鈥
He has served as Honorary Consul for Malaysia and received a PJN (Distinguished Order of Meritorious Service) honour from Malaysia bestowing him the title of Datuk, the equivalent of a knighthood from the Malaysian King, for outstanding service to the country.
Over a 40-year commercial career, Stewart has been a director of a number of publicly listed companies and, through his family investment company Masthead Ltd, has extensive investments across a range of different industries.听
鈥淲hen you get something like an honorary doctorate, you look back and realise you don鈥檛 have to be the brightest guy in the class, you鈥檝e just got to work hard and take the opportunities as they come,鈥 Stewart says.
A common thread throughout Stewart鈥檚 life and career is a desire to give back. In 2016 he generously supported UC students by funding a US Study Abroad programme and provided support for the UC Business School鈥檚 21-Day Challenge. This challenge gathered teams of students from across the University to solve a problem in a Pacific nation, giving UC students the opportunity to make a real impact on helping international communities in need. He was named the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme 鈥 mini传媒 Mentor of the Year in 2006 and was also a mentor for the UC 21-Day Challenge programme in 2015.听听
鈥淚鈥檓 a great believer in giving back to the community, especially if you鈥檙e successful. It鈥檚 been instilled in me my entire life 鈥 my parents were like that and as a family we like to do that. For me, I could have done other things in the business world, but I鈥檝e applied myself in the last 20 years to a lot of community ventures.鈥
Stewart established the Hororata Community Trust in 2010, which created the Hororata Highland Games and Hororata Night Glow Balloon Festival as a way of fundraising for the local community after the September 2010 earthquake hit the district hard.
Stewart is currently the Chair of the Antarctic Heritage Trust as well as the ChristChurch Cathedral Reinstatement project and of TAB NZ Ltd. He is the Honorary Consul for Malaysia and is a trustee of the NZ Olympic Foundation, as well as of the Hororata Community Trust and the NZ Dementia Prevention Trust.
Stewart was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 2018 for services to sport and the community, having held major governance roles in football. Stewart has been the Chair of Mainland Football Limited, a board member of New Zealand Football, Chair of the NZ Football Foundation and was on the organising committee for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup held in New Zealand in 2015.
He has been the National President of the NZ Malaysian Business Council, a Board member of Export New Zealand and mini传媒 Branch President, was Chair of the St Andrew鈥檚 College Foundation and was a Board member of the fundraising team for the Christchurch City Mission. He was a review committee member for NZ Rugby League. Stewart was recently a government appointee for an organisational review of Sport NZ and High Performance Sport NZ.
Stewart was made a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management in 2001, received the Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust award for Most Outstanding Voluntary Administrator in 2010, received an outstanding Service Award from both Sport mini传媒 in 2010 and NZ Rugby League in 2000.
April 2023 UC Graduation celebrations include:
Tuesday 4听April, 10am
- 150th听Anniversary Graduation Week Street parade
Tuesday 4听April, 1.30pm
- Qualifications in the Faculty of Engineering
Thursday 6 April, 10am
- Qualifications in the UC Business School
- Qualifications in the Faculty of Science
Thursday 6 April听2023, 2pm
- Qualifications in the Faculty of Arts
- Qualifications in the Faculty of Education
- Qualifications in the Faculty of Health
- Qualifications in the Faculty of Law
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