Alumni recognised with royal honours

Alumni honoured include:

Vince Ashworth of Morrinsville and Katie Sadleir of London, who become Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM); Gordon Glentworth of Hawera and Jamie Mackay of Dunedin, who become Officers of the same order (ONZM); and Murray King of Richmond, now a Member of the order, MNZM.

Vince, who already holds Lincoln University’s Bledisloe Medal and the Lincoln University Medal, receives his CNZM for services to Agriculture. Katie, who already holds Lincoln University’s Alumni International Medal, receives her CNZM for services to Sports Governance and Women.

Gordon Glentworth’s ONZM is for services to the livestock and dairy industries; Jamie Mackay’s ONZM is for services to broadcasting and the rural community; and Murray King’s MNZM is for services to the dairy industry.  

Vince Ashworth entered Lincoln as a Rural Field Cadet in 1951 and received his DipVFM in 1955 when he was runner-up for the Gold Medal. In his career after Lincoln he went on to become a Senior Agriculturalist with the World Bank; lead missions to help famers with food production in more than 30 developing countries; pioneer farm management consultancies in New Zealand; launch the New Zealand Society of Farm Management in 1969, and serve as inaugural President.

 Katie Sadleir, who holds a Lincoln University Diploma in Parks and Recreation Management, awarded in 1990, was appointed CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation in 2021, the first woman to hold this position. She is a former Olympic Games competitor and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist. Katie has been a Director of Sport New Zealand, High Performance Sport New Zealand, and the International Association of High Performance Training Centres. She was General Manager of Women’s Rugby for World Rugby 2016-2021, based in Dublin.

Gordon Glentworth is a Lincoln alumnus through the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, which he completed in 1995.  He has been involved with artificial breeding and genetics with the Livestock Improvement Association and Livestock Improvement Corporation for more than 35 years.  He has been a member of the NZ Ayrshire Association Board since 1989 and served two terms as President. He was elected to the World Ayrshire Federation and was a member from 2000 to 2020 serving four years as Chair. Gordon’s Sanrosa Ayrshire herd has received the Mayfield Trophy for the top producing Ayrshire herd in New Zealand 24 times since 1987. 

Jamie Mackay grew up on a farm near Riversdale, Southland, and holds a Diploma in Agriculture with Distinction awarded in 1983 and a Certificate in Wool awarded in 1986. From an initial career in farming, Jamie turned to rural radio broadcasting following the co-purchase of a small radio station in Gore in 1994. From that beginning Jamie has emerged as one of New Zealand’s most prominent rural broadcasters. He has become rural New Zealand’s voice in the mainstream media. He has also been MC for numerous rural events and award ceremonies.  He is a prominent advocate for rural mental health and supports wellbeing initiatives. He has been a Gore District Councillor and a Trustee of Sport Southland.

Murray King completed a Lincoln Diploma in Horticulture in 1983, a BCom (Ag) in 1987 and has been both a Kellogg Rural Leadership programme member (2001) and a Nuffield Scholar (2003). In 2018 he was a recipient of the Livestock Improvement Corporation’s Co-operative Leader of the Year award in recognition of his leadership and advocacy of the cooperative model. Murray and his wife farm a number of dairy properties in the North Canterbury and Nelson regions. He champions innovation and collaboration through directorships in various organisations eg. the Cawthron Institute and Waimea Irrigators. In 2023 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the NZ Co-Op Awards. Also in 2023 he became a Trustee of the NZ Rural Leadership Trust and Nuffield New Zealand, supporting the on-going development of leaders in rural New Zealand.