Chancellor John Allen

John Allen assumed the Chancellorship on 1 January 2022. He is the chief executive of WellingtonNZ.

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John Allen is an experienced company director and the chief executive of WellingtonNZ.

He chairs the University Council’s People and Culture Committee and the Nominations Panel, and is a trustee on the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation Board. In addition, he is a member of the University’s Wellington Uni-Professional Board.

Mr Allen is a former chief executive of the New Zealand Racing Board, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, and the New Zealand Post Group. He is also a former partner in the law firm Rudd Watts & Stone.

Mr Allen is currently on the board of Barnardos, CreativeHQ, and Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland. He was previously co-chair of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum as well as a director on a number of boards, including Te Papa Tongarewa, Datacom, Kiwibank, the New Zealand Stroke Foundation, the Nikau Foundation, and the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.

Mr Allen is an alumnus of the University and has previously been a visiting lecturer in the Faculty of Law. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. Mr Allen was appointed to the University Council in 2018 and assumed the chancellorship in 2022.

Current Term

1 January 2022—31 December 2025

Previous Terms

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