Brian Picot

The Chair in Ethical Leadership is named after Brian Picot, 1921–2012.

In April 1988, Brian Picot chaired the government-appointed Taskforce to Review Education Administration. The resulting Tomorrow's Schools report led to radical educational reform in Aotearoa New Zealand. Schools became autonomous, self-managing learning institutions run by a partnership between teachers and community and controlled by locally elected boards of trustees.

Brian Picot was a business leader, and he made his mark as the director of the Progressive Enterprises supermarket company and several other companies. Brian Picot was inducted into the Fairfax Business Hall of Fame in 2001 and was made a distinguished fellow of the Institute of Directors in 2007.

Our association with Brain Picot is appropriate for the Chair for both his involvement in education and business. People who knew Brian Picot personally also remember him as a modest person with a strong sense of ethics and concern for others—traits that exemplify him as an ethical leader.