New Zealand Education Scholarship Trust

Alastair MacCormick (Chair)

Dean of the Business School and subsequently Deputy Vice-Chancellor during his tenure at the University of Auckland, 1968 to 2002.
Since then, he has been a professional director for a diverse range of public and private companies.

He is a member of the Tertiary Education Commission, Chair of the Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital and was formerly Chair of the Auckland Grammar School Board and the Diocesan School for Girls’ Board.

Patrick Gale

Starting his school leadership as Principal of Kaipara College from 2016 -2017, Patrick was subsequently named as Principal of Rangitoto College, New Zealand’s largest school, leading the school from 2017 to 2025. At the start of 2026, Patrick began his tenure as the 15th Headmaster of King’s College.

Patrick was appointed as Chair of the Ministerial NCEA Professional Advisory Group in 2024 and has served in governance roles on a range of sports organisations.

Roger Moses

Headmaster of Wellington College (1995-2018), Chair of the Association of Boys’ Schools (2009- 2017), and formerly on the executive of the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand.

He was Wellingtonian of the Year in Education in 2015. In 2018, Roger was appointed as Chair of the Professional Advisory Group for NCEA and in the 2020 New Year's Honours, he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to education.

Dr Nina Hood

Nina has a background as a secondary school teacher. She has an MSc and DPhil in Education from The University of Oxford, and worked as an academic at The University of Auckland for eight years. She is the founder of The Education Hub, a not-for-profit with a mission to bridge the gap between research and practice in education. She also is a co-founder of The Teachers' Institute, which offers school-based teacher training programmes.

Gillian Simpson

Gillian is working as an education and sports governance consultant. She has worked across the education sector and held a Deputy Principal role at King’s College, Principal roles at Waikato Diocesan School and St Margaret’s College and has recently held interim Principal roles at Christ’s College and Woodford House.

She has worked as a Statutory Manager and currently in several schools in a governance advisory role and in principal performance reviews. She is also a senior advisor to Sport NZ and chairs Board Appointment Panels for national sports bodies.

Vanessa Stoddart

Vanessa is currently Chair of Tonkin & Taylor, a director of Waste Management and sits on a number of advisory and NFP boards.
She has held governance positions with other listed, private, public sector and co-operative entities here and in Australia, including Deputy Chair of King’s College for 10 years, and she chairs many People and Health & Safety Committees.

Prior to her governance career, Vanessa was head of engineering and human resources at Air New Zealand and Chief Executive Packaging Australia for Carter Holt Harvey - having started her career in the legal profession.

Vanessa is passionate about inclusion. She is a member of Global Women and a mentor on various programmes including mentoring Kupe Scholarship candidates and MYLN participants.

Vanessa is a Companion of Engineering NZ and an Honorary Fellow of HRINZ.

CURRENT TRUSTEES