The Star: December 13, 2018
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
22<br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
Our People<br />
Thursday <strong>December</strong> <strong>13</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong><br />
Susan McCormack<br />
Trailblazer goes from top lawyer<br />
Canterbury University will be led by two women for the first time in its history next year. One of these trailblazers is Susan McCormack<br />
who will take over from John Wood as chancellor. She talks to Sophie Cornish about her journey from being a convent school girl to<br />
starting her own law firm<br />
You are about to embark<br />
on a new role as chancellor of<br />
Canterbury University. What do<br />
you hope to achieve in the role<br />
and how important is it to have<br />
this representation of women in<br />
leadership?<br />
I’m honoured to become the<br />
next chancellor of Canterbury<br />
University. I think having a<br />
woman in this role is not only<br />
important for Christchurch<br />
and Canterbury but also for the<br />
country and internationally. I<br />
am passionate about education<br />
and believe it does make a<br />
difference in a lot of people’s<br />
lives. I am really looking<br />
forward to working with the<br />
vice-chancellor Cheryl de la Rey.<br />
I think that our appointments<br />
are going to bring some<br />
interesting changes. We both are<br />
good listeners and I think that<br />
enhances our communication<br />
abilities within the university<br />
and beyond. That will assist us<br />
to move things forward after<br />
this rather hectic rebuild time.<br />
I hope to provide research and<br />
LEADERSHIP: Sue McCormack<br />
will take the reins at<br />
Canterbury University<br />
next year.<br />
teaching opportunities that not<br />
only illustrate our high-quality<br />
academic reputation, but also<br />
reflect the expectations of<br />
graduates in New Zealand,<br />
who are bi-culturally<br />
competent, dynamic,<br />
and with interpersonal<br />
skills that reflect<br />
their empathy and<br />
integrity.<br />
Tell me about<br />
your own<br />
experiences<br />
as a<br />
student at<br />
Canterbury<br />
University?<br />
Did you<br />
study<br />
there<br />
as an<br />
undergraduate?<br />
How has<br />
it changed<br />
over the<br />
years?<br />
Way<br />
back in<br />
my school days I hadn’t really<br />
thought much about what I<br />
would do after school. My father<br />
died when I was<br />
six-yearsold.<br />
My<br />
mother was looking after five<br />
kids under the age of seven. I<br />
went to a convent school and<br />
when it got time for me to finish<br />
school, my mother asked the<br />
nuns ‘what should I do with Sue?’<br />
And they said ‘your daughter<br />
isn’t really university material,’<br />
so I then went, okay, guess what<br />
I’m going to do? And I decided I<br />
was definitely going to university.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s nothing like turning a<br />
negative into a positive. So off<br />
I went. My first degree was<br />
at the old university site in<br />
town. I didn’t really know<br />
quite why I was going<br />
to university, other<br />
than to prove a point. I<br />
studied sociology and<br />
other arts subjects.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n I travelled<br />
overseas to Europe and<br />
did what every young<br />
person does and<br />
worked in hospitality<br />
and ski resorts and<br />
had a good old play.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n I came<br />
back to New<br />
Zealand<br />
and<br />
decided to do a law degree when<br />
I was 27-years-old. It took me<br />
about four or five years, the<br />
university had shifted to Ilam<br />
by then. I think the world had<br />
changed a bit between my first<br />
degree and my second. <strong>The</strong> playtime<br />
of the past had probably<br />
moved on and I had to study<br />
hard and do quite well. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
was a change in focus. It took me<br />
until age 27 to work out what I<br />
wanted to do. I always thought<br />
I was interested in commercial<br />
company stuff and in terms of<br />
law, that’s what I ended up doing<br />
and I’ve loved it.<br />
You are a very busy woman<br />
with a lot of different roles –<br />
what are they all and how do<br />
you balance them?<br />
My daughter always tells me<br />
there is no such word as busy,<br />
there is only fake busy. So maybe<br />
I have adopted that and I don’t<br />
find it too bad. Obviously I am<br />
busy, I don’t like to use that<br />
word anymore, there’s just a bit<br />
going on. I managed to bring<br />
back my husband from England<br />
to New Zealand. We weren’t<br />
married then, but he became my<br />
husband later. This should’ve<br />
been a very easy task, but him<br />
being English, it wasn’t<br />
actually that easy. He<br />
was very supportive and<br />
before it was popular<br />
– as in prime minister<br />
popular – he was a<br />
stay-at-home dad.<br />
At the moment,<br />
I am a partner<br />
at my law firm<br />
Mortlock<br />
McCormack<br />
Law and I am<br />
pro-chancellor<br />
at the<br />
university. I<br />
will switch<br />
to the<br />
chancellor<br />
role from<br />
January 1.<br />
Restoring your confidence through your smile<br />
Full service Denture Clinic<br />
and Laboratory<br />
Caldent Denture Cleaner<br />
Free Consultation<br />
No Obligation<br />
Ph: 385 5517 + 396 Innes Road, St Albans<br />
admin@denturesplus.co.nz<br />
+ denturesplus.co.nz
Change language