Denford Coll McDonald (9 April 1929 – 1 February 2020) was a New Zealand mechanical engineer and businessman most closely associated with the motor vehicle industry. He served as chief executive officer and then chair of Mitsubishi New Zealand.

Biography

Born in the small

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

town of

Tapanui Tapanui is a small town in West Otago in New Zealand's South Island, close to the boundary with Southland region. It is a forestry town at the foot of the Blue Mountains and the Pomahaka River. Popular pastimes include deer stalking and trout ...

on 9 April 1929, McDonald was the son of Ada McDonald (née Denford) and James Charles Alexander McDonald. He was educated at

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 and ...

, before studying mechanical engineering at Canterbury University College, and graduating

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

in 1952. McDonald joined Todd Motors as a graduate trainee engineer in 1952, and rose to become general manager in 1984. In 1987, Todd Motors was sold to

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

New Zealand. In 1995, he was appointed as chairman of Mitsubishi New Zealand. Other corporate and governance roles undertaken by McDonald include serving on the boards of the New Zealand Standards Council,

Energy Direct Energy Direct NZ Ltd was a retailer of electricity and gas in New Zealand. It was acquired by Trustpower in mid-2013. Previously it was a trading division of the Wanganui Gas Company Limited, which is wholly owned by the Whanganui District Counci ...

and Television New Zealand, and as deputy chairman of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. He also served as chair of the Wellington Institute of Technology council, and the student hub at that institution, opened in 2009, was named in McDonald's honour. In the

1989 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

, McDonald was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to the motor vehicle industry. He was also a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management. McDonald died at this home in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

on 1 February 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Denford 1929 births 2020 deaths People from Otago University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand mechanical engineers New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand chief executives New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Southland Boys' High School Businesspeople from Wellington City