Lester Levy (born 1954) is a South African-born business leader, adjunct professor, and medical doctor based in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. He chairs a number of large boards in New Zealand's largest city.

Early life and education

Levy grew up in a small town near

Sharpeville Sharpeville (also spelled Sharpville) is a township situated between two large industrial cities, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, in southern Gauteng, South Africa. Sharpeville is one of the oldest of six townships in the Vaal Triangle. It was na ...

, South Africa. He was six years old when the

Sharpeville massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of ...

occurred, and the event formed many of his basic life philosophies, e.g. he is wary of authority, distrustful of ideology, and does not have a desire to fit in. His interest in New Zealand was raised when he did a project at school on Sir

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

, who he regards as a hero. He studied at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

to become a medical doctor, and graduated

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

(MBBCh).

Career

Levy was chief executive of MercyAscot Hospital Group (a private hospital in Auckland), the South Auckland Crown Health Enterprise, and the

New Zealand Blood Service The New Zealand Blood Service (in te reo Māori: ) is the provider of blood services for New Zealand. The service is a Crown entity responsible to New Zealand’s Parliament and is governed by a Board appointed by the Minister of Health. Hist ...

. He is chairman for the environmental and engineering consultancy

Tonkin + Taylor Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

. He has chaired the

Health Research Council of New Zealand The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) is a Crown agency of the New Zealand Government. It is responsible for managing the government's investment in health research for the public good. The HRC was established under the Health Researc ...

, a

Crown agency A crown agency was an administrative body of the British Empire, distinct from the Civil Service Commission of Great Britain or the government administration of the national entity in which it operated. These enterprises were overseen from 1833 ...

responsible for managing the government's investment in health research, since January 2016. He has been an adjunct professor at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Business School since 2003. On 1 November 2012, Levy succeeded Mark Ford as chairman of

Auckland Transport Auckland Transport (AT) is the council-controlled organisation (CCO) of Auckland Council responsible for transport projects and services. It was established by section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and operates under ...

. His first chairmanship of a district health board was for the Waitemata DHB, a role that he took on in June 2009. He was later appointed chairman of the

Auckland District Health Board Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) was a district health board that provided healthcare in the Auckland Region in New Zealand, mainly on the Auckland isthmus. This district health board existed between 2001 and 2022 and was governed by a part- ...

. From December 2016, he was in addition the chairman of the

Counties Manukau District Health Board The Counties Manukau District Health Board (CM Health) was a district health board which focused on providing healthcare to the Counties Manukau area in southern Auckland, New Zealand. As of 2016, it ws responsible for 534,750 residents; or 11% ...

. In December 2017, he resigned as chair of all three Auckland region DHBs. He had served the maximum period of service on the Waitematā DHB and left as all three DHBs should be chaired by the same person. The resignation also avoided a conflict of interest as he had been appointed by the Health Minister to the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Health System.

Recognition and personal life

In the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

, Levy was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

for services to health and education. He moved to New Zealand in 1978, and is married with three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Lester 1954 births Living people University of the Witwatersrand alumni Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit South African emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand healthcare chief executives 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople 20th-century New Zealand medical doctors 21st-century New Zealand businesspeople 21st-century New Zealand medical doctors Auckland District Health Board members Waitemata District Health Board members Counties Manukau District Health Board members