2011 Business Hall of Fame Inductees

Hamilton Boys’ High School inducted four new members to the HBHS Business Hall of Fame today.  The achievements of Mr Bill Falconer, Mr Mike Pohio, Mr Graham Wilshier (pictured, with family) and the Honourable John Luxton were celebrated in a formal senior assembly.  Denise Weren, Enterprise teacher and Head of Social Sciences, presented the following speech:

 The Hamilton Boys’ High School Business Hall of Fame was established in March 2008.  The school celebrated the outstanding business success of three former students, each of whom has made a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy.

 In establishing a Business hall of Fame, we aimed to celebrate the business success of past students with the school community.  By regularly exposing our current students to successful ‘locally grown’ role models, the project aims to raise student awareness about the role of business in New Zealand.

 Our inaugural Business Hall of Fame laureates were Wendell C Phillips, Ray Richards and Bill Foreman, who, as students in the thirties and forties, moved on from Hamilton High School to pursue very different careers.  The common thread linking these men was that each of them reached significant heights in their chosen fields.  In 2010 we were extremely pleased to welcome Don Riley, Fred Jones, John Clough and David Braithwaite into the Hamilton Boys’ High School Business Hall of Fame.  We are very happy that some of these men are able to share this day with us today.

 This year we continue to acknowledge significant business success by Old Boys of this school.  We warmly welcome Bill Falconer, Mike Pohio, John Luxton and Graham Wilshier ‘home’ to Hamilton Boys’ High School and congratulate them on their stellar careers since they left this assembly hall.