Dawn Lamb

Dame Dawn Ruth Lamb (formerly Taylor, née Ritchie; born 17 May 1940) is a former New Zealand schoolteacher. She was principal of Christchurch Girls' High School between 1987 and 1998.

Early life and family Lamb was born Dawn Ruth Ritchie, the daughter of Ruth Adelaide Ritchie (née Leadbeater) and Leslie William Ritchie, in the Auckland suburb of Kohimarama on 17 May 1940. Her first marriage was to Denis Taylor, and the couple spent time in Ghana, where Lamb worked as a personal assistant to Thomas Lionel Hodgkin at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. After moving back to New Zealand in the late 1960s, the couple divorced, and she married Douglas Lamb. and she remained there until retiring to Wellington in December 1998. She soon became involved with He Huarahi Tamariki in Porirua, New Zealand's first school for teenage parents, where she worked part-time to establish an early childhood centre, which she went on to manage.

From 1990, Lamb was an executive member of the Secondary Principals' Association, the Teacher Registration Board, and the secondary joint action group of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Honours In the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lamb was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to education.