Don Llewellyn

Sir Donald Rees Llewellyn (20 November 1919 – 4 August 2004) was a British chemist and academic who later migrated to New Zealand. He was the founding vice-chancellor of the University of Waikato, established in 1964.

Early life and education Llewellyn was raised in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England, where he was bon on 20 November 1919. He was the second son of Mabel Gertrude and Reginald George Llewellyn. Llewellyn was educated at Dursley Grammar School, followed by the University of Birmingham, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with first-class honours in chemistry in 1941.

In 1943, Llewellyn married Ruth Marian Blandford, with whom he had gone to school in Dursley, and the couple went on to have two children. From 1949 to 1952, he held a research fellowship with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) at University College London, where he later worked as a lecturer 1952 to 1956.

New Zealand In 1957, Llewellyn was appointed professor and director of the chemical laboratories at the University of Auckland, where his brother had previously worked,

In 1964, Llewellyn was appointed inaugural vice-chancellor of the University of Waikato, a position that he held until his retirement in 1985. During his tenure, Llewellyn oversaw the establishment of Waikato's School of Sciences in 1968, built with funding from the University Grants Committee. He was also credited with fostering relationships between the university and research establishments in the region, local businesses, A correspondent of the Australian newspaper Tribune cited the case as one of many examples that highlighted systemic racism in New Zealand society at the time, likening the issue to apartheid in South Africa.

Llewellyn was an active member of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, and twice served as the institute's president, in 1968 and 1988.

National Agricultural Fieldays Llewellyn was a co-founder of the New Zealand National Fieldays Society and its flagship event, the National Agricultural Fieldays, an agricultural fair that has been held annually at Mystery Creek since 1969. As vice-chancellor of Waikato, Llewellyn had intended for the initiative to create a stronger relationship between the newly founded university and the Agricultural Research Institute at nearby Ruakura, as well as the wider farming community. He served as a board member of the Fieldays Society and was twice its president. Today, the annual Fieldays is considered the largest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere,

Llewellyn continued to support Fieldays long after his retirement from the university. Speaking to The New Zealand Herald about the 2003 event, he said, "The spirit of Fieldays is something you have to see to believe. [...] Everybody is so enthusiastic. That's why it's so successful."

Later life and legacy In retirement, Llewellyn and his wife lived in Hamilton. In 1991, he was appointed a justice of the peace.

Llewellyn's wife, Ruth Llewellyn, died in 1997. He died in Hamilton on 4 August 2004, at the age of 84. Llewellyn is also the namesake of the Llewellyn Lounge at the Mystery Creek Events Centre, which hosts the annual National Fieldays.

Honours and awards In 1977, Llewellyn was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. The same year, he was elected an honorary fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, He was also a fellow and life member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 1999 New Year Honours, for services to agriculture and the community.