Eion Edgar

Sir Eion Sinclair Edgar (30 January 1945 – 14 June 2021 ) was a New Zealand businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman of Forsyth Barr Group, a major investment company based in Dunedin, for 20 years until his retirement in 2018, and was chancellor of the University of Otago between 1999 and 2003.

Biography

Edgar was born and raised in Dunedin to parents George, an accountant and sharebroker, and Caroline Edgar. He was educated at Anderson's Bay Primary School and John McGlashan College before attending the University of Otago. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1967 and completed his accounting professional qualifications the following year. He began working for Forsyth Barr in 1972. Edgar and his wife Jan moved to Queenstown in 1994. They had three sons. He was also a trustee of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand and of the Halberg Disability Foundation. In that role, he was instrumental in the company's sponsorship of Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin's main international sports complex.

Edgar died in Queenstown on 14 June 2021, aged 76, having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 2020.

Honours and awards

Edgar's business and philanthropic work has earned him numerous awards, including being named as 2004 NBR New Zealander of the Year, and induction into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2004. In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business management and the community, and he was promoted to Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education, business and sport, in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours. Following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in early 2009, Edgar accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 Special Honours, thereby adopting the appelation sir.