John Buchanan

Sir John Gordon St Clair Buchanan (9 June 1943 – 13 July 2015) was a New Zealand-born scientist and director.

Buchanan was born in Auckland in June 1943 and grew up in Papatoetoe. He received his education at Auckland Grammar School and at the University of Auckland (BSc, MSc, PhD in Chemistry), The title of this 1967 doctoral thesis at Auckland University was The Clemmensen reduction of 1,4-diketones and diterpenoid transformations.

Buchanan joined BP in 1970, where he progressed through the ranks and eventually was appointed by John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley as the group's top finance executive, which caused surprise given that his background is in science and not in accountancy. and a director of AstraZeneca (25 April 2002 to 29 April 2010).

In the 2012 New Year Honours, Buchanan was knighted for his services to industry. Buchanan had pancreatic cancer from about 2011. He became unwell in late 2014 and relinquished some of his roles.

Buchanan died on 13 July 2015 and was survived by his wife, son, and daughter.