Judith Aitken

Judith Estranna Aitken (née Wilson; born 1937) is a former New Zealand public servant and local-body politician. She has served as chief executive of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, chair of the Capital and Coast District Health Board, and a member of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Early life, education and family Aitken was born Judith Estranna Wilson in Te Awamutu, on 20 December 1937, the only child of Gwendolen Wilhelmina Wilson (née Irwin) and John Andrew Wilson. She was educated at St Cuthbert's College in Auckland, and went on to study at Auckland University College from 1956 to 1958, although she did not graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Auckland until 1971, after extramural study at Massey University in 1970. In 1959, she studied at Auckland Secondary Teachers' College, and was employed as a secondary school teacher periodically between 1960 and 1967. She married again that year, to Russell George Aitken, another teacher, and they had two further children, before separating in 1979. During this time, she also worked as a research assistant in the Department of Statistics (1975–1976), and as a lecturer in political science and public administration at Victoria between 1977 and 1981. When Aitken left the ERO, the Minister of Education, Trevor Mallard, paid tribute to her, saying that she had "made a real difference to kids in New Zealand. She has caused a lot of people to focus on some important issues, [particularly] the importance of the quality of teachers." Her one-year appointment as chair of the district health board was not renewed by the Minister of Health, David Cunliffe, at the end of 2007, following an audit that was critical of the board. However, Aitken remained an elected board member and she went on to oversee governance of the board's 2016 Pacific action plan, which sought to improve the health of Pacific peoples.

Honours and awards In 1990, Aitken received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993. In the 1997 New Year Honours, Aitken was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for public services. In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to local government, the community, and education.

Later life In retirement, Aitken lives in Paekākāriki. It was reported in 2019 that she was collating the history of women in four areas: one was the history of women in government typing pools since 1945; and another covered six disabled women working in their respective fields.