Judy McGregor

Dame Judith Helen McGregor (born 1948) is a New Zealand lawyer, journalist, public servant and academic. She is currently a full professor at Auckland University of Technology and chairs the Waitematā District Health Board.

Career
McGregor completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Waikato in 1970, where she was founding editor of Nexus, the student magazine. Working as a journalist, she rose to editorship of the Sunday News and the Auckland Star, and served on the Broadcasting Standards Authority. She took a stand against the 1981 Springboks tour, and walked in the 1975 Māori land march.

After a PhD in political communication, completed in 1995, McGregor worked as a professor at Massey University. In the 2004 New Year Honours, McGregor was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to journalism.

Between 2003 and 2013, McGregor served two five-year terms as the first Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner for the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, appointed by Minister Margaret Wilson and replaced in the role by politician Jackie Blue. As commissioner, her report Caring Count, based on undercover work in the aged-care industry, had a huge impact   and led ultimately to an industry-wide settlement.

McGregor then moved to Auckland University of Technology as professor. In 2016, she was named supreme winner at the Women in Governance Awards. After the resignation of Lester Levy as chair of the Waitematā District Health Board, the Minister of Health, David Clark, appointed McGregor to the role, effective 10 June 2018.

McGregor was promoted to Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to human rights and health, in the 2022 Queen's Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours.

Notable students of McGregor include Sue Bradford.

Selected works

 * New Zealand Human Rights Commission. "Caring Counts, Tautiaki tika." (2012).
 * McGregor, Judy, and Lance Gray. "Stereotypes and older workers: The New Zealand experience." Social Policy Journal of New Zealand (2002): 163–177.
 * McGregor, Judy, and David Tweed. "Profiling a new generation of female small business owners in New Zealand: Networking, mentoring and growth." Gender, Work & Organization 9, no. 4 (2002): 420–438.
 * McGregor, Judy, David Tweed, and Richard Pech. "Human capital in the new economy: devil's bargain?." Journal of Intellectual Capital 5, no. 1 (2004): 153–164.
 * Gray, Lance, and Judy McGregor. "Human resource development and older workers: Stereotypes in New Zealand." Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 41, no. 3 (2003): 338–353.