Marie Shroff - MA (Hons)

Marie Shroff has had a distinguished career in the public service and was recently appointed Privacy Commissioner. She achieved pre-eminence in her field as Secretary of Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council for 15 years, where she served four Governors-General and six Prime Ministers. Acclaimed for always maintaining the impartiality of these two key advisory roles, Marie guided the transition to mixed member proportional representation (MMP) and coalition government. The re-publication of the cabinet office manual in 1996, which she rewrote for the MMP environment is widely credited with strengthening constitutional values in New Zealand.

After graduating from The University with an MA (Hons) in English, Marie worked for the Department of External Affairs and the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, before being appointed to the State Services Commission in 1978. From 1980-82, she was seconded to the British Civil Service where she worked on a programme of civil service reform instituted by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Marie has written widely on government and constitutional issues and in 1995 was awarded an Australia - New Zealand Foundation Fellowship and in 2002 a Chevening Fellowship.

Marie received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.