Dr. Donald McGillivray Elder is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and businessman. He is the CEO

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 of the New Zealand energy company Solid Energy

Solid Energy

Solid Energy is the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state owned enterprise called Coal Corporation in 1987, and...

.

Biography

Don Elder was born in Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand. He attended high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 at Christ's College

Christ's College, Canterbury

Christ's College, Christchurch is an independent, Anglican, secondary, day and boarding school for boys, located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand....

 and graduated from the University of Canterbury

University of Canterbury

The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...

 with a degree in engineering. He then gained a Rhodes Scholarship

Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...

, which funded him to go to Wolfson College, Oxford

Wolfson College, Oxford

Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...

 in the United Kingdom, where he gained a PhD in civil engineering. After getting married, he moved to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Later, he moved back to New Zealand to become CEO of the New Zealand state-owned enterprise Solid Energy, an energy company focusing on coal mining. Being CEO of Solid Energy is what Don Elder is most known for, having taken the firm from being a relatively small and unsuccessful business to being New Zealand's largest energy producer.

Elder currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, with his wife and children, Jamee, Evan and David.

Career

Don Elder is largely attributed with turning Solid Energy from a business on the brink of closing down to a powerful firm. The productivity at Solid Energy rose 538% in his first year, and they are now one of the largest coal companies in Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

.

Don Elder was recently a target of a media stunt. Two Save Happy Valley Coalition protesters, dressed as Mr and Mrs Claus, attempted to throw a custard pie in his face before dumping a bag of coal at him at an open Solid Energy conference. However, Elder managed to deflect the pie and grab the bag of coal before either could get him. The two protesters were forcefully removed from the event.

External links

• Solid Energy - Don Elder, Chief Executive Officer