Susan Wakefield
Susan Mary Wakefield is a tax expert from New Zealand.
Wakefield completed a PhD in Russian at the University of Canterbury in 1968. She then trained in accountancy, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1975, and worked as an accountant. In 1979 she became a partner at the international accountancy firm Peat Marwick. In 1987 she resigned and co-founded a specialist tax practice. In 1987 and 1988 she served on a consultative committee for the Inland Revenue Department to review New Zealand's international tax regime.
Wakefield has held a number of directorships including Director and Deputy Chairman of the Bank of New Zealand and chairman of the Commerce Commission from 1989 to 1994. In 2000, she was part of a three-person Ministerial Inquiry into the electricity industry. Wakefield was the founding chair of the University of Canterbury Foundation, a registered charitable trust which supports the university.Honours and awards
Wakefield was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 1993 New Year Honours. Also in 1993, she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal. In 2006, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in commerce from the University of Canterbury.
