Don Elder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. Donald McGillivray Elder is a New Zealand engineer and businessmen. He is the CEO of the New Zealand energy company Solid Energy.

[edit] Biography

Don Elder was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He attended high school at Christ's College and graduated from the University of Canterbury with a degree in engineering. He then gained a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship,^[1] which funded him to go to Oxford University in the United Kingdom, where he gained a PhD in civil engineering. After getting married, he moved to Canada. 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.^[2] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Elder currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, with his wife and children.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}