Sir Roy McKenzie was a strong supporter of hospice for more than 30 years, Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt was established under his leadership, during his time as Chairman of the Board.
At a national level Sir Roy was instrumental in the establishment of Hospice New Zealand, with the McKenzie Education Trust helping to fund the inaugural meeting and conference held in 1986.
Sir Roy's leadership, strategic vision and drive helped shape hospice as it exists today.
The Sir Roy McKenzie Guest Lecture has been created to honour Sir Roy and others who demonstrate leadership, dedication and innovation at a national and international level in the hospice sector.
The inaugural Sir Roy Guest Lecture will be given at the 2010 Conference by Professor Rod MacLeod.
Dr MacLeod is an experienced clinician who has worked in specialist palliative care in the UK and New Zealand over the last 21 years, and is currently the Director of Palliative Care at North Shore Hospice, Takapuna, Auckland.
He is Honorary Clinical Professor and Associate Professor in General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland.
He has a longstanding interest in education in palliative care; his PhD was entitled "Changing the way that doctors learn to care for people who are dying".
He teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students and is supervising a number of PhD and Masters students' work.
He has published widely with over 100 articles and book chapters in the area of palliative care and palliative care education in national and international peer reviewed journals.