Wintec Honorary Awards for a Masterchef and a Netball Legend

An internationally acclaimed Michelin star chef and a proud Waikato woman who has devoted her life to netball will have honorary awards conferred upon them next year by Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology).

Josh Emett is being awarded an honorary fellowship – Wintec’s highest honour – for his contribution to the hospitality industry.

Emett, who was raised on a Waikato dairy farm, studied cooking at Wintec in 1992 and has gone on to become one of New Zealand’s most successful chefs. From humble beginnings working at Hamilton’s Waipa Delta, Emett quickly progressed to Auckland’s Cin Cin on Quay and Melbourne’s Est Est Est before joining Gordon Ramsay’s team at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s in London. He was head chef at the world renowned The Savoy Grill before opening Gordon Ramsay restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and Melbourne. Earlier this year Emett was a judge on Masterchef New Zealand, making him a household name.

On accepting the fellowship, Emett said “It would be an honour. Not only is Wintec close to my heart, but to be amongst such an elite group of individuals is humbling. I look forward to working with Wintec on ways I can contribute in the future.”

Monica Leggat is being awarded an honorary Masters of Science (Sport and Exercise Science) for her contribution to netball.

For more than 60 years, Leggat has shown round-the-clock commitment to fulfilling many different roles for netball in New Zealand, including regional president, national president and team manager. She managed Waikato representative teams through the 1970s and 1980s. She then managed the New Zealand U21 side for two years before being selected to take on the same role with the Silver Ferns where she helped guide the team to World Games titles in 1985 and 1988 and the World Netball Championship title in 1987. In 1999 Leggat was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to netball and the community and in 2003 she received the Halberg Trust Service to Sport award. Earlier this year she was awarded the New Zealand Sport and Recreation Lifetime Achievement award.

On being advised of this honour Leggat said “I feel very humbled to be the recipient of this honorary degree. While it recognises the efforts I have personally made over a long period of time, I’d like to think it also recognises the tremendous amount of encouragement and support I have received from those around me”.

Wintec’s honorary recipients must have made a significant contribution to Wintec, the region or the nation over a number of years through innovation in industry or business, scholarship and research, or enhancing New Zealand society.

Honorary fellows and degrees are approved by the Wintec Council following recommendations made by the Honorary Degree Nominations Committee which annually review honorary nominations from Wintec staff.