Ms Gaye Poole, of Hamilton, MNZM for services to the performing arts and education
Ms Gaye Poole was a member of the Queensland Theatre Company and lectured at Australian universities before becoming Lecturer in Theatre Studies at the University of Waikato. She was later promoted to Senior Lecturer. She mentored young creatives as part of the University of Waikato's Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship Programme. She has taught at universities across Europe and was an Assistant Director at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in the United States of America. She founded Carving in Ice Theatre, a Hamilton-based company dedicated to presenting meaningful, contemporary theatre. Ms Poole has directed 70 productions and staged readings with local Waikato actors