Bronze bust of Sir Angus Tait as part of the Twelve Local Heroes sculpture
Born
(1919-07-22)22 July 1919
Oamaru, New Zealand
Died
7 August 2007(2007-08-07) (aged 88)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Occupation(s)
Electronics innovator, philanthropist and businessman
Sir Angus McMillan TaitKNZM OBE (22 July 1919 – 7 August 2007) was a New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman.
Tait had a childhood fascination for electronics and during and after high school at Waitaki Boys' High School, he worked in a friend's (Kempton Collett) radio store. He served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force and also the Royal Air Force instructing as a second lieutenant on radar in Britain, during World War II.
After the war, he designed and built mobile radio equipment, although his first company went into receivership. In 1969, he founded Tait Electronics Ltd, now operating as Tait Radio Communications, Christchurch (New Zealand), with men who had decided to remain loyal and see him through; now his company is considered a world leader in mobile radio[by whom?]. He had persisted in keeping his manufacturing base in New Zealand, with 95 per cent of production exported to 160 countries.
In the 1992 New Year Honours, Tait was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to manufacturing and export.[1] In 1996, he was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.[2] He was awarded the IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition in 1998.[3] In the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to technology, manufacturing and export.[4] In 2003 he was the Inaugural New Zealand High Tech Award Winner.[5] Presently, Tait's company employs in excess of 850 people. In March 2009, Tait was commemorated as one of the Twelve Local Heroes, and a bronze bust of him was unveiled outside the Christchurch Arts Centre.
He died in 2007, at the age of 88.[6]
^"No. 52768". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1991. p. 30.
^"Past laureates". Business Hall of Fame. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
^"IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
^"Queen's Birthday honours list 1999 (including Niue)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 1999. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
^"New Zealand High Tech Award Winner". 2003.
^"Electronics company pioneer Sir Angus Tait dies at 88". The Press. Stuff.co.nz. 7 August 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
Sir Angus McMillan Tait KNZM OBE (22 July 1919 – 7 August 2007) was a New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman. Tait had a childhood fascination...
founded in 1969 by New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman Sir AngusTait, KNZM, OBE. The company's founding staff of 12 radio technologists produced...
AngusTait Gault (30 May 1912 – November 1983) was a rugby league player. He represented the New Zealand rugby league team in 4 matches in 1937 and 1938...
one of England's first openly gay authors. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a...
Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and the only remaining...
decades, technology-based industries have sprung up in Christchurch. AngusTait founded Tait Electronics, a mobile-radio manufacturer, and other firms spun...
Izard Saw-blade manufacturing John McKenzie Retailing Bob Owens Transport AngusTait Telecommunications 1997 John Anderson Engineering John Logan Campbell...
Retrieved 7 October 2016. Tait, John (October 2010). Vanda and Young. NewSouth. ISBN 9781742240107. "Malcolm, Ian Jeffrey, Angus, Stevie or Fraiser Young...
Angus John Stone (born 27 April 1986) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is one half of the musical sibling duo Angus...
baseball umpire, cancer. Wolfgang Sievers, 93, Australian photographer. Sir AngusTait, 88, New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman. William F. Walker...
The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize...
Rhys Memorial Prize, and Jerusalem the Golden, which won the 1967 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. She was honoured by the University of Cambridge in...
worker, philanthropist Sir Dryden Spring (born 1939), businessman Sir AngusTait (1919–2007), businessman and electronics innovator Stephen Tindall (born...
player Robert Stout – Premier of New Zealand Grahame Sydney – painter Sir AngusTait – businessman and electronics innovator Brad Thorn – rugby union and rugby...
first time in its history that the award was shared. It won the 2022 James Tait Back Prize for Fiction. The novel was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for...
Margaret Mahy LittD 1996 Ian Axford DSc 1996 Harry Evison LittD 1996 AngusTait DEng 1999 Don Brash LLD 1999 Ian Leggat LLD 1999 Ernst Badian LittD 1999...
Charles Luney 28 June 1905 – 18 November 2006 building industry leader Sir AngusTait 22 July 1919 – 7 August 2007 electronics pioneer and businessman Sir Robertson...
all time along with his younger brother and fellow AC/DC member Angus. Though Angus was the more visible of the brothers, Malcolm was described as the...
July – Jarrod Cunningham, rugby union player (born 1968) 7 August – Sir AngusTait, electronics innovator and businessman (born 1919) 13 August – Sir Robertson...
July – Edmund Hillary, mountaineer, explorer, philanthropist 22 July – AngusTait, electronics innovator and businessman 1 August – Colin McCahon, artist...
Alexander William Angus (11 November 1889 – 23 March 1947) was a Scottish international rugby union and cricket player. He played club rugby for Watsonians...
Robert Blyth Tait MBE (born 10 May 1961) is a New Zealand equestrian. Tait has competed at four Olympics and has won four medals, one of only four New...
Anglia's Creative Writing Course was founded by Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Sir Angus Wilson in 1970. The M.A. has been regarded among the most prestigious in...