The 177 honourees also include unsung but equally extraordinary Kiwis, such as a 97-year-old church organist still hitting the right notes and a magician working wonders for charity.
IndyCar racer Scott Dixon and Xero founder Rod Drury are among seven high-profile Kiwis named knights and dames today, leading a New Year 2026 Honours List that recognises 177 people for extraordinary service to the country.
Joining Dixon and Drury are medical pioneer Sir Graham Le Gros, arts patron Sir Chris Parkin, world-leading eye specialist Dame Helen Danesh-Meyer, philanthropist Dame Dorothy Spotswood and Dame Coral Shaw.
Beyond famous faces, the awards also celebrate Kiwis ranging from doctors, teachers and farmers to firefighters, search and rescue volunteers, and more.
Special recognition was given to an organ-playing 97-year-old, a magician and an author famous for her book: My Bum is SO NOISY!
Judge Coral Shaw's work as chair of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in Care showed the 2026 list's focus on those standing up for the vulnerable in our society.
Her work on behalf of an estimated 200,000 people abused in state or religious care over decades forced a national reckoning with the "shameful period", she said.
"We entered the nation's conscience by giving the survivors opportunity to speak," Shaw told the Herald.
"New Zealand had to sit up and listen and hear things which, having been heard, can't be forgotten."
Shaw's dedicated work was matched by fellow knights and dames marked out for their generosity, high-speed achievements and innovation.
Spotswood's hard work is helping build a better New Zealand, having used millions of her own money to build the Wellington children's hospital in 2022, as well as funding a rescue helicopter and other medical facilities.
Racing driver Dixon was honoured for his record 142 podiums in the globally watched IndyCar series, while electrician's son Drury built a $22 billion software powerhouse in Xero.
Medical pioneers also feature prominently; Le Gros brought life-saving cancer therapy to New Zealand and Danesh-Meyer developed eye tests that are now a global standard for neurosurgery.
Arts patron Parkin rounds out the top honours, having fuelled more than 2000 creative works through the funding platform Boosted.
Dame Coral Shaw: A national reckoning
The abuse of an estimated 200,000 New Zealanders in state and faith-based care was a "national disgrace".
That was the central finding of the landmark, five-year Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in Care led by Shaw.
She felt immense responsibility as her team studied more than a million documents and spent time with 3000 survivors.
"You couldn't just snap your fingers and say to survivors: 'Right, I'll turn up at 10 o'clock and that'll be it'," Shaw said.
Instead, the inquiry required a slow, trauma-informed approach to gain trust and ensure final calls for apologies from the Government and global church heads were heard.
Shaw also warned that if the inquiry's 138 recommendations and road map through to 2040 were not implemented, abuses of the past could repeat.
Shaw attributed her extraordinary career as a judge in the district and employment courts, and on the United Nations Dispute Tribunal, to luck and being a "people person".
She'd always been willing to "give it a crack", a spirit that had been with her right from accepting a last-minute offer as a 19-year-old in the 1960s to spend a year with Volunteer Service Abroad in the Solomon Islands.
She was also proud of her "judicial activism", helping develop a pioneering Māori restorative justice system now widely adopted after she questioned why 200 family violence cases seemed to appear in her court weekly.
Dame Dorothy Spotswood: The DIY philanthropist
Spotswood and her partner of 50 years, Sir Mark Dunajtschik, are the ultimate DIY philanthropists.
They've donated $53 million to build Wellington's Te Wao Nui children's hospital, pledged $10m for a second charity hospital and spent a decade solely funding the Life Flight Trust - the precursor to today's Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Spotswood also donated to Hōhepa Trust homes so people with intellectual disabilities could be cared for.
This work was inspired by her niece, who had Down Syndrome, and the "relief" parents felt knowing their children would be safe after they pass away.
It's philanthropy built on hard work in property development.
While Dunajtschik is often the public face, Spotswood controls the purse strings.
She's managed the books on hundreds of millions of dollars of deals without formal training, and her shelves are still lined with margined exercise books dating from before computers.
Yet the couple prize a "balanced life". Avid hunters and trampers, they only gave up skiing in their 70s and 80s.
Adventure brought them together.
In the 1960s, Spotswood and friends set off on a wild six-month trip, driving from England to Sri Lanka via the Middle East that included butting heads with Soviet soldiers and being thrown in an Iranian jail.
She found her match in Dunajtschik - a refugee who had motorbiked the world - after he invited her to speak about her trip at the Wellington Overland Club.
Sir Scott Dixon: The speedster
Dixon, New Zealand's most successful modern racer, adds a knighthood to his record podium appearances in IndyCar, the United States' answer to Formula 1.
With 59 victories and six series championships, the "speedster" has been a hero to young fans while tirelessly fundraising for children's charities like CanTeen and St Jude.
Sir Rod Drury: The tech titan
Drury founded and built accounting software firm Xero, now valued at $22b. He was honoured for his entrepreneurial spirit and philanthropy as he now acts as a "custodian", backing public-good projects, ranging from solar energy to a Queenstown gondola.
Dame Helen Danesh-Meyer: The visionary
Danesh-Meyer is recognised as one of the top 10 leading ophthalmologists in the world, especially for her research into the science of brain-eye interactions.
Her team's non-invasive test to monitor certain brain tumours was now a global standard for planning neurosurgery.
They've shown "The back of the eye can provide early clues about changes in brain health, including dementia". "We also showed that optic nerve changes can help predict visual recovery after brain tumours."
She told the Herald the title of dame felt "strange", but said she was gratified for the light it would shine on preventable blindness and groups like Glaucoma NZ and Vision Research Foundation.
Sir Graham Le Gros: The medical pioneer
Le Gros, director of the Malaghan Institute for three decades, was knighted for a career defined by breakthrough medical science.
Tip Top ice cream founder Len Malaghan, who died of blood cancer in 1967, dreamed the institute would produce a cure for cancer.
Le Gros has led the pursuit of that vision, being instrumental in bringing life-saving CAR T-cell therapy to New Zealand blood cancer patients and driving domestic vaccine capability during the pandemic.
While he felt privileged at his new title of Sir, he said he also expected "remorseless teasing" by family and colleagues.
Sir Chris Parkin: The arts patron
Parkin was honoured for his immense contribution to philanthropy and the arts.
The former hotelier established the Parkin Drawing Prize and has been the principal engine behind Boosted, a funding platform that has helped more than 2000 creative projects.
Currently only a small proportion of New Zealand's national artworks can be displayed at one time, and he hoped to change that.
"If there is one thing I'd like to see in my lifetime, it's the development of a national art gallery in Wellington," he said.
* Myra Caldwell is 97 and still hitting the right notes. She began playing the church organ in 1943 and remains tapping on the ivories in Te Aroha today. She's the longest-serving volunteer on the 2026 list with 81 years at various community groups. - awarded KSM
* Volunteer veterans: Chris Sharp is another long-serving volunteer, notching 63 years with Gisborne Land Search and Rescue, while Ōtorohanga's Marjorie Carr dedicated six decades to local netball. John Randall Burgess' 60 years with Owaka Memorial Community Centre included side stints raising $110,000 for a new museum, while Queenstown's Isabella Wilson has spent 59 years helping Plunket provide healthcare to children.
* Val Smith is New Zealand's most capped lawn bowler with 667 international games for the Blackjacks. She's won two world title golds and nine medals, and was among the first inductees to the World Bowls Hall of Fame. And, in giving back as a high-performance coach, she's keeping the ball rolling. - made ONZM
* Professor Gaven Martin has spent 40 years making sure his contributions add up. As a mathematician he's solved complex problems - including authoring renowned paper "Introduction to the Theory of Quasiconformal Mappings" - while also working to develop a rigorous national maths curriculum for schools. - made CNZM
* Jonathan Usher is a past winner of NZ's top magic prize - the Magicians Challenge Award. Now the Cromwell resident has pulled another rabbit out of the hat with a King's Service Medal for his decades balancing successful business and stage careers, while also performing in support of charities like the Cancer Society. - awarded KSM
* Peter and Sylvia Maunders have volunteered for 40-years to make sure local Paeroa and international athletics meets run like clockwork. Peter's record, in particular, really measures up, being internationally certified as a specialist in measuring out road course distances. - awarded KSM
* Dawn McMillan has spent more than 20 years making a lot of noise in the children's literary world. The Thames author's blend of serious and "silly" stories includes global bestsellers like, I Need a New Bum! and My Bum is SO NOISY! - made MNZM
* Te Warihi Hetaraka has spent decades as a master carver telling Te Tai Tokerau-Northland's stories through his work. He has also been tohunga (expert) overseeing the Waitangi Treaty Grounds' intricately-carved meeting house and a tireless advocate for his iwi Ngātiwai. - made ONZM
* Waihoroi Hoterene became inaugural chair of Te Mātāwai, an organisation promoting Māori language. He's also balanced iwi leadership with mentoring a generation of Māori leaders and television presenters. - made ONZM
* Tom Roa, a recognised orator, has spent 50 years promoting Māori learning, including helping lead the 1972 petition for te reo to be taught in schools and the subsequent push for it to become an official language. - made CNZM