Ian Lemuel Taylor CNZM (born c.1950) is a prominent businessman from Dunedin, New Zealand.
Born in Kaeo to a Pākehā father and Māori mother, he grew up in Raupunga and went to a Catholic boarding school in Masterton.
Taylor is married to Liz and they have 2 children.
Taylor joined the band Kal-Q-Lated Risk in c.1967 as lead singer, and later graduated with a LLB degree from the University of Otago.
A former television presenter (notably for TVNZ children's programme Spot On (TV Series) and New Zealand's Funniest Home Videos, Taylor founded Taylormade Media in 1989 as a television production company. The following year he established Animation Research Limited, which quickly became one of the top computer animation companies in New Zealand and known internationally for its work, particularly in television advertising and sports graphics. Its sports division/product Virtual Eye, is used in various sports such as for ball-tracking in cricket where it assists umpires with their Decision Review System and informs TV commentators and viewers. During the 2010/11 Ashes series it was known as Eagle Eye.
Taylor was inducted into the New Zealand Technology Hall of Fame in 2009 and was named North & South Magazines 2010 New Zealander of the Year.
He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the New Zealand Computer Society (HFNZCS) in 2010, the top honour of the ICT sector in New Zealand.
Taylor was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2012 New Year Honours, for services to television and business.
In November 2012, Taylor spoke out against the high salaries being paid to New Zealand chief executives, saying chief executive salaries should be tied to how well they protect jobs and to the salaries of their staff.
Famous quotes containing the words taylor and/or zealand:
“The growing of food and the growing of children are both vital to the family’s survival.... Who would dare make the judgment that holding your youngest baby on your lap is less important than weeding a few more yards in the maize field? Yet this is the judgment our society makes constantly. Production of autos, canned soup, advertising copy is important. Housework—cleaning, feeding, and caring—is unimportant.”
—Debbie Taylor (20th century)
“Teasing is universal. Anthropologists have found the same fundamental patterns of teasing among New Zealand aborigine children and inner-city kids on the playgrounds of Philadelphia.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)