Valmai Pidgeon

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Florence Valmai Miller Pidgeon AM (born around 1927) is a leading figure in Queensland’s arts and construction industries.

After finishing school in 1945, she joined her father’s building company, F.A. Pidgeon & Son Pty Ltd (founded 1927). She became Company Secretary in 1950, Director in 1957, and in 1980 she and her brother Sir John Pidgeon became Joint Managing Directors. She was Managing Director from 1993. Under their leadership, the company grew to be one of Queensland’s largest privately owned construction firms.

Valmai Pidgeon has also worked as a developer in and around Brisbane, including a major inner-city high-rise project. She is known for her love of landscape architecture, with an award-winning garden at her Holland Park home.

She supports many arts and community groups, such as Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, the Australian Ballet, the Queensland Art Gallery, Royal Brisbane Hospital, St John’s Cathedral, QUT’s Art Museum, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the State Library of Queensland. She is a Les Étoiles supporter of the Australian Ballet.

On 11 June 2001, she was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the arts in Queensland, to women in the workplace, and to the community.

Buildings have been named in her honour, including the Valmai Pidgeon Performing Arts Centre at Somerville House (opened 2000). In 2005 she received a Doctor of the university degree from Queensland University of Technology. She was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2009.