But he switched to accounting in his first year at the University of Otago and never regretted the change, having notched up nearly 30 years in accounting and finance-related roles.
Mr Cameron (50), a business adviser and partner at Deloitte, was recently awarded a Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Fellowship in recognition of outstanding achievement and contribution in the profession.
It was his then girlfriend Liz — now his wife of nearly 26 years — who was largely responsible for the change of tack; she was also studying accounting and figured if he swapped to a commerce degree, he would attend classes.
After graduating, Mr Cameron joined Deloitte in Dunedin in 1997 and spent four years in its audit practice, which included several exchanges to Florida.
From there, he and his wife headed to the United Kingdom for three years, where he worked in London for
British chemical company Imperial Chemical Industries, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was a good time, with a mix of work and travel, and he learned a lot.
When the couple started thinking about having a family, they decided to return closer to home, the plan originally being to settle in Melbourne.
But a phone call to say there was a job at Deloitte in Dunedin changed those plans and the couple — who had two children — have been here ever since. Mr Cameron was made a partner of the firm in 2009.
He enjoyed the size of the city; originally from Timaru, he did not previously have networks in Dunedin but through working hard, traction could be gained quite quickly. "I think if you’re in a bigger city, that’s going to be a slower process," he said.
And those in the Dunedin office "just do everything" rather than being in specific teams and experience was gained early in careers. It was also a great place to bring up a family — "and it’s beautiful, right?".
Mr Cameron was also on Deloitte’s tax and business advisory executive at national level and it was good to be able to do things like that from Dunedin as the firm was not geographically-biased.
He enjoyed the crew in the Dunedin office, which included another eight graduates starting this week, and he enjoyed seeing young people progress through their careers.
He also paid tribute to his wife, saying being married to a fellow accountant who understood the role and was happy for him to work hard made life a lot easier.
He had strong governance experience as both a director and adviser to various boards. He is chairman of Escea, advisory board chairman of Cook Brothers Construction, and on the boards of Whitestone Cheese, Patersons and Remarkables Park. He is also a former chairman of Mons Royale.
Mr Cameron felt fortunate to have such good clients, many of whom he got close to and friendships of all ages evolved as they worked closely together.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he recalled how clients panicked differently and the boards he was involved with quickly worked out what "Plan B" looked like if required.
But difficult times did not faze Mr Cameron who admitted he quite liked "frantic" and making decisions. There were some tough times with clients during the Global Financial Crisis, as he worked alongside to help get them out of difficulties.
Today, business was in a much better place. It was all about confidence and people were much more confident, particularly on the back of improved agricultural commodity prices which had a flow-on effect through the wider economy.
