Waikato University hosts Māori academic awards

The University of Waikato is again honoured to host the Te Amorangi National Māori Academic Excellence Awards, to be held on Friday April 9 at Tūrangawaeawae Marae, Ngāruawahia.

The awards are an annual event to acknowledge Māori PhD graduates across the country who have had their doctorates conferred in the last calendar year. A Lifetime Achievement Award is also presented.

This year, there are 25 recipients of the awards from across New Zealand tertiary institutions. Their areas of study and expertise include tourism, entrepreneurship, human resources, biological sciences, biochemistry, health sciences, computer science, arts and social sciences.

“The numbers of graduates across different disciplines will make a significant contribution to Māori development and advancing New Zealand’s aspirations as a knowledge-based society and economy,” says Professor Linda Smith, Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori at the University of Waikato.

The 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Ngarongo Iwikatea Nicholson of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira descent. A respected kaumātua for Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Mr Nicholson is a long-time teacher of Mātauranga Māori and a key member of the Ngāti Toa Rangatira negotiating team for Treaty settlements.

The Te Amorangi National Māori Academic Excellence Awards were first held in 2002; a total of 241 recipients have been acknowledged to date.

Major sponsors of the awards include Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust, Te Puni Kōkiri, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Tertiary Education Commission and the University of Waikato.

This year’s awards ceremony will also feature special performances by well known Māori vocalists Toni Huata and Tama Waipara, as well as Aotearoa’s premier poly-funk band Ardijah.