Massey's first female student dies aged 99

Enid Hills, the first woman to graduate with a Massey University qualification, died in Palmerston North yesterday aged 99.

Mrs Hills was the first woman student to enroll at Massey, as an 18-year-old in 1932. She was soon joined by two other women students but later joked they were outnumbered 50 to one by men and she always had plenty of girlfriends who were eager for invitations to the student dances.

Massey Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey today paid tribute to Mrs Hills, a poultry farmer, journalist and mother of four, who graduated from what was then Massey Agricultural College in 1933 with a Certificate in Poultry Management.

"Enid was a proud Massey graduate and maintained contact with the University throughout her life," Mr Maharey says. "She was a regular attendee of alumni events as well as a keen supporter of the Massey University Foundation, the registered charity we re-launched several years ago. She was well-known to staff and students past and present and certainly enjoyed her ongoing association with Massey and her special place as the first woman to complete a qualification."

Today about 62 per cent of Massey's more than 30,000 students are women.

More details about Mrs Hills can be found in a story written by her granddaughter in 2006 for the Massey News magazine.