Vice-Chancellor
Professor Neil Quigley
BA MA(Hons) Canterbury, PhD Toronto
Professor Quigley became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waikato in early 2015. Since his appointment he has led substantial change designed to improve the quality of teaching and research, align staffing with the challenges of the modern tertiary environment, and increase engagement with communities around the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and central North Island regions. The impact of this change is demonstrated by the University’s recent growth in student enrolments and rise in international rankings. Professor Quigley was previously Professor of Economics, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Provost at Victoria University of Wellington, and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Professor Quigley has extensive governance experience, and is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Chair of the Risk and Assurance Committee of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Professor Alister Jones
BSc Otago, MSc PhD Waikato DipT MRSNZ
Professor Jones was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2011 and became Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2015. He is the former Dean of Education and was previously Research Professor and Director of the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research at the Faculty of Education. He has managed and directed research projects that have informed policy, curriculum, and teacher development in New Zealand and internationally. His main areas of research are curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment, particularly in science and technology education. He has acted as an international consultant in curriculum and assessment and building educational research capability. In 2000, he was awarded the NZ Science and Technology Medal for his significant contribution to the development of technology education both nationally and internationally.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic
Professor Robyn Longhurst
BSocSc MSocSc PhD Waikato
Professor Longhurst was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic in 2015, following a term as Pro Vice-Chancellor Education. She is a Professor of Geography. Her work in gender, cultural and social geography is known and respected in New Zealand and internationally. Professor Longhurst has served as Chair of the Commission on Gender and Geography of the International Geographical Union and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Gender, Place and Culture. In 2010 she was presented with the Distinguished New Zealand Geographer Award. In the same year she received a University of Waikato Teaching Excellence Award and in 2013 a University of Waikato Research Postgraduate Supervision Excellence Award. She was a Member of the New Zealand PBRF Peer Review Panel ‘Social Sciences and Other Cultural/Social Studies’ in the 2006 and 2012 Quality Evaluation
Pro Vice-Chancellor Arts, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences
Professor Allison Kirkman
BA Massey, BA(Hons) PhD Victoria (Wellington)
Professor Kirkman began her working life as a nurse and midwife in Christchurch. She then went on to complete a BA extramurally from Massey University and a BA(Hons) and PhD in Sociology from Victoria University of Wellington. Professor Kirkman was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor Arts, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences in 2019 and prior to this she held the role of Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to joining the University of Waikato, Professor Kirkman held appointments at Victoria University of Wellington including Vice Provost (Academic and Equity), Head of the School of Social and Cultural Studies and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her teaching, research and publications are in the sociology of health, gender, sexuality, dying and death. She was the Deputy Chair of the National Ethics Committee on Health and Disability Research for a six year term and also Convener of the Victoria University Human Ethics Committee.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Education
Professor Don Klinger
BSc BEd Br.Col, PhD Alberta
Professor Klinger joined the University in 2018 as Dean of Education, and was then appointed to the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor Education in 2019. He is a renowned researcher in assessment, measurement, and evaluation. His research explores measurement theory, the evolving conceptions of formative and summative assessment, and the uses and misuses of large-scale assessments and databases to inform educational policy and practice. With more than 130 manuscripts and reports, national and international research funding, and previous leadership experience in the post-secondary environment (Queen’s University, Kingston), Professor Klinger brings his skills and dedication to research and teacher education to Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato – the University of Waikato.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Health, Engineering, Computing and Science
Professor Geoff Holmes
BSc(Hons) PhD Southampton
Professor Holmes gained an Honours Degree and Doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Southampton in the UK. Following a research position in the engineering department at Cambridge University, he joined Waikato in 1987 as a lecturer in computer science, and rose up the academic ranks. He was appointed Dean of the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences in 2008, and then Pro Vice-Chancellor Health, Engineering, Computing and Science in 2019. His major research interest is in machine learning, a topic that involves mathematics, statistics and computer science. He is best known both locally and internationally for his contributions to applied machine learning, deploying theoretical frameworks in practical situations. He is currently involved in collaborative research with local industry to provide automatic analysis of analytical testing procedures.
Dean of Māori and Indigenous Studies
Professor Brendan Hokowhitu
BPhEd BA PhD Otago, MA Victoria (Canada)
Professor Hokowhitu was appointed Dean of Māori and Indigenous Studies (formerly Māori and Pacific Development) in January 2016, coming to Waikato after nearly four years as Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at Canada’s University of Alberta in Edmonton. Before that he spent 10 years at the University of Otago culminating in being the first Associate Dean (Māori) in the Division of Humanities, whilst also being an Associate Professor in Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies. Professor Hokowhitu has a Bachelor of Physical Education and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Otago, a Master of Arts in Physical Education from the University of Victoria (Canada) and a PhD in Māori Studies and Physical Education from the University of Otago. His research has led him to conduct an historical analysis into Māori in sport, and Māori and indigenous media.
Dean of Graduate Research
Professor Kay Weaver
BA PhD Stirling
Professor Weaver began her working life with the West Midlands Police Force in Birmingham, England. She then went on to complete a BA and PhD through Stirling University’s prestigious Department of Film and Media Studies and worked as a media researcher for the Stirling Media Research Institute. She joined the University of Waikato’s Department of Screen and Media Studies in 1995, and in 1999 moved to the Department of Management Communication. Professor Weaver was appointed Dean of the school of Graduate Research in November 2015. Prior to that she was Pro Vice-Chancellor Postgraduate from 2011. Professor Weaver has a range of research interests in communication, media, and public relations. She has published widely in journals and edited book collections and is co-author and co-editor of a large number of books. Her research draws on a range of theoretical and methodological approaches including audience and media user research, communication effects, critical, cultural, and poststructuralist analysis
Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning
Associate Professor Tracy Bowell
BA(Hons) Sussex, MPhil Cambridge, PhD Auckland
Associate Professor Bowell was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning in October 2015. She holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and French from the University of Sussex, an MPhil in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in metaphysics and epistemology from the University of Auckland. She joined the University’s Department of Philosophy in 1993, she has served as Chair of the Philosophy Department, and has recently completed a term as Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Associate Professor Bowell’s research interests are in the areas of Argumentation and Critical Thinking, Epistemology, Wittgenstein’s Philosophy and Feminist Philosophy and she has published journal articles, book chapters and a book in these areas. Her current research focusses on virtue and argument; on the challenges of modifying deeply-held beliefs; and on Wittgenstein and mental health. She holds the elected position of Regional Director (New Zealand) of the Australasian Association of Philosophy.
Academic Director, Tauranga Campus
Associate Professor Ken Perszyk
BA MA Marquette, PhD Victoria
Associate Professor Perszyk was appointed Academic Director, Tauranga Campus in 2016. He holds a BA in philosophy and history and a MA in philosophy from Marquette University, and a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington. He was previously Associate Professor of Philosophy and, for eleven years, Head of the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science & International Relations at Victoria. His research interests are primarily in philosophy of religion and metaphysics, and he has published journal articles, book chapters and books on topics in these areas. His current research project is a co-authored book that articulates and defends the philosophical and religious adequacy of a realist interpretation of theism that rejects supernatural divine personal agency.
Phone
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