The University of Otago is a public research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in Oceania.
The Rutherford Medal is the most prestigious award offered by the Royal Society of New Zealand, consisting of a medal and prize of $100,000. It is awarded at the request of the New Zealand Government to recognize exceptional contributions to the advancement and promotion of public awareness, knowledge and understanding in addition to eminent research or technological practice by a person or group in any field of science, mathematics, social science, or technology. It is funded by the New Zealand government and awarded annually.
Rachel Barr is a professor at Georgetown University. She is currently the co-director of graduate studies in the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on understanding the learning and memory mechanisms that develop during infancy. Because infants are preverbal, her techniques rely on imitation and learning methods to find out what infants have learned and how well and how long they remember it. Her previous research has focused on how infants pick up information from different media sources, television, siblings, adults, and different contexts. Most recently, Barr's studies focus on factors that might enhance infant learning from television.
Carolyn Rovee-Collier was a professor of psychology at Rutgers University. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, she was a pioneer and an internationally renowned expert in cognitive development. She was named one of the 10 most influential female graduates of Brown University. The International Society for Developmental Psychobiology awards the Rovee-Collier Mentor Award in her honor.
Sir Mason Harold Durie is a New Zealand professor of Māori Studies and research academic at Massey University. He is known for his contributions to Māori health. In 2020, he was appointed to the Order of New Zealand, the highest honour in New Zealand's royal honours system.
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Christine Coe Winterbourn is a New Zealand biochemist. She is a professor of pathology at the University of Otago, Christchurch. Her research in the biological chemistry of free radicals earned her the 2011 Rutherford Medal and the Marsden Medal, the top awards from each of New Zealand's two top science bodies.
Sir Thomas Alexander Hunter was a New Zealand psychologist, university professor and administrator. He was vice chancellor of the University of New Zealand from 1929 to 1947, chairman of Massey Agricultural College from 1936 to 1938, and principal of Victoria University College from 1938 to 1951. At the age of seventy-five, Hunter retired after serving, for almost fifty years, at Victoria University College.
Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith, previously a professor of indigenous education at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, is now Distinguished Professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Smith's academic contribution is about decolonising knowledge and systems. The Royal Society Te Apārangi describes Smith’s influence on education as creating "intellectual spaces for students and researchers to embrace their identities and transcend dominant narratives".
Philippa Lynne Howden-Chapman is a professor of public health at the University of Otago, Wellington, and the director of the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities.
Michael Charles Corballis was a New Zealand and Canadian psychologist and author. He was Emeritus Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Auckland. His fields of research were cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, encompassing visual perception, visual imagery, attention, memory, and the evolution of language.
Rawinia Ruth Higgins is a New Zealand academic whose research focuses on Māori language and culture.
Richard John Blaikie is a physicist who works in the field of nano-scale optics. He is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Otago.
Dianne Christine McCarthy is a New Zealand scientist and professional director, who was the chief executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand between 2007 and 2014. She lives in Blenheim.
Dame Carolyn Waugh Burns is a New Zealand ecologist specialising in lakes. She is an emeritus professor at the University of Otago.
Sally Anne Brooker is a New Zealand inorganic chemist. She has been a full professor at the University of Otago since 2006.
Professor Colleen Ward is an American-New Zealand cross-cultural psychologist. She is a professor of psychology and Founder of the Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research at Victoria University of Wellington. She is a native of New Orleans.
Kenneth Thomas Strongman was a New Zealand psychologist and academic, and was a professor of psychology at the University of Canterbury, specialising in the field of emotion. He was also a short-story writer, book and television reviewer, and newspaper columnist.
Weston James Sandle was a New Zealand physicist who specialised in the study of lasers. He was a professor at the University of Otago.
Suzanne Georgina Pitama is a New Zealand academic, is Māori, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Whare descent and as of 2020 is a full professor at the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand.
