Victoria University of Wellington has conferred the following honorary doctorates: [1]
Victoria University of Wellington is a public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand.
Fleur Adcock is a New Zealand poet and editor, of English and Northern Irish ancestry, who has lived much of her life in England. She is well-represented in New Zealand poetry anthologies, was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from Victoria University of Wellington, and was awarded an OBE in 1996 for her contribution to New Zealand literature. In 2008 she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature.
Luamanuvao Dame Winifred Alexandra Laban is a former New Zealand politician. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mana electorate, representing the Labour Party, and was the Labour Party's spokesperson for Pacific Island Affairs and for interfaith dialogue. Laban is the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika) at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington and is a respected leader in the local Pasifika community.
John Psathas, is a New Zealand Greek composer. He has works in the repertoire of such high-profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman and the New Juilliard Ensemble, and is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers. He has established an international profile and receives regular commissions from organisations in New Zealand and overseas.
Scoop is a New Zealand Internet news site run by Scoop Media Limited, part of the Scoop Media Cartel.
Elizabeth Fiona Knox is a New Zealand writer. She has authored several novels for both adults and teenagers, autobiographical novellas, and a collection of essays. One of her best-known works is The Vintner's Luck (1998), which won several awards, has been published in ten languages, and was made into a film of the same name by Niki Caro in 2009. Knox is also known for her young adult literary fantasy series, Dreamhunter Duet. Her most recent novels are Mortal Fire and Wake, both published in 2013, and The Absolute Book, published in 2019.
Sir John Hugh Williams, generally known as Hugh Williams, is a former president of the New Zealand Electoral Commission and a retired judge of the High Court of New Zealand. From 2016 to 2022, he was Chief Justice of the Cook Islands.
Sir Ivor Lloyd Morgan Richardson was an eminent New Zealand and Commonwealth jurist and legal writer and a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Eleanor Catton is a New Zealand novelist and screenwriter. Born in Canada, Catton moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in Christchurch. She completed a master's degree in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her award-winning debut novel, The Rehearsal, written as her Master's thesis, was published in 2008, and has been adapted into a 2016 film of the same name. Her second novel, The Luminaries, won the 2013 Booker Prize, making Catton the youngest author ever to win the prize and only the second New Zealander. It was subsequently adapted into a television miniseries, with Catton as screenwriter. In 2023, she was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.
Sir Vincent Gerard O'Sullivan was a New Zealand poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, critic, editor, biographer, librettist, and academic. From 1988 to 2004 he was a professor of English literature at Victoria University of Wellington, and in 2013 he was appointed the New Zealand Poet Laureate.
Gregory Leo O’Brien is a New Zealand poet, painter, author and editor. He is also an art curator and writes art history and criticism for both adults and children.
Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie is a New Zealand jurist who served on the High Court of New Zealand between 1998 and 2004. He was the first Māori appointed as a judge of a New Zealand court.
Lynette Diana Provost is a New Zealand chartered accountant, who served as Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand from 2009 until 2017.
Guy Malachi Jones Williams is a New Zealand comedian and television personality. Williams was a co-host on satirical news and entertainment television programme Jono and Ben, until the show's end in 2018. In 2019, he began hosting New Zealand Today, a show detailing the lives and events of New Zealand towns and the people who live in them.
Sir Neville Jordan is a New Zealand electrical engineer and businessman.
Sir Hēnare Kōhere Ngata was a Māori leader and accountant. A prisoner of war in Germany after his capture in Greece, he returned to New Zealand to finish his university studies and became an accountant. He held directorships and chaired boards in the Gisborne Region. He was particularly knowledgeable about Māori land issues and became a forceful advocate and legal expert. His alma mater, Victoria University of Wellington, awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) for his legal knowledge in 1979. Ngata was knighted in 1982 for services to the Māori people. He tried to follow his father, Āpirana Ngata, into politics but was unsuccessful when he stood in the 1969 general election.
Sir Frederick John Llewellyn KCMG was an English chemist and academic administrator who spent some of his career in New Zealand.
Donald Francis McKenzie, FBA was a New Zealand bibliographer and literary scholar. He was professor of bibliography and textual criticism at the University of Oxford from 1989 to 1996.
Leslie Young was a New Zealand–Chinese economist. His interests included uncertainty in international trade, and the influence of culture and political economy on economic performance. He was the executive director of the Asia Pacific Institute of Business from 1993, and was a long-serving member of the American Economic Review editorial board.