The list of Honorary Doctors of the University of Otago below shows the recipients of honorary doctorates bestowed by the University of Otago since 1962. [1] [2] [3] Prior to this date honoris causa were conferred by the University of New Zealand; see the list of honorary doctors of the University of New Zealand.
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.
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.
John Robert Lewis was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966, and was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington. Fulfilling many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States, in 1965 Lewis led the first of three Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where, in an incident which became known as Bloody Sunday, state troopers and police attacked Lewis and the other marchers.
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases honoris causa or ad honorem . The degree is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the academic institution or no previous postsecondary education. An example of identifying a recipient of this award is as follows: Doctorate in Business Administration (Hon. Causa).
Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a New Zealand composer. She is of Māori Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing.
Sir Roger Leighton Hall is one of New Zealand's most successful playwrights, arguably best known for comedies that carry a vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.
Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha is an Indian sports administrator and retired track and field athlete. Usha was born in Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala. She grew up in Payyoli. Usha has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 gold medals and 7 silver medals in the Asian Games. She is often associated as the "Queen of Indian track and field".
Otago Regional Council (ORC) is the regional council for Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. The council's principal office is Regional House on Stafford Street in Dunedin with 250–275 staff, with smaller offices in Queenstown and Alexandra. They are responsible for sustainably managing Otago’s natural resources of land, air and water on behalf of the community. Property owners pay rates to both the local and regional councils.
Sir Ian Lemuel Taylor is a New Zealand businessman and former television presenter based in Dunedin.
King's High School is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the city close to the boundary between the suburbs of South Dunedin, St. Clair and Forbury, next to the parallel single-sex girls' school, Queen's High School. Both schools share several facilities, including the multimillion-dollar Performing Arts Centre which opened in 2006.
Lee Vandervis is a local-body politician who was first elected to the Dunedin City Council in the 2004 local elections. Vandervis has run for mayor in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022; finishing second in 2007 and 2019. Vandervis failed to win mayor again in 2022, but he was re-elected to the Council.
Cyrus S. Poonawalla is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman and managing director of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, which includes the Serum Institute of India, an Indian biotech company which is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world and Poonawalla Fincorp a leading NBFC in India. In 2022, he is ranked as the 4th richest person in India on Forbes India rich list with a net worth of $24.3 billion. He is ranked number 1 on the Hurun Global Healthcare Rich List 2022.
Vada Harlene Hayne is an American-born academic administrator who was the vice-chancellor and a professor of psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, before moving to Western Australia to take up the position of vice-chancellor at Curtin University in April 2021.
Audrey Lily Eagle was a New Zealand botanical illustrator, whose work mainly focused on New Zealand's distinctive trees and shrubs. As the author and illustrator of the two volume Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand, Eagle made a notable contribution to New Zealand botany.
Shona Katrine MacTavish was a New Zealand dancer, teacher, author, choreographer and pioneer in liturgical dance in the Asia-Pacific. She was known as "the mother of modern dance in New Zealand".
Sir Alan Francis Mark is a New Zealand botanist and environmentalist. He was an initial member of the Save Manapouri campaign and the inaugural chair of the Guardians of Lake Manapouri for 26 years.
Carla Marja Olga Van Zon is a New Zealand retired artistic director. She worked on international opportunities for New Zealand artists at Creative New Zealand, before becoming artistic director of the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts in Wellington in 1996. From 2013 she was the Artistic Director of the Auckland Arts Festival, where she was responsible for commissioning works such as the opera The Bone Feeders. Van Zon has been responsible for supporting the careers of many New Zealand artists. She retired from the Auckland Arts Festival in 2017, following a diagnosis of kidney disease in 2016.
John Desmond Sinclair was a New Zealand neurophysiologist and middle-distance athlete who represented his country at the 1950 British Empire Games. He was involved in the establishment of the medical school at the University of Auckland in 1968, and was the school's foundation professor of physiology.
Sir Henricus Wilhelmus van der Heyden is a New Zealand dairy farmer, business executive and company director. He was chair of Fonterra from 2002 to 2012.