The University of Canterbury is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's second-oldest university, after the University of Otago, which was founded four years earlier, in 1869.
Margaret Elizabeth Austin is a former New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1984 to 1996, representing first the Labour Party and then briefly United New Zealand.
Dame Jean Marjory Herbison was a New Zealand academic, educator, researcher and Chancellor of the University of Canterbury. She was the first woman to hold the post of chancellor at a New Zealand university.
Margaret Hilda Alington was a New Zealand librarian, historian and author.
Bernadette Hall is a New Zealand playwright and poet.
Diana Isaac, Lady Isaac was a New Zealand conservationist, businesswoman, philanthropist and arts patron who supported a wide range of projects within Canterbury. She was best known for co-founding and running Isaac Construction with her husband Sir Neil Isaac.
Sir Andrew Patrick Charles Tipping is a New Zealand jurist who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand from 2004 until his retirement in 2012. He is New Zealand's longest-serving judge, serving on the bench for 25 years. Tipping was also a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. His tenure as a jurist has been widely acclaimed and his contributions to the shaping of New Zealand law are considered to be substantial and permanent.
Sir Edward Jonathan Somers was a New Zealand jurist and member of the Privy Council.
Shirley Erena Murray was a New Zealand hymn lyrics writer. Her hymns have been translated into numerous languages and are represented in more than 140 hymn collections.
Kerry-Jayne Wilson was a New Zealand biologist and lecturer in ecology at Lincoln University in the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Helen Hannah Rigg Hughes is a New Zealand botanist. She served as New Zealand's first Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment from 1987 to 1996.
Susan Mary Wakefield was a New Zealand tax expert. She was also noted for her interest in art and her philanthropy, establishing Ravenscar House Museum in Christchurch with her second husband, Jim Wakefield.
Nancy Jobson was an Australian teacher and headmistress. She attended the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and in time became the head of Pymble Ladies' College.
Bronwyn Mary Hayward is a New Zealand political scientist. Her areas of research are democracy, sustainability and young people. She was a lead author on a United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report.
Pauline Margaret O'Regan was a New Zealand school teacher, community worker and writer.
Dame Susan Nicola Bagshaw is a New Zealand doctor specialising in the health needs of young people.
Diane Jean Lucas is a New Zealand landscape architect and environmental planner known for her conservation works, and particularly in and around Christchurch, Banks Peninsula and the Canterbury Plains and South Island High Country. She is a strong advocate for the protection of natural and indigenous ecosystems, and sustainable rural management.
Dame Anna Louisa de Launey Crighton is a New Zealand heritage campaigner and historian, and former local-body politician in Christchurch.
Elizabeth Ann Mallinson is a New Zealand children's book publisher and co-founder of Mallinson Rendel, best known for Lynley Dodd's Hairy Maclary series.
Allan Neil MacLean was a New Zealand District Court judge and that country's first chief coroner, from 2007 to 2015. He was the coroner during the Pike River Mine disaster and the Christchurch earthquakes.
