Sir Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones was a New Zealand mathematician known for his work on von Neumann algebras and knot polynomials. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1990.
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.
The Royal Society Te Apārangi is an independent, statutory not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities.
The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different sciences – currently there are three: chemical sciences; physical sciences; mathematical and information sciences. It is given to a researcher who "has undertaken work of great scientific or technological merit and has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the particular branch of science." It was previously rotated through more fields of science – in 1918 they were: botany, chemistry, ethnology, geology, physics, zoology. For a few years it was awarded biennially – it was not awarded in 2000, 2002 or 2004.
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. The daughter of Sidney Moko Mead, she affiliates to the Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Porou iwi.
Dame Margaret Anne Brimble is a New Zealand chemist. Her research has included investigations of shellfish toxins and means to treat brain injuries.
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.
Ngahuia Te Awekotuku is a New Zealand academic specialising in Māori cultural issues and a lesbian activist. In 1972, she was famously denied a visa to visit the United States on the basis of her sexuality.
Barbara Alison Jones is a New Zealand academic who works in the field of sociology of education. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Andrew Buchanan, New Zealand politician 1862–1874; great-great granddaughter of William Baldwin New Zealand politician 1863–1867; great granddaughter of Admiral William Oswald Story of the British Royal Navy. She has two sons, Finn McCahon Jones and Frey McCahon Jones
Anne Veronica Goldson is a New Zealand journalism and film academic specialising in documentaries. Her films include Punitive Damage, Georgie Girl, Brother Number One and Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web.
Lisa Matisoo-Smith is a molecular anthropologist and Professor at the University of Otago. As at 2018, she is Head of the Department of Anatomy.
Merryn Tawhai is a New Zealand engineering scientist. She is a professor at the University of Auckland, director of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, where she was a fellow from 2002, and a former director of MedTech CoRE. She is known for the development of mathematical models of the lungs that will help scientists understand differences between physiologically normal lungs and the pathological changes that might occur in a disease. She was inducted into the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering in June 2018. In November 2018, Tawhai was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Margaret Ann Carr is a New Zealand education academic. She is currently emeritus professor at the University of Waikato.
Ngapare Kaihina Hopa is a Māori academic of Waikato Tainui descent.
Jadranka Travaš-Sejdić is a New Zealand academic, and as of 2018 is a professor at the University of Auckland.
Rangiānehu Mātāmua is a New Zealand indigenous studies and Māori cultural astronomy academic and is Professor of Mātauranga Māori at Massey University. He is the first Māori person to win a Prime Minister's Science Prize, is a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, and is the chief advisor to the New Zealand Government on the public holiday Matariki. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2023.
Jarrod McKenzie Haar is a New Zealand organisational psychology academic, are Māori, of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Mahuta descent and as of 2019 is a full professor at the Auckland University of Technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Richard Dodgshun Bedford, also known as Dick Bedford, is emeritus professor in human geography at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). He was the president of the Royal Society Te Apārangi from 2015 to 2018.
The Pickering Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society Te Apārangi to a person or team "who, while in New Zealand, has through design, development or invention performed innovative work the results of which have been significant in their influence and recognition both nationally and internationally, or which have led to significant commercial success".
Diana Rosemary Lennon was a New Zealand academic and pediatrician, specialising in infectious diseases, and was a full professor at the University of Auckland.
