Yvonne Underhill-Sem | |
|---|---|
 Underhill in 2022 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Employer | University of Auckland |
| Awards | Metge Medal (2022) |
Yvonne Jasmine Te Ruki Rangi o Tangaroa Underhill MNZM is a New Zealand Pacific development geographer. [1] She is a professor at the University of Auckland, where she teaches Pacific studies.
Underhill was born in the Cook Islands, specifically Rarotonga, is of Cook Island, Niuean and Pakeha descent [2] and moved to Porirua at a young age, where she completed her primary and secondary education. [3]
Underhill went on to complete her BA in Human Geography and Anthropology and BA (Hons) in Human Geography at Victoria University of Wellington, PGDip in Population Studies and MA in Geography at University of Hawaii, and PhD in Geography at University of Waikato. [2]
Underhill is a professor at the University of Auckland, where she teaches Pacific studies since 2021, Te Wānanga o Waipapa (Maori Studies and Pacific Studies) and is the acting co-head of school. [1] [2] [4] There she was Director of Development Studies from 2007 to 2014. [5]
From 2015 to 2018, she was deputy chair of the Inaugural Pacific Performance Based Review Fund, where she is appointed to be inaugural Deputy Moderator (Pacific) in 2026. She helped establish Oxfam in the Pacific in 2015, she served as Co-Chair of the Advisory Research Group for Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development between 2017 and 2019, [5] and since 2020 has helped start the Pacific Feminist Fund, a grant-making organisation to deal with gender inequality in the Pacific, [1] which launched in mid-2023. [6]
In 2022, Underhill was awarded the Metge Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for "excellence and relationship-building in the social science research community". [7] [8] In the 2024 New Year Honours, Underhill was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tertiary education and Pacific development. [1]
Underhill also received several other awards, including the Fulbright Senior Scholar Award in 2010/11 and World University Network (WUN) Award in 2010. [2]
The Royal Society Te Apārangi is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings are provided on behalf of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Dame Claudia Josepha Orange is a New Zealand historian best known for her 1987 book The Treaty of Waitangi, which won 'Book of the Year' at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award in 1988.
Dame Alice Joan Metge is a New Zealand social anthropologist, educator, lecturer and writer.
Janet Marjorie Davidson is a New Zealand archaeologist who has carried out extensive field work in the Pacific Islands throughout Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
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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".
Marston Donald Edward Conder is a New Zealand mathematician, a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Auckland University, and the former co-director of the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. His main research interests are in combinatorial group theory, graph theory, and their connections with each other.
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Timothy George Haskell is a New Zealand scientist.
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Aroha Gaylene Harris is a Māori academic. As of 2020, Harris is an associate professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in Māori histories of policy and community development. She is also a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.
Atholl John Anderson is a New Zealand archaeologist who has worked extensively in New Zealand and the Pacific. His work is notable for its syntheses of history, biology, ethnography and archaeological evidence. He made a major contribution to the evidence given by the iwi (tribe) Ngāi Tahu to the Waitangi Tribunal.
SallyAnn Harbison is a New Zealand forensic scientist. She leads the forensic biology team at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, and is an associate professor at the University of Auckland. Harbison was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021 and in the same year was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Amokura Kawharu is a New Zealand legal academic and barrister. Kawharu was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2021. She is the first woman and the first Māori to be president of the New Zealand Law Commission.
Vanessa Shona Beavis is a New Zealand anaesthesiologist and honorary senior lecturer of the University of Auckland. From 2020 to 2022, Beavis was president of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANCA).
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