Honorary Doctorate for Ngàti Porou leader
Ngàti Porou leader Apirana Mahuika is to receive an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waikato, as part of the
university's 40th Anniversary celebrations. The Doctorate will be conferred at 10.30am on Saturday 31 July at the WEL
Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts at the University of Waikato.
The Honorary Doctorate recognises Apirana Mahuika's contribution to positive race relations in Aotearoa, knowledge of
tikanga and his leadership of Ngàti Porou and Màoridom in general.
Apirana has been instrumental in developing links between the East Coast region and tertiary education, particularly
with the University of Waikato. In 1987 he became a Research Fellow at the Centre for Màori Studies and Research with
the late Sir Robert Mahuta. He holds a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Sydney and has also taught at
Victoria and Massey Universities.
He was a founding member and now Chairperson of Te Ròpþ Manukura, which represents the 16 Iwi working with Waikato
University to promote higher education throughout the central North Island.
Apirana has been Chairperson of Te Rþnanga o Ngàti Porou since its founding in 1987. He also chairs the Wànanga o Ngàti
Porou which has recently joined the University of Waikato in a formal arrangement for adult education in the Ngàti Porou
region.
The New Zealand Police recognised his work in race relations and in prisons by naming a training wing at the Porirua
Police College after him.
Apirana's oratory skills in both Màori and English are widely acknowledged. These were tempered by his preparation as an
Anglican priest, a role he combines more ecumenically today with his widespread duties as an Iwi leader.
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