MEDIA RELEASE
31 December 2005
Top honour to Victoria professor
The award of one of New Zealand’s highest honours to Victoria University’s Professor Paul Callaghan is recognition of
his outstanding contribution to scientific research and to the wider community, says Vice-Chancellor Professor Pat
Walsh.
Professor Callaghan was today named, in the New Year honours list, as a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of
Merit (PCNZM), the highest rank in the order.
Professor Walsh said Professor Callaghan was a deserving recipient of such a prestigious honour.
“Professor Callaghan is one of New Zealand’s most respected scientists. His research has not only significantly expanded
our knowledge of nuclear magnetic resonance technology, but he has also been a leader in developing new methods for its
use that have had significant impacts in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine.
“He is a champion of science in New Zealand and is a renowned communicator who has the uncanny ability to take complex
scientific concepts and distil them into a form that can be easily understood. In addition to his regular slot on
National Radio’s Kim Hill Show on Saturday mornings, he regularly gives public lectures and is much sought after as a
guest speaker.
“Victoria University prides itself on being a university where both undergraduate and postgraduate students learn
directly from our leading researchers, allowing all students to benefit from their experience, knowledge and world-class
research. Professor Callaghan is a fine example of this ethos. He is a professor who believes in ‘professing’ his
discipline and continues to teach first year students despite the heavy demands on his time.
“Victoria University’s staff and alumni are rightly proud of the prestigious honour bestowed on Professor Callaghan.
Every year a Victoria staff member or alumni is recognised in the New Zealand Honours and we join Professor Callaghan’s
family, friends and colleagues throughout the world in congratulating him on receiving this award.”
Professor Callaghan is the Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology at Victoria University, a Government-funded Centre of Research Excellence. He is also the Alan
MacDiarmid Professor in Physical Sciences in the School of Chemical & Physical Sciences and holds Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science degrees from Oxford University. He is a fellow
of both the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Professor Callaghan has received several awards for his research and contribution to science. In 2004, he was the first
scientist outside of Europe to receive the prestigious Ampere Prize for this research in magnetic resonance and won the
science category of The Dominion Post Wellingtonian of the Year Awards. In November 2005, he received New Zealand’s
highest scientific honour, the Rutherford Medal, from the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Issued by Victoria University of Wellington Public Affairs