Dame Jean Marjory Herbison (29 April 1923 – 20 May 2007) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

academic, educator, researcher and

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

. She was the first woman to hold the post of chancellor at a New Zealand university.

Biography

Herbison was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in 1923, and attended Southland Girls' High School. She earned a BA from the

, a Diploma of Teaching from Auckland Teachers College, and an MA from the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

. She was an Associate of the University of London Institute of Education. She has held a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

and an Imperial Relations Trust Fellowship. She taught at

Avonside Girls' High School Avonside Girls' High School (), is a large urban high school in Christchurch, New Zealand, with more than 1,000 girls from Year 9 to Year 13. It was formerly in the suburb of Avonside but moved in 2019, along with Shirley Boys' High School, to ...

from 1952 to 1959, and in 1960 became Dean of

Christchurch Teachers' College The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

. From 1968 to 1974 she was Vice-Principal of the Teachers College and in 1975 became associate director of

Christchurch Polytechnic Ara Institute of Canterbury, often simply referred to as Ara, is an institute of technology in Canterbury, New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 from the merger of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) and Aoraki Polytechnic. A ...

, a position she held until her retirement in 1984. She was elected to the Council of the University of Canterbury in 1970 and was

of the university from 1979 to 1984. Herbison was a Fellow of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and the New Zealand Educational Administration and Leadership Society. She was an Honorary Fellow of the

New Zealand Educational Institute The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI; in Māori: Te Riu Roa) is the largest education trade union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1883 and has a membership of 50,000. History The NZEI was founded by a merger of district institutes o ...

(NZEI) and the New Zealand Institute of Management. Herbison lived in retirement in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

before her death in 2007.

Honours and awards

In the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours, Herbision was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

, for services to education, and in 1977 she was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal. She was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to education, in the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 1987 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Canterbury.

Jean Herbison Lecture

Since 1990 the Jean Herbison Lecture at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education honours Herbison. * 2023 Alex Gunn * 2022 John O'Neill * 2021

Melinda Webber Melinda Webber is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in Māori identity and ways in which race, ethnicity, identity and culture impact on young people and their success. She is of Ngāti H ...

* 2020 no conference * 2019 Sonja Lee MacFarlane * 2018

Rae Siilata Rae may refer to: People *Rae (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Rae (surname), including a list of people with the surname Nicknames for *Rachel (given name) * Rachelle * Raquel *Raven (given name) * Reema *Reena (di ...

* 2017

Leonie Pihama Leonie Eileen Pihama (born 1962) is a New Zealand kaupapa Māori academic. Career Pihama was born in 1962. She wrote her 1993 master's thesis at the University of Auckland with the title ''Tungia te ururua, kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o t ...

* 2016

Helen May Helen May (born Helen May Bradwell on 25 February 1947; from 1968 to 1983 known as Helen Cook or sometimes Helen May Cook) is a New Zealand education pioneer. She has been an eloquent activist and academic in education, with a strong feminist ...

* 2015

Joce Jesson Joce is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Robert Joce, British slalom canoeist * John Joce (disambiguation), multiple people {{Short pages monitor