Rate My Professor Ranginui Walker

Emeritus Professor Ranginui Joseph Isaac Walker was a leading Māori academic and advocate at the University of Auckland. He earned a Diploma in Teaching, a Bachelor of Arts in 1962, a Master of Arts in 1966, and a PhD in 1970 from the University of Auckland, with his doctoral thesis examining the social adjustment of Māori to urban living in Auckland. After working as a primary school teacher for ten years, he lectured in the Anthropology Department from 1967 and later served at the Centre for Continuing Education for fifteen years, where he published papers on Māori education and organised leadership conferences on topics including urbanisation, Māori land, fisheries, and parliamentary representation.

Walker was appointed Associate Professor of Māori Studies in 1986, Professor and Head of the Department of Māori Studies from 1993 to 1997, and Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori from 1996 to 1997. His major publications include Nga Tau Tohetohe: The Years of Anger (1987), Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle without End (1990), Nga Pepa a Ranginui: The Walker Papers (1997), He Tipua: The Life and Times of Sir Apirana Ngata (2001), Opotiki Mai Tawhiti (2007), and Paki Harrison: Tohunga Whakairo (2008). He served on the National Advisory Committee on Māori Education (1980–1984), the Waitangi Tribunal (from 2003), and various Māori councils. Walker received the Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001, the Te Tohu o te Māramatanga Research Excellence Award in 2007, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award in 2009, and Distinguished Alumni status from the University of Auckland in 2012. He passed away in 2016.