Top professor joins Te Wānanga o Aotearoa board
Professor Jacinta Ruru - Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Maniapoto - has joined Te Mana Whakahaere, the board of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Board chair Vanessa Eparaima made the announcement last week and says Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is fortunate to have someone with Prof. Ruru’s experience, knowledge and mana to help steer Te Wānanga o Aotearoa into the future.
Prof. Ruru is Aotearoa’s first Māori law professor, one of our leading Māori legal scholars and last year became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and the Law.
She has lectured at Otago University for more than 20 years and her research interests are in areas such as tikanga Māori and Indigenous laws, Māori land law, Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi and United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the decolonisation of New Zealand’s research sector and legal education.
Prof. Ruru says she looks forward to working with Te Mana Whakahaere and contributing to the Te Wānanga o Aotearoa vision of whānau transformation through education.
“Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has a long history of working for our people and I’m excited to be able to play a role in its ongoing success.”
Pūrongo whakahirahira
Featured stories
From the classroom to the world stage for toi kaiako
From the classrooms of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa to the bright lights of New York City, toi kaiako Shawnee Tekii and Jordyn Daniels (Ngāi Tahu) took their creativity to the world stage earlier this year, showcasing their mahi toi across one of the world's most iconic cities.
From full-time māmā to future social worker
Like many māmā, Nickola Savage (Ngāti Rangitihi) has dedicated much of her time to her whānau, ensuring her 3 tamariki are cared for and supported. But alongside her role as a full-time māmā, Nickola felt ready to do something for herself.
Te Reo Kairangi – kia tika, kia rere, kia Māori, kia ora!
Ehara kē i te mea ko te angitu haeretanga o Te Reo Kairangi e mātāmua ana i ō Leon Blake whakaaro, engari ko ngā hua ka whakahokia e ngā tauira ki ō rātou iwi, ki ō rātou hapori, ki ngā uri whakaheke anō hoki.
Vote at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in the 2026 General Election
Selected Te Wānanga o Aotearoa campuses will be open as voting places during the 2026 General Election, making it easier for tauira, kaimahi, whānau and our wider communities to have their say.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa launches new reo Māori programmes to help te reo thrive for generations to come
For over four decades, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has created pathways for generations of tauira to learn, speak, teach and live te reo Māori. That legacy has supported the return of te reo Māori to everyday life, from whānau learning their first kupu, to tauira carrying reo onto marae, and into workplaces, classrooms and homes.
Turning a passion for rongoā into community healing
Rongoā Māori has always been part of Patricia Tangira-Falwasser's life, but it was her studies at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa that deepened her knowledge and inspired her to start a business that now serves her wider community.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa kaimahi claims gold at Waka Ama World Championship
Ken Henry (Te Whakatōhea, Waikato-Tainui) is a Tauira Support Advisor at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Whakatāne campus who took home gold at the Waka Ama World Championships in Singapore in August.
A passion for taonga Māori takes Chanel to Oxford
What started as a desire to strengthen her reo Māori has taken Chanel Coromandel (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Whanaunga) on an unexpected path, leading to an opportunity to contribute to the care and preservation of taonga Māori at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England.
Reconnecting to te ao Māori through raranga
Haylee Roussel (Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne, Ngāti Maniapoto) was searching for a way to reconnect with te ao Māori when she enrolled in the Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Art, Raranga, at the Waiwhero campus of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
A journey shaped by whānau and a love of tamariki
Members of Tayla-Marie Takawe’s (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto) whānau were among the first tauira to graduate from the Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching) at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
