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.”