Jean Herbison

Dame Jean Marjory Herbison DBE CMG (29 April 1923 – 20 May 2007) was a New Zealand academic, educator, researcher and Chancellor of the University of Canterbury. She was the first woman to hold the post of chancellor at a New Zealand university.

Biography

Herbison was born in Dunedin in 1923, and attended Southland Girls' High School.[1] She earned a BA from the University of Canterbury, a Diploma of Teaching from Auckland Teachers College, and an MA from the University of Northern Iowa. She was an Associate of the University of London Institute of Education. She has held a Fulbright Scholarship and an Imperial Relations Trust Fellowship.

She taught at Avonside Girls' High School from 1952 to 1959, and in 1960 became Dean of Christchurch Teachers' College. From 1968 to 1974 she was Vice-Principal of the Teachers College and in 1975 became associate director of Christchurch Polytechnic, a position she held until her retirement in 1984. She was elected to the Council of the University of Canterbury in 1970 and was Chancellor of the university from 1979 to 1984.[1]

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 (NZEI) and the New Zealand Institute of Management.

Herbison lived in retirement in Christchurch 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, for services to education,[2] 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, for services to education, in the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours.[3] In 1987 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Canterbury.[citation needed]

Jean Herbison Lecture

Since 1990 the Jean Herbison Lecture at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education honours Herbison.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Falconer, Phoebe (26 May 2007). "Obituary: Dame Jean Herbison". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  2. ^ "No. 46921". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 12 June 1976. p. 8055.
  3. ^ "No. 50155". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 15 June 1985. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Herbison Lecture". www.nzare.org.nz.
  5. ^ "Herbison Lecture". 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
Academic offices
Preceded by
Brian Anderson
 Chancellor of the University of Canterbury
1979–1984 		Succeeded by
Charles Caldwell