University of Waikato - History

History

The University of Waikato owes its existence to a determined group of Hamilton locals, who in 1956 launched a petition for a university to serve the needs of the South Auckland region. The group was led by Douglas Seymour, a barrister, and subsequently Anthony (‘Rufus’) Rogers, a Hamilton GP and brother to long-time Hamilton mayor Denis Rogers.

Their campaign coincided with a shortage of teachers in the 1950s that prompted the New Zealand government to consider plans for a teachers’ college in the region. Where there was a teachers’ college, there needed to be a university to give students access to undergraduate courses.

In 1960, the newly-established Hamilton Teachers’ College opened its doors, and combined forces with the fledgling university (then a branch of Auckland University) to plan a new joint campus on farmland at Hillcrest, on the city’s outskirts.

In 1964, the two institutions moved to their new home, and the following year the University of Waikato was officially opened by then Governor-General Sir Bernard Fergusson (later Lord Ballantrae).

The first Vice-Chancellor, Dr Don Llewellyn, was keen to develop the shared campus as one and build a single academic programme, an approach welcomed by the Teachers’ College Principal, John Allan. But even the idea of co-location flew in the face of established practice, and the formal merger of the two institutions did not take place until 1990.

At this time the University comprised a School of Humanities and a School of Social Sciences. In 1969, Dr Llewellyn succeeded in persuading the authorities to fund the establishment of a School of Science (now the Faculty of Science and Engineering).

This was followed by the creation of Waikato Management School in 1972, Computer Science and Computing Services (which ultimately became the Faculty of Computing and Mathematical Sciences) in 1973, and the establishment of the School (now Faculty) of Law in 1990.

From the beginning, it was envisaged that Māori studies should be a key feature of the new University, and the Centre for Māori Studies and Research was finally set up in the School of Social Sciences in 1972, after many delays. A separate School of Māori and Pacific Development was formally established in 1996.

In 1999, the original Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences were merged to form the School (later Faculty) of Arts and Social Sciences.

In 1998, the University formed an alliance with the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic to facilitate teaching in the Western Bay of Plenty. The first students from the University of Waikato at Tauranga graduated at a ceremony held in Tauranga in 2001.

In 2010, the tertiary partnership was widened to include Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, and funding is currently being sought for a dedicated university-led campus in Tauranga.