Massey University Foundation receives historic $5 million gift

A Trust established by Taranaki philanthropist Dr George Mason is gifting $5 million to the Massey University Foundation to advance natural environmental research at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University.

The gift is the largest ever received by the Foundation and will establish the Dr George Mason Endowment Fund for Natural Environmental Research.

The endowment is expected to generate $250,000–$350,000 in income each year, which will be used by Massey Foundation to support research and scholarships that meet Dr Mason’s long-term vision for environmental stewardship.

Dr Mason was an accomplished research scientist, environmentalist and passionate advocate for the Taranaki region. In 1995, he established the George Mason Charitable Trust to promote science in schools and universities, and to support environmental initiatives, with a focus on the Taranaki region.

He began giving scholarships to Massey in 2002 and has contributed more than $600,000 in the past 24 years. Between 2012 and 2025 the George Mason Sustainable Land Use Scholarship was awarded to 50 College of Science students. In 2016, the Trust began funding comprehensive fulltime scholarships, including stipends, for students completing PhD research on wildlife.

For scholarship recipient Dr Emma Scheltema, the funding from the George Mason Trust made it possible for her to leave her full-time job and embark on a three-and-a-half-year PhD project into the diagnosis of, and potential new drug treatments for, coccidiosis in kiwi chicks in captivity.

“Knowing that someone believes your research project is important and worth funding gives you extra confidence. I just wanted to do a really good job and get results,” Dr Scheltema says.

Her research uncovered a new species of coccidia that infects tissue outside the intestine; established the blood biochemistry and haematology of kiwi chicks; identified a new method of administering anticoccidial drug treatments via food; and developed a method of testing drug levels in kiwis via their faeces.

“This was a really rare opportunity to do this kind of applied wildlife health research, and I hope the findings will be able to be used by conservationists working with kiwi.”

George Mason Trust Chair Barry Upson says before George died in 2024 he was very clear about his intention to give his entire estate to the Charitable Trust he established in 1995 providing scholarship funding to universities he was connected to.

Massey University Foundation Director Mitch Murdoch first met George Mason 15 years ago and describes him as both a scholar and a gentleman.

“He was a humble man, and a generous man, with an infinite curiosity for just about everything! George has done so much for so many people, and here at Massey we were privileged to have benefited from his philanthropy.” Ms Murdoch says.

“The incredible gift we have received from his Trust today will continue his legacy, and I hope that, in the great cycle of life, one of his PhD students will go on to become the next George Mason – an intelligent philanthropist with a passion for solving problems and helping people.”

As the George Mason Trust winds up its affairs, its remaining funds are being distributed to four universities with strong connections to Dr Mason and his philanthropy: Massey University, the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, and the University of Waikato.