Massey recognises top alumni, teachers, researchers

The University’s most prestigious alumni award, the Sir Geoffrey Peren Medal, was presented to Dame Margaret Bazley, regarded by many as one of the nation’s most respected public servants.

Dame Margaret entered the public service as a psychiatric hospital nurse, after gaining her Diploma of Nursing at Massey University in the late 1950s.

From taking down the barriers surrounding mental health patients to pushing for equal employment policies, the 81-year old has tirelessly blazed a trail for others to follow. Last year she came out of retirement to lead an external review of law firm Russell McVeagh after allegations of sexual misconduct involving interns. She also oversaw the public inquiry into the Louise Nicholas rape case, which involved several senior police officers in Rotorua in the 1980s.

(From left) Chancellor Michael Ahie, Dame Margaret Bazley, Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas.

The Sir Geoffrey Peren Medal

The award is presented to someone considered a visionary and a leader, respected in their field of expertise for significant and ongoing contributions to business or professional life, as well as meritorious service to the University, community or nation.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas says Dame Margaret is a most deserving recipient of the ultimate accolade for Massey's alumni, of whom there are more than 140,000.

"Some are high-fliers and well-known internationally; others are making a difference in their own communities, often without recognition,” Professor Thomas says. “We know that many of them trace the formation of their values and attitudes, even their relationships, back to their time studying with us. It makes us enormously proud to have contributed to their personal development and success."

In 1993, Dame Margaret was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal, in 1999 she was appointed Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and she was later made an additional member of the Order of New Zealand in 2012. She received an Honorary Doctor of Literature from Massey in 2008.

The annual Defining Excellence Awards recognise Massey University graduates, researchers and teachers who have made outstanding contributions in their careers or to their communities, as well as partner institutions or businesses that have worked closely with the University over several years.

The other alumni recipients were:

• David Wallace, farmer and conservationist, (Bachelor of Agriculture, 1962), was presented the Distinguished Service Award.

• Lizzie Marvelly, singer-songwriter and commentator, (Bachelor of Arts Service, 2015) received the Distinguished Young Alumni Award.

• Professor Rosemary Horne, Monash University Richie Centre deputy director and head of infant and child health, (Bachelor of Science, 1976, Master of Science, 1979), received the Distinguished Achievement Award.

The recipients of the Partnership Excellence Awards, which recognises businesses and other organisations the University has special relationships with, were the Palmerston North City Council in the domestic category and the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in the international category.

David Wallace has been involved in farming since graduating from Massey His father, James Wallace, formed the farming company JD & RD Wallace after David returned from university. They had 260ha of undeveloped land purchased in 1949 on peat swamp between Cambridge and Te Awamutu, and the company continued to buy and convert more peat land into productive pasture. 

In the 1970s they teamed up with a Brisbane-based company, Austrex, and took New Zealand-bred dairy cattle to the world, contracting North Island dairy farmers to breed their Friesian cows to Sahiwal semen to produce a crossbred animal with high milk yield and adapted to heat. Up to 6500 heifers were shipped annually to clients in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and Venezuela. Among the first New Zealanders to venture into farming in Brazil, David and his son, Simon, are part of the Leitissimo company that purchased undeveloped land 18 years ago that is being converted into dairy pastures. The farming part of Leitissimo, Leite Verde (Green Milk), milks 3000 cows. Leitissimo runs an ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing factory for most of the milk produced but increasing volumes are made into fruit-flavoured ice creams and yoghurts.

Lizzie Marvelly, Te Arawa, is a singer/songwriter, writer and editor from Rotorua. In May 2015 the 29-year-old launched an online media site called Villainesse. In September that year she launched the first Villainesse project, “#MyBodyMyTerms”, a global campaign featuring a number of high-profile New Zealanders designed to spark conversations about sexual violence, victim blaming, revenge porn and consent.