11 Oct 2013

Residential college remembers rangatira

7:44 pm on 11 October 2013

A new residential college at the University of Otago is to be named after a prominent Maori rangatira who graduated from the tertiary institution more than 100 years ago.

The college is to be called Te Rangi Hiroa College in honour of the Otago graduate, also known as Sir Peter Buck, who took on a number of vocations after university, including medicine, politics and anthropology.

It's believed the late Dr Hiroa, of Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama descent, was the university's first Maori graduate when he gained a medical degree in 1904.

Dr Hiroa also received a Distinguished Service Order after the battle of Gallipoli in World War I, where he served as a medical officer.