Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith Award

Awanuiārangi celebrates international recognition of distinguished professor 

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi congratulates Council member, Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, who was recently honoured with the IUPsyS 2024 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Achievement Against the Odds Quadrennial Award. 

Hosted by the International Union of Psychological Science’s (IUPsyS), the award acknowledges a researcher who has succeeded in conducting research under difficult circumstances, involving personal risk or hardship, for the benefit of scientific research, the scientific community and/or the general public. The award emphasises resilience, with a particular focus on the long-term impact of the work. 

Upon receiving her award in Prague, Czech Republic on 22 July, Distinguished Professor Smith spoke of the importance of mātauranga Māori being recognised on the international stage. 

“I was honoured to receive such a prestigious award from a field of knowledge such as psychology that firstly, reflects on the wider impact of Māori scholarship and secondly acknowledges the continuing challenges that we face as Māori in having our knowledge, language and culture fully accepted in our own country.” 

Distinguished Professor Smith was nominated for the Award by the New Zealand Psychological Society.  In their nomination, they noted: 

“Professor Tuhiwai Smith’s role in Aotearoa as a leading academic across multiple national and international schools, universities, Māori research institutes, and Māori tertiary institutions, facilitated the growth and development of several indigenous led initiatives in both research, teaching and practice. 

“Her ability to cross spaces and knowledge systems has meant she has had an integral role in several cabinet appointed positions and served on all major funding boards. Consistently, Professor Smith has pushed back on settler-colonialism and driven an agenda based on Māori sovereignty. She is an inspiration, and her vision has provided the foundation for New Zealand’s contribution to international psychology.” 

The IUPsus Quadrennial Awards are the pre-eminent psychology awards in global psychological science and represent psychologists in more than 90 member countries. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu Achievement Against the Odds Award is conferred every four years at the International Congress of Psychology (ICP).  

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