Massey University

Origins (1879–1926)

The idea of establishing an agricultural college in New Zealand’s North Island gained momentum as early as 1879, championed by figures like Sir George Grey, and late by Inspector-General George Hogben.^[23]  In 1912, newly elected Prime Minister William Ferguson Massey made the project his priority, leading to the formation of agriculture chairs at Victoria University College (Wellington, 1923) and Auckland University College (1924). In 1926, both institutions transferred their agricultural schools under the New Zealand Agricultural College Act to form the New Zealand Agricultural College. Shortly thereafter, the decision was made to establish the college at the Batchelar property near Palmerston North.^[24][25][26]

Massey Agricultural College (1927–1962)

The first College Council meeting took place in Wellington on 1 February 1927. In September 1927 the Massey Agricultural College Act was passed, renaming the college Massey Agricultural College^[27] after former New Zealand Prime Minister William Fergusson Massey, who died in 1925 and had been vigorous in land reform efforts. The college opened on its doors to students on 2 March 1928, under the leadership of Principal Geoffrey Peren and Vice-Principal William Riddet. Initial enrolment featured eight students on Day One, swelling to 85 by the end of the first year, and 175 in the second.^[28][29]

On 20 March 1928 the college was officially opened by Minister of Agriculture Oswald Hawken.^[30] The college emphasised practical farming alongside scientific study, pioneering research in dairy, irrigation, and animal breeding on its own farmlands. Despite hardship during the Great Depression and World War II, it expanded student accommodation, established the students’ association (featuring the ram’s head symbol in 1930), and welcomed its first female diploma student, Enid Hills,^[31] in 1932, and in 1938 its first female undergraduate degree student, Paddy Thorpe.^[32][33][34]

Post-war growth set the stage for university status. In 1961, after the dissolution of the University of New Zealand, the agricultural college became Massey College and allied temporarily with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) until full autonomy could be gained.^[35]

University status and expansion (1963–1992)

The establishment in 1960 of the Palmerston North University College (PNUC), a branch of Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), provided university-level education in the humanities and social sciences in Palmerston North, and also introduced distance education. On 1 January 1963, PNUC and Massey College merged to become Massey University College of Manawatu.^[36]  The Massey University Act of 1963 officially established Massey University of Manawatu on 1 January 1964, granting it full autonomy and university status, including the power to confer degrees. The current name, Massey University, was adopted in 1966.^[37][30]

Under founding Vice-Chancellor Sir Alan Stewart (1964–82), the university grew rapidly. In its first year it enrolled approximately 1,877 students (about equal internal and extramural), and by 1992 the total roll had grown to nearly 24,700 across nine faculties.^[38] Key early faculties included agriculture, veterinary science (unique among NZ universities), technology, science, humanities, social sciences, business, education, and maths/information science.^[39]

Multi campus growth (1993–present)

The 1990s saw Massey University expanding and become a tri-city university and expand its academic programmes:

• Auckland campus opened at Albany on Auckland's North Shore in 1993, under Vice-Chancellor Sir Neil Waters. Classes at this campus began that same year.
• The merger with Palmerston North College of Education occurred in 1996, under Vice-Chancellor Prof James McWha.
• Wellington Polytechnic merged with Massey University in 1999, which lead to the formation of the College of Creative Arts in Wellington.^[40]

In the late 1990s, the university's nine faculties were rationalised into five colleges: Business, Creative Arts, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Sciences. In 2013, the College of Education was merged into the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a new College of Health was established.^[41] The goals of the establishment of the College of Health are to promote health and wellbeing, disease and injury prevention and protect people and communities from environmental risks to health.^[42]

In April 2024, Massey University signed an agreement with the private Singaporean education provider PSB Academy to provide various media, design and management courses as part of plans to establish a campus in Singapore. Chancellor Jan Thomas said this was part of Massey University's plans to diversify its income and enrol 5,000 offshore students by 2026.^[43] The campus opened its first intake in November 2024.^[44]

Auckland campus (Ōtehā)

Since 1993 the Ōtehā campus in Auckland has grown rapidly in a fast developing part of Auckland's North Shore City. Science and Business are the two largest colleges on the campus, with the College of Science housing the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study solely on the campus. Around 4,809 students are enrolled at Albany.^[46] This campus has grown since then and an on-campus accommodation facility opened in semester one 2015.^[47] On the Albany campus, a large golden chicken wing sculpture commemorates the site's history as a chicken farm.^[48]

On 1 July 2025 the New Zealand Police opened a branch of the Royal New Zealand Police College on the Massey campus. This facility is being used for recruit training as well as senior courses.^[49]

Palmerston North campus (Manawatū)

Massey University was first established at the Turitea campus in Palmerston North, and hosts around 3000 students annually.^[50]

The Turitea site houses the main administrative units of Massey University as well as the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Sciences, the College of Health and Massey Business School. It is also home to the only Veterinary School in New Zealand. Massey University acquired a smaller second campus in Palmerston North in Hokowhitu when it merged with the Palmerston North College of Education in 1996, which was combined with the existing Faculty of Education to form Massey University's College of Education. In 2013 the Institute of Education was formed as part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The Hokowhitu Campus was later sold in 2016 after the institute was relocated to the Turitea campus.^[51]

Wharerata is a historic colonial home built in 1901 and surrounded by formal gardens and mature trees. It housed the staff social club until the late 1990s, and is now used as a cafe, function centre and wedding venue.^[52]

In 2019, Heritage New Zealand listed student hostel, Colombo Hall as a category 2 historic place. It was built in 1964.^[53]

In February 2023 the university announced that it would be building two solar farms on the Palmerston North campus, with a peak output of 7.87MW.^[54]

Wellington campus (Pukeahu)

The Pukeahu campus in Wellington campus was created through the merger with Wellington Polytechnic that was approved by the New Zealand Government and took place in 1999.^[55] The history of Wellington Polytechnic goes back to 1886 when the Wellington School of Design was established, it had a name change in 1891 to Wellington Technical School and in 1963 it was divided into Wellington Polytechnic and Wellington High School.^[56]

The Pukeahu campus primarily specialises in Design (College of Creative Arts), Nursing and Communication and Journalism. It has over 2,500 students.^[46]

Extramural

Extramural study first began in 1960 and Massey University is New Zealand's largest and pre-eminent provider of distance education.^[57] Massey is known for its flexible learning and innovative delivery options and this tradition continues in the use of blended and online learning.

In the mid-2010s, the university embarked on a major project to further digitise its distance delivery and in 2015 adopted Moodle (branded as Stream) as its new Learning Management System (LMS).^[58][59]

Libraries

The Massey University Library was first established at Massey Agricultural College in 1930 when the first librarian, Erica Baillie, was appointed at the college. The library of the Palmerston North University College became part of the Massey College Library after the merger of the two institutions in 1963. With the expansion of the university to other locations, site libraries were established. These include the Auckland campus library in 1993, the Hokowhitu site library in 1996 (since closed) with the merger with Palmerston North College of Education, and Wellington campus library in 1999 with the merger with Wellington Polytechnic. For a time in the 2000s, a site library was also operated at Ruawharo in Napier.^[60]

Like the university, the library has grown exponentially since the 1960s. It caters for both on-campus and distance students. Māori materials are well represented in the library collections. Among the collections with Māori material are the Ngā Kupu Ora collection, Māori Land Court Minute Books and the Bagnall collection. Heritage collections administered by the library include the Library Special Collections and the Massey University Archives.^[61]

Singapore campus

In April 2024, Chancellor Jan Thomas and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed that Massey University would partner with Singapore's PSB Academy as part of plans to establish an international branch campus.^[43] The Singapore campus opened in November 2024, offering a bachelor in information science, a bachelor of business of analytics.^[62]

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Massey University^[79]

Adopted 1967 Crest On a wreath of the colours issuant from flames proper a ram's head argent horned and ensigned by the horns of the African long legged ram. Escutcheon Gyronny of ten argent and azure a mullet gules ambriated argent and irradiated or. Motto Floreat scientia (Latin: 'Let knowledge flourish')

Key facts

From 2024 Annual Report:^[80]

• 2,655 staff
• 26,099 students (15,947 EFTS)
• 3,163 Māori students
• 1,593 Pacific students
• 262 women in leadership positions (49%)
• 2 National Centres of Research Excellence (and numerous university-based Research Centres)^[81]

Academic reputation

In the 2026 Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings (published 2025), the university attained a tied position of #230 (3rd nationally).^[93]

In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026 (published 2025), the university attained a position of #501–600 (tied 5–7th nationally).^[94]

In the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities, the university attained a position of #801-900 (tied 6th nationally).^[95]

In the 2025–2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities, the university attained a tied position of #660 (6th nationally).^[96]

In the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2024,^[a] the university attained a position of #677 (3rd nationally).^[97]

Te Tira Ahu Pae

Te Tire Ahu Pae (TTAP) is the single students' association at Massey University's four campuses in Pāmamao – Distance, Ōtehā – Auckland, Manawatū – Palmerston North and Pukeahu – Wellington. In the new structure, there are a total of 31 student reps on the Te Tira Ahu Pae Student Executive.^[98]

Te Tire Ahu Pae provides both representation and student services to Massey University students.

The services TTAP delivers include:

• Student Representation
• Advocacy
• Clubs and societies
• Events
• Media – Radio Control 99.4FM and Massive Magazine

Faculty and staff

Notable faculty, past or present, include:

Notable alumni

Politicians

• Paula Bennett (BA, social policy)
• Ashraf Choudhary (PhD, agronomy)
• Brian Connell (history and geography)
• Wyatt Creech (agriculture)
• Peter Dunne (business administration)
• Nathan Guy (agriculture)
• Pete Hodgson (BVSc, veterinary science)
• Steven Joyce (BSc, zoology)
• John Luxton (BAgSci and Dip. Ag Science)
• Steve Maharey (MA, sociology)
• Tony Ryall (BBS and Dip. Business Studies)
• Nicky Wagner (MBA)
• Ian Shearer (MAgSci)
• Sir Lockwood Smith (BAgSci and MAgSci)

Sportspeople

• Jo Aleh (born 1986) – world champion and Olympic champion sailor
• Nathan Cohen (born 1986) – world champion and Olympic champion rower
• Rico Gear – rugby union
• Scott Talbot – swimmer and swimming coach^[99]
• Farah Palmer (Black Ferns)
• Graham Henry (All Blacks)
• Paul Hitchcock (Black Caps)
• Nehe Milner-Skudder (All Blacks)
• Gemma Flynn (Black Sticks)
• Sally Johnston – sport shooter^[100]

Others

• Fiona Alpass – full professor at the Massey University.
• Kay Cohen (born 1952) – fashion designer
• Catherine Day – biochemist (BSc and PhD)
• Lucy Easthope – researcher
• Robert Holmes à Court (1937–1990) – businessman (BAgSci, forestry)
• Susan Kemp – social work academic
• Alan Kirton (1933–2001) – agricultural scientist (BAgrSc and MAgSc)
• Phil Lamason – WWII RNZAF pilot^[101]
• Kyle Lockwood – architectural designer, designer of the Silver fern flag (DipDArch and DipArchTech)
• Ross McEwan – banker, CEO of National Australia Bank^[102]
• Claire McLachlan – professor, specialist in early-childhood literacy^[103]
• Simon Moutter – engineer, businessman (BSc, physics)
• Craig Norgate – businessman
• Jaedyn Randell – singer^[104]
• Alan Stewart (1917–2004) – founding vice-chancellor of Massey
• Richard Taylor – special effects technician
• Stephen Tindall – businessman
• Saffronn Te Ratana – artist
• Mona Williams (born 1943) – writer and English lecturer

Honorary doctors

Massey University have recognised the contribution of many national and international notable people with honorary doctorates since 1964. Among them, there is Peng Liyuan, the first lady of the current Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

• List of honorary doctors of Massey University

Chancellor Kelly's resignation

In December 2016, the Chancellor of the university, Chris Kelly, caused outrage by making several comments in a rural newspaper regarding the gender of those in the veterinarian profession. While outlining changes that were being made to the structure of the university's veterinarian and agricultural degrees, Kelly said that more women passed the first year of the veterinarian degree "because women mature earlier than men, work hard and pass. Whereas men find out about booze and all sorts of crazy things during their first year... That’s fine, but the problem is one woman graduate is equivalent to two-fifths of a full-time equivalent vet throughout her life because she gets married and has a family, which is normal."^[106] These remarks caused widespread outrage,^[107] with Kelly's apology via Twitter and Facebook doing little to calm the situation.^[108] Kelly resigned as Chancellor on 14 December 2016, and was replaced promptly by then Pro Chancellor Michael Ahie.^[109]

2018 Don Brash visit

In August 2018 Don Brash, a former Leader of the Opposition, was due to speak at the university following an invitation of the Massey University Politics Society. Citing security concerns, Jan Thomas, the Vice Chancellor of Massey University, cancelled the booking the student society had made to use university facilities.^[110] Thomas was widely criticised^[111][112] and calls were made for her resignation.^[113] The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern described canceling the event as an overreaction.^[114] A review by Massey University's Council subsequently cleared Thomas of wrongdoing, with Chancellor Michael Ahie stating that the Council supported and had full confidence in Professor Thomas.^[115] Massey University's Māori staff association Te Matawhānui publicly spoke out in support of Thomas, particularly due to her leadership of Massey as a Treaty of Waitangi-led university.^[115]

RPNow Exam Monitoring (2020s)

Between 2020 and 2024, Massey University used an artificial intelligence remote exam monitoring tool called Remote Proctor Now (RPNow) to detect cheating in closed-book exams.^[116][117] The university stopped using it in 2024 after experiencing technical problems.^[117]

Singapore Campus Proposal and Restructuring (2023)

In 2023, Massey controversially proposed opening a campus in Singapore, aiming to have 5,000 students based offshore by 2026. The university’s plans to expand overseas while cutting jobs at home angered staff and students^[118] at a time when significant cost cutting was taking place under Vice Chancellor Jan Thomas. The university reported a loss estimated at $50 million^[119] as of October 2023, which had previously been reported as $33 million in September 2023 and at $14.2 million deficit in July 2023.^[120] Cuts, including reducing staff numbers in the schools of Natural Sciences and Food and Advanced Technology by around 60 per cent, were described as 'brutal'^[121] with Radio New Zealand reporting fears the plan puts the university into a death spiral.^[122]

On 14 December 2023, Massey University confirmed that it would lay off over 60 jobs at its College of Sciences as part of a restructure.^[123] On 18 December, Massey confirmed that it was planning to sell or lease NZ$151 million worth of property on its three campuses to address its financial problems. The affected properties include nine buildings at the Albany campus including lecture halls and a recreation centre, four buildings in Wellington, and nine in Manawatū including two student villages and farmland. Under the proposed sale, the university would sell of much of its Albany campus except the new science building.^[124]

Defunding the Students' Association

In October 2024 Massey University announced it would no longer be funding their students' association- Te Tira Ahu Pae for 2025.

After receiving backlash from the student body who said the move would "set an alarming precedent for the future of independent student unionism in New Zealand"^[125] the university agreed to renew their contracts with the association.