John Hinchcliff

John Hinchcliff
CNZM
John Hinchcliff CNZM
1st Vice-chancellor of AUT
	In office; 2000–2003
Succeeded by	Derek McCormack
Personal details
Born	John Clarence Hinchcliff; 9 October 1939 (age 85); Wairoa, New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Laurie Danz (m. 1964)
Children	6
Relatives	Geoffrey Palmer (brother-in-law)
Academic background
Alma mater	Drew University
Thesis	The logic of mystery: an analysis based on some contemporary philosophies (1969)
Academic work
Discipline	Philosophy
Institutions	Hampden–Sydney College; University of Auckland; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Auckland University of Technology

John Clarence Hinchcliff CNZM (born 9 October 1939) is a New Zealand university administrator, philosopher, politician and peace campaigner.

Biography

Hinchcliff was born in Wairoa on 9 October 1939, the son of Frank and Gwen Hinchcliff.^[1] He was educated at Nelson College from 1953 to 1958, where he was head prefect in his final year, and was a member of the school's 1st XV rugby union and first XI cricket teams.^[2] He then studied at the University of Canterbury, where he earned a Master of Arts (Hons) in philosophy. He was awarded a Rotary Foundation Fellowship, providing funding for a year anywhere in the world, choosing to go to the Middle East.^[3] He met his wife, Laurie Danz, while studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and they married in 1964.^[1]^[3] The couple went on to have six children.^[1]

After his time studying and working in Israel, Hinchcliff went to the United States where he attained a PhD at Drew University, New Jersey. He then taught both there and at the North-East Business Machines School. He declined the chairmanship of Drew University's philosophy department and instead from 1969 to 1973 he was assistant professor of philosophy at Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia. He returned to New Zealand to take up the position of chaplain at the University of Auckland. There he taught liberal arts, medical ethics and philosophy of genetic engineering. From 1980 to 1983, he was head of humanities at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where he taught social responsibility in science and technology as well as professional ethics as well as being heavily involved in administration of the institute.^[1]^[3]

Hinchcliff became involved in politics through the peace and nuclear disarmament movement and was a coordinator of the International Convention for Peace Action. He protested the visit of the nuclear-powered USS Pintado and was part of the flotilla that attempted to impede its entry into the Waitematā Harbour.^[4] Ahead of the 1975 general election, he took part in the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign.^[5] He stood for Parliament unsuccessfully as the Labour Party candidate in Eden in the 1978 election.^[6]

In 1984, Hinchcliff was appointed principal of the Auckland Technical Institute (ATI). He worked to transition ATI from a polytechnic to a university, and this was eventually agreed to by the government in 1999. ATI duly became a university from 1 January 2000, renaming itself as Auckland University of Technology (AUT). It was the first New Zealand polytechnic to become a university. From 2000 to 2003, Hinchcliff was vice-chancellor of AUT.^[7]^[8]

Hinchcliff was an Auckland City Councillor for three years. He represented the Tamaki-Maungakiekie Ward for the Labour Party from 2004 to 2007.^[9] In 2007 he stood unsuccessfully for Mayor of Auckland, placing fourth.^[10]

Honours and recognition

In 1990, Hinchcliff was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.^[1]

In the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hinchcliff was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education.^[11] In the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to education.^[12]

In 2006, Hinchcliff received an honorary doctorate from AUT.^[13] In 2014, he was conferred the title of emeritus vice-chancellor by AUT, in recognition of his role in transitioning that institution into a university.^[7]

Personal life and family

Hinchcliff has suffered from vision loss in later life, having both macular degeneration and glaucoma.^[14]

His sister Margaret is married to former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer.^[4] In 2009 his son, Edward, collapsed suddenly in public, later dying of a brain aneurysm.^[15]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 186. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
^ "Full school list of Nelson College, 1856–2005". Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006 (CD-ROM) (6th ed.). 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chapple, Max (9 April 1990). "Profile: John Hinchcliff". Craccum. p. 3.
^ ^a ^b Richards 2010, p. 15.
^ Richards 2010, p. 79.
^ Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. p. 221. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
^ ^a ^b "History of AUT". Auckland University of Technology. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
^ Harris, Natasha (28 January 2004). "AUT chief moves on after 20 years". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
^ Bassett, Michael (2013). City of sails: the history of Auckland City Council, 1989–2010. Upstart Press. p. 369. ISBN 978-1927262009.
^ "Declaration of Results". Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1997". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 June 1997. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2003". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 June 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^ "Auckland University of Technology calendar" (PDF). 2022. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
^ "Educator losing his vision, but not his zest for life". Blind Low Vision NZ. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
^ "24-year-old's death investigated". The New Zealand Herald. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

References

Richards, Raymond (2010) [First ed. published 1913]. Palmer: The parliamentary years. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-877257-92-6.