John Clarence Hinchcliff CNZM is a New Zealand university administrator, philosopher, politician and peace campaigner.
Biography
Hinchcliff was born in Wairoa. He attended Nelson College in the 1950s before moving to Christchurch 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. He met his wife Laurie while studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in the mid-1960s.[1]
After his time studying and working in Israel he 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 Auckland University. There he taught liberal arts, medical ethics and philosophy of genetic engineering. He was then 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]
He became involved in politics through the peace and nuclear disarmament movement and was a co-ordinator of the International Convention for Peace Action. He protested the visit of the nuclear powered USS Pintado and was part of the flotilla that attemped to impede its entry into Waitemata Harbour.[2] Ahead of the 1975 general election, he took part in the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign.[3] He stood for Parliament unsuccessfully as the Labour Party candidate in Eden in the 1978 election.[4]
In 1984 he was appointed principal of the Auckland Technical Institute (ATI). After his work to transition ATI from a polytechnic to a university 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 Hinchcliff was Vice-Chancellor of AUT until 2003.[5][6]
Hinchcliff was an Auckland City Councillor for three years. He represented the Tamaki-Maungakiekie Ward for the Labour Party from 2004 to 2007.[7] In 2007 he stood unsuccessfully for Mayor of Auckland, placing fourth.[8]
In 2014 Hinchcliff, in recognition of his role in transitioning AUT into becoming a university, was appointed Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of AUT.[5]
Honours and recognition
In the 1997 Birthday Honours he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education.[9] In the 2003 Birthday Honours he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit also for his services to education.[10]
Personal life and family
He has suffered from vision loss in later life having both macular degeneration and glaucoma.[11]
His sister Margaret is married to former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer.[2] In 2009 his son, Edward, collapsed suddenly in public, later dying of a brain aneurysm.[12]
Notes
- ^ a b 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. p. 369. ISBN 1927262003.
- ^ "Declaration of Results". Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
Further reading
- Reidy, Jane (2004). We Are, Therefore I Am: The Life of John Hinchcliff. Auckland: Auckland University of Technology. ISBN 9781877314209. OCLC 156237799.