Dame Patricia Mary Harrison (née Thomson; born 6 September 1932) is a New Zealand educationalist.

Early life and family

Born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

on 6 September 1932, Harrison was educated at

Otago Girls' High School , motto_translation = The Right Education Makes The Heart As Strong As Oak , type = State , grades = 9 - 13 , grades_label = Years , gender = Girls-only , established = ; years ago , address = 41 Tennyson Street ...

from 1946 to 1950. She went on to study at Dunedin Teachers' College and the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, graduating with

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

with second-class honours in 1957. In 1957, she married Arthur Keith Harrison, and the couple went on to have three children.

Education career

In 1955, Harrison's first teaching post was at

Queen's High School, Dunedin Queen's High School is a state single-sex girls' secondary school in Dunedin. It is located at the southern end of the city close to the boundary between the suburbs of St Clair and Forbury, next to the parallel single-sex boys' school, King's ...

, where she became interested in students with special needs. All of her teaching career, apart from three years in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, was spent in

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

, and she served as principal of

from 1975 to 1994.

Community involvement

Since her retirement, Harrison has continued working with young people in Dunedin, helping the vulnerable and those who drop out of formal education, through programmes run by various community organisations including the Otago Youth Wellness Trust, which she founded in 1996. Between 1983 and 1994, Harrison was a member of the University of Otago Council. She also served as a member of the

Otago Regional Council Otago Regional Council (ORC) is the regional council for Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. The council's principal office is Regional House on Stafford Street in Dunedin with 250-275 staff, with smaller offices in Queenstown and Alexand ...

. Other community roles have included being an executive member of the Dunedin Council of Social Services, and chair of the Otago Regional Access Employment Council.

Honours and awards

In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Harrison was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services. In 1990, she received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

, and in 1993 she was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. She was made a

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to education and the community, in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, and following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, she accepted redesignation as a

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Pat 1932 births Living people Schoolteachers from Dunedin People educated at Otago Girls' High School University of Otago alumni Heads of schools in New Zealand Otago regional councillors Companions of the Queen's Service Order Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit