Sir Alan Stewart (8 December 1917 – 1 September 2004) was a New Zealand educator and university administrator. He was principal of

Massey Agricultural College Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

from 1959 to 1963 and founding

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

from 1964 to 1983, during which time he guided the institution's transition from

agricultural college This article lists agricultural universities and colleges around the world, by continent and country. Africa Algeria * Higher National Agronomic School (French name: Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique) Benin * Agricultural University of ...

to full university. He is noted for building the university's internationally recognised agricultural programme, as well as for greatly expanding the university's extramural programme to make tertiary education available to rural New Zealanders. He was knighted in 1981 for services to education.

Biography

Early life

Alan Stewart was born on 8 December 1917 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

.Marsden, p. 3. He attended primary school in Auckland and Whakatane, and then his first years of high school at Whakatane District High School, where he was awarded a junior national scholarship. In 1934, he transferred to

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

in Auckland. Stewart excelled in sport at school, serving as captain of the swimming team and also taking part in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and athletics. In 1936, Stewart began taking lectures at

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

while playing

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

for the Auckland junior representative rugby team. In 1937, he began lectures at Massey Agricultural College in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

where he was awarded the Lord Bledisloe Prize and the 1940 senior scholarship in agriculture for his academic achievements, and where he earned his

Bachelor of Agricultural Science The Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSAg) or the Bachelor of Agriculture (BAg) is the undergraduate academic degree awarded by tertiary faculty of agriculture. The program is typically four years of study at postsecondary level. In Canada, th ...

in 1939 and Master of Agricultural Science in 1940. While at Massey, he served as captain of both the college rugby team and the Manawatu rugby team and was a member of the North Island Universities' rugby team. He was nominated for the

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

trials in 1939. Stewart also held several college championships in tennis, swimming,

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

and

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

."Rhodes Scholar".

World War II and England

In 1940, Stewart was awarded Massey's second

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

; however, his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and Stewart served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

for the duration of the war.Falconer. After the war, he began working as an assistant lecturer at Massey Agricultural College. In 1946, Stewart was finally able to fulfil his Rhodes Scholarship and moved to England to attend the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he was an

Oxford Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

in rugby, played for the combined Oxford-Cambridge rugby team in the 1948 tour of Argentina, and was selected for the Scotland national rugby team, although a knee injury ended his rugby-playing career.Marsden, p. 7. After completing his

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at Oxford in 1949, Stewart returned to Massey as a senior lecturer in

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

in 1950, marrying Joan Sisam the same year. Realising that he would need overseas experience in order to play a more significant role at Massey, Stewart returned to England in 1954 to serve as the Chief Consulting Officer of the Milk Marketing Board of England and Wales until 1958.Marsden, p. 6.

Massey vice-chancellorship

Returning to New Zealand again in 1959, Stewart was appointed principal of Massey Agricultural College at a time when the college's enrolment stood at just 578 students. In 1964, Massey was made an independent university and Stewart was appointed its first vice-chancellor. During his tenure, Stewart oversaw the expansion of the university, especially that of its extramural programme, which he saw as a means for the university to improve the economic welfare of all New Zealanders, no matter their location.Daniel. Massey University soon earned international recognition for its agricultural programme due in part to what one New Zealand

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

deemed Stewart's "extraordinary contributions". Numerous academic buildings were constructed during Stewart's tenure, and his love of fine trees contributed to the lush landscape of the university."Lives of Note". Stewart also served as president of the

Manawatu Rugby Union The Manawatu Rugby Football Union (MRU) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. Founded in 1886, Manawatu is one of New Zealand's oldest rugby unions. In 1892, the MRU, amongst other ...

.Wood.

Knighthood and retirement

He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1972 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1972 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

and promoted to

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to education, before retiring from the university in 1983. At the time of his retirement, Massey University had an annual budget of $30 million, operated 500 hectares of farmland, and enrolled thousands of students. In May 1984, Massey University awarded him an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

. Following his retirement from the university, Stewart relocated from Palmerston North to Whakatane.Marsden, p. 13.

Death

Stewart died on 1 September 2004 in Whakatane. He was survived by his wife, Joan, four children, and 12 grandchildren. Massey University's Sir Alan Stewart Postgraduate Scholarship is named in his honour.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Alan 1917 births 2004 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Massey University alumni Academic staff of the Massey University New Zealand Rhodes Scholars New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School People educated at Whakatane High School People from Auckland People from Whakatāne Royal Navy personnel of World War II University of Auckland alumni New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Vice-Chancellors of Massey University