Michael William O'Callaghan (born 27 April 1946) is a former New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player. A wing three-quarter, O'Callaghan represented and at a provincial level, and was a member of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

national side, the

All Blacks 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 198 ...

, in 1968. He played three Test matches for the All Blacks against the touring French team that year. After studying veterinary medicine at

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 o ...

, O'Callaghan completed a master's degree at the

National Veterinary School of Toulouse National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in France, where he played first for Stade Poitevin and then

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulous ...

. He then undertook doctoral studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

; the title of his thesis, completed in 1978, was ''Assessment of sino-atrial and atrio-ventricular nodal function in the conscious horse by intra-atrial electrostimulation''. While at Cambridge, he was awarded blues for rugby every year from 1974 to 1977. O'Callaghan then returned to Massey where he was on the faculty of the School of Veterinary Medicine, before moving to

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

School of Veterinary Medicine for 10 years, including three years as head of department. He then spent 15 years at

Genzyme Genzyme was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since its acquisition in 2011, Genzyme (also known as Genzyme Transgenics Corp or GTC Biotherapeutics) has been a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi. In 2010, Genzyme ...

in Massachusetts as a research and development executive leader, before joining Audentes Therapeutics as senior vice president, preclinical development and translational medicine.

Personal life

O'Callaghan married New Zealand scholar of French culture, Raylene Ramsay, in

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...

in 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OCallaghan, Mick 1946 births Living people People from Rotherham, New Zealand People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Waikato rugby union players Stade Toulousain players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union wings Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni Massey University alumni University of Toulouse alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Veterinary scientists Massey University faculty Tufts University faculty Rugby union players from Canterbury, New Zealand Barbarian F.C. players