On this page
Overview
We are proud to present this lecture series marking the promotion of five of our finest academic leaders.
These individuals have met the highly competitive bar of full Professor, having demonstrated excellence and leadership in teaching, research and academic development.
Individual professorial lectures have been a tradition at Unitec since the establishment of a Professoriate in the 1990s. This is the first year the lectures have been presented as a series.
Each event in the series will involve pōwhiri, a short conferment ceremony, a citation of achievement, a lecture on a topic of the professor’s choice, followed by light refreshments.
To achieve this promotion, individuals demonstrate strong values-based academic leadership, immense generosity of spirit and tremendous effort over a sustained period of time.
It can be an emotional moment for all involved and we warmly welcome our Unitec whānau to join us along with specially invited colleagues from other institutions and friends.
Event dates
| Date | Professor |
| 22 May – RSVP by 16 May | Professor Peter de Lange – School of Environmental and Animal Sciences |
| 19 June – RSVP by 12 June | Professor Christoph Schnoor – School of Architecture |
| 9 July – RSVP by 2 July | Professor Helen Gremillion – School of Healthcare & Social Practice |
| 21 August | Professor Hamid Sharifzadeh – School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology |
| 18 September | Professor Peter McPherson – School of Architecture |
Event schedule
| Time | Item |
| 4:15pm | Arrive at Ngākau Māhaki for 4.30pm start pōwhiri/whakatau |
| 4:50pm | Whakawhanaungatanga – introduce yourself to someone you don’t know |
| 5:00pm | Opening address |
| 5:10pm |
Presentation of the stole
|
| 5:20pm | Professorial Address |
| 5:50pm | Questions |
| 6:00pm | Summary – Concluding kōrero |
| 6:05pm | Presentation of Pounamu |
| 6:10pm | Closing karakia |
| 6:15pm | Nibbles and refreshments |
Register to attend
Biographies and Abstracts
Click on a Professor’s name to read their biography and abstract.
Professor Peter de Lange
Biography
Prof. Peter J. de Lange has been teaching at the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec since late 2017 prior to which he was a Principal Science Advisor for the Department of Conservation. A biosystematist, Peter regularly publishes on plant taxonomy, conservation, threat listing and the flora of South Pacific and outlying Aotearoa / New Zealand islands. A recipient of the New Zealand Botanical Society Allan Mere Award (2006) and Loder Cup (2017), Peter is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a lifetime member of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network.
Abstract
The New Zealand Threat Classification System replaced the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2001 detailing a threat classification system that is tailored to deal with insular rarity (a feature of the New Zealand Biota) and is increasingly enshrined in environmental policy and law.
De Lange spear-headed the development of this system in 1999 and has been a co-author of three iterations of the system (2001, 2008, 2022) and four threat assessments of the New Zealand Vascular Flora using that system, two assessments of our liverwort biota and three of the nations’ lichenized mycobiota.
One quarter of New Zealand’s threatened biota resides on the Chatham Islands – Rēkohu, where most land is held in private ownership. The Chatham Island Conservation Board, which Prof de Lange chairs, has been influential in channelling local conservation efforts into island-wide restoration by acting as an intermediary between the Minister of Conservation, the Department of Conservation, and the islanders (imi, iwi and Chatham Islanders).
Since 2018, de Lange has helped shift focus from ‘habitats for birds’ to habitats for indigenous biota and ecosystem wide restoration, but challenges remain. These include a declining conservation budget that was reported nationally in June 2024.
Board work has brought de Lange and his research students closer to the islander community and helped shift islander focus from a primarily seafood-driven economy to one that has the potential to make better use of island resources such as endemic plants the honey from which is of the highest quality.
Having come full circle from an early career scientist learning to publish in 1990 to a well-published author, editor and member of editorial boards across the world; de Lange has set up a new series of ePress journal, Perspectives in Biodiversity where, alongside colleague Assoc. Prof. Dr Marleen Baling, the focus has been to encourage students and early career researchers to independently publish peer-reviewed literature.
Professor Christoph Schnoor
Biography
Prof. Christoph Schnoor has been teaching at the School of Architecture, Unitec since 2004. A graduate in Architecture, and with a PhD in Architectural Theory, he has over time moved into architectural history. Based on research on European and New Zealand modernist architecture, Le Corbusier’s practical aesthetic of the city (London: Routledge) and Ernst Plischke: Architekt zwischen den Welten (Zurich: Park Books) were both published in 2020.
Christoph has equally spent the past twenty years investigating architecture in the South Pacific, with a focus on Samoa. Starting as research into colonialism, his engagement has branched out to research the overlap between Indigenous and Western architecture and culture, as research situated collaboratively between scholars, students, industry and institutions.
Having organised a handful of conferences and symposia on architectural history, Christoph served as President of SAHANZ (Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand) from 2015 to -17 and as panel member of the ETA (Engineering, Technology and Architecture) Panel for the 2018 PBRF round. He is a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Society.
Abstract
On Being Wrong
A fundamental principle of research is the openness to new findings, as if one worked as a detective. This has been a guiding principle for my research over the past three decades, and it has helped in my research on modernist architecture in Europe, particularly on Le Corbusier, on the condition of émigré architecture – through Ernst Plischke, an Austrian architect who worked in New Zealand for nearly 25 years – and in the research of architecture in Samoa, both colonial and ‘blended’.
As researchers, whether doing applied or blue-sky research, we need to repeatedly question our own assumptions. Taking an example of recent research in Samoa, this presentation aims to illustrate the process of untangling the own assumptions in order to find out what lies underneath.
This recent project is a collaborative project in Samoa, funded by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Bonn, with involvement of the National University of Samoa (NUS), Unitec students, and Auckland-based conservation architecture professionals (archifact and Recon).
We were asked to investigate the Residence of the former Head of State of Samoa, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi in Motootua, Apia and to develop suggestions for its restoration. An initial scoping visit of Dr Christian Reepmeyer (DAI) and myself brought about cooperation with the National University of Samoa (NUS). After successful funding application to the DAI, the actual campaign was undertaken in September 2024.
With architect and surveyor, we recorded the building through photography, drawing, measuring on site, drone photography etc. This work has resulted in a comprehensive conservation plan which is ready to be disseminated and to initiate the next stage of the project.
However, the very first assumption of the house’s identity, which was based on a likeness of this building to a drawing found in the National Archives in Wellington, had been wrong.
Renewed research and re-reading of drawings and administrative documents brought about a dramatic turn and revealed a history that needs to be told in order to understand both the building and the relationship between Samoans and Germans at the wake of the First World War.
Professor Helen Gremillion
Biography
Helen Gremillion is Professor of Social Practice at Unitec and also serves as Unitec’s Research Professional Development Liaison.
Before moving from the U.S.A. to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2008, she was the Peg Zeglin Brand Chair of Gender Studies at Indiana University. Her research and teaching interests include gender and LGBTQIA+ studies, narrative therapy and community work, medical anthropology, collaborative research methodologies and research ethics.
Professor Gremillion’s published works champion innovative approaches to overcoming eating disorders and to gender-affirming healthcare.
Abstract
Drawing on my background in medical anthropology, much of my research has explored medical practices not as “objective” interventions but rather as culturally situated practices. My focus has been on cultural constructs of gender embedded in medicine. For instance, in my early work I examined the reproduction of gender norms within mainstream psychiatric treatments for anorexia nervosa (in the U.S.A.), explaining problems with these treatments not only in relation to anorexia’s tenacity, but also – and centrally – in relation to cultural assumptions about gender that inform both eating disorders and the medical theories and approaches that are designed to facilitate a cure. I argue that treatments for anorexia often unwittingly perpetuate key conditions of the problem. More recently, I have interrogated the unexamined reproduction of gender norms within transgender healthcare, cutting through political debates about this care to uncover core assumptions about sex and gender that block effective support work.
My research bridges theory and practice by asking, simultaneously, ‘big questions’ about gender and practical questions about how to improve therapies. In the process, and increasingly, this work has involved cultural and community partnering. I have liaised with therapists, medical practitioners, gender studies scholars and activists, Māori researchers, Pacific researchers, and invested communities of practice – e.g., in social work and among gender and sexuality diversity allies – to promote and grow alternative understandings of gender, gendered embodiment, and interventions that support wellbeing.
I find working in the polytechnic (ITP) sector to be very conducive to such culturally and community -partnered research. My transition 17 years ago from a research-intensive context at Indiana University to an ITP context in Aotearoa, supporting student and community-led research initiatives, has led to my engagement in a range of applied research activities linked to my teaching, research oversight roles, and programme leadership positions at Unitec. These projects extend beyond my interests in medical anthropology to include, for example: research exploring connections between narrative therapy and Te Ao Māori, resulting in findings that are of international significance; examining the scope of Talanoa research methodologies, in partnership with Pacific leaders; analyses of effective gender and sexuality inclusivity efforts in the ITP sector; and international studies on the topic of research ethics protocols, including a range of tertiary institutions and designed to improve consultation processes and rigour within ethics applications and procedures.
A key question for me throughout all these endeavours has been: how can research be defined and pursued in ways that truly benefit communities and professions? In my recent research professional development roles with staff at Unitec and MIT, I strive to be a research leader and mentor who facilitates collaborative research cultures and who places people, and beneficial practices, at the forefront.
Professor Hamid Sharifzadeh
Biography
Professor Hamid Sharifzadeh is a distinguished academic and researcher in computer engineering, currently serving as a Professor and Academic Programme Manager at Unitec.
Prof. Sharifzadeh has played a key role in shaping curriculum and research in areas such as machine learning, data science, digital health and digital forensics.
His research focuses on applied AI, with a strong record of publications in international journals and conferences. He has also supervised numerous doctoral and master’s students on AI-driven projects spanning healthcare, education, and business.
A Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SrMIEEE) and Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET), his work has earned international recognition and attracted competitive research funding.
Abstract
In Praise and Critique of AI: Navigating Progress through Research & Education
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way we live, work, and learn; transforming industries, influencing decision-making, and raising important questions about equity, responsibility, and trust. In this inaugural lecture, Professor Hamid Sharifzadeh reflects on his academic journey from early research in signal processing to applied AI leadership in education. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience in machine learning, speech and image processing, he also shares insights from his work in academic leadership, including curriculum design and programme development.
The lecture highlights key milestones in his work, showcasing collaborative research with tangible societal impact and international recognition. It also considers the role of academic leadership in shaping future-ready graduates through interdisciplinary thinking and a commitment to responsible and inclusive AI.
As the pace of technological change accelerates, this talk invites reflection on how applied AI can drive meaningful innovation while remaining grounded in critical thinking and the diverse needs of society.
Professor Peter McPherson
Biography
Peter McPherson is an academic leader and member of staff at Unitec since 2010, being appointed to the role of Head of School in 2016 to lead the architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design disciplines.
Prior to this he worked at the architecture practice Foster+Partners in London, England, gaining experience in advanced architecture practice in a technology-based, research-led multi-disciplinary global environment. In 2016 Peter was elected to the Executive Committee of the Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia (AASA), becoming President in 2017.
Peter is a member of the Auckland Branch Committee of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and was appointed to the New Zealand Registered Architects Board Accreditation Management Panel in 2022. In 2023 Peter was awarded the President’s Award by Te Kāhui Whaihanga, New Zealand Institute of Architects.