Tūroa Royal

Tūroa Royal
Tūroa Royal (left) Governor General Sir Jerry Matepārae (right), 2013.
Born(1935-01-28)28 January 1935
Waimangō, Hauraki, New Zealand
Died29 November 2023(2023-11-29) (aged 88)
Auckland, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand Māori
Occupation(s)Academic leader and educationist
AwardsCompanion to the New Zealand Order of Merit 2013 Queen’s Service Order 2005
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Auckland & University of New England, Australia
Academic work
Notable worksKey advocate during the 1960s-1980s for introducing Māori language and culture into New Zealand education

Introduced the ‘whānau system’ into Wellington High School in the early 1980s Heavily involved in the establishment of Te Wānanga o Raukawa Foundation Director of Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua

A founder of the World Indigenous Higher Education Consortium

Tūroa Kiniwe Royal (CNZM, QSO, ED, 28 January 1935 – 29 November 2023) was a New Zealand Māori educationist.

Born in 1935, Royal dedicated his long career to improving Māori educational achievement and was involved in numerous innovations in New Zealand education utilising aspects of Māori culture, language and ideas. He was a teacher at Tāmaki College, Auckland, a Department of Education Inspector of Māori and Island Education, and principal of Wellington High School for eight years. Educational institutes he was part of founding are Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua north of Wellington and Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa in Ōtaki. He was also heavily involved in the establishment of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium.