Seventeen of the University of Otago's ''leading academics'', across a wide range of research fields, have been promoted to full professor.
Vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne said the promotions, of staff from the university's Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington campuses, reflected ''the range and depth of world-class scholarship'' at this university.
The promotions take effect on February 1 next year.
Otago's new professors, believed all to be currently associate professors, are: Colin Brown, physiology; Peter Dearden, biochemistry; Claire Freeman, geography; Jonathan Hall, classics; Patricia Langhorne, physics; Sally McCormick, Tony Merriman, both biochemistry; David O'Hare, psychology, Holger Regenbrecht, information science; Poia Rewi, Te Tumu; Jacinta Ruru, law; Abigail Smith, marine science; Darryl Tong, oral diagnostic and survival sciences; James White, geology; Derelie Mangin, Christchurch campus; Nicholas Wilson, Diana Sarfati, both Wellington campus.
And a further 29 Otago University academics were promoted to associate professor. Prof Brown investigates how the brain controls birth and lactation, and studies mechanisms that control secretion of the hormone oxytocin, which is required for normal birth and lactation.
Prof Dearden's research focuses on the evolution of shape and form in animals.
He strongly promotes science communication and is director of Genetics Otago and leader of the Lab-in-a-Box project.
Prof Freeman is an environmental planner who studies how planning can help create urban environments that work better for children and young people.
Prof Hall's research focuses on the works of Marcus Cicero, a writer, orator and politician who lived in ancient Rome at the time of Julius Caesar.
Prof Langhorne has been teaching physics and researching sea-ice physical processes at Otago University since 1988 and has taken part in about 20 research visits to the Antarctic.
Prof McCormick's laboratory studies the regulation of molecules involved in heart disease with a particular interest in the plasma lipoproteins that determine blood cholesterol levels.
Prof Merriman studies the genetics of gout and other related conditions (diabetes, kidney disease and obesity).
Gout is a form of arthritis caused when blood levels of urate get too high.
Prof O'Hare studies human decision-making involving risk and uncertainty, mostly in respect of aviation decision-making.
Prof Regenbrecht's general field of research is Human-Computer Interaction with an emphasis on visual computing.
Prof Rewi's areas of expertise lie in language revitalisation, Maori culture, Maori performing arts and research.
Prof Ruru, of the Faculty of Law, has wrirtten more than 90 publications which explore indigenous peoples' legal rights to own, manage and govern Maori land, water, national parks and coastlines.
Prof Smith is the head of the Otago marine science department, treasurer of the International Bryozoology Association, and a keen cricket fan.
Prof Tong is the co-director of the South Island Interdisciplinary Brain Injury Research Group and his research interests include clinical aspects such as trauma and military surgery.
Field studies for Prof White's work in volcanology have taken him to many places, including the North Island, North and South America and the Antarctic.
Promoted to associate professor from February 1 next year:Lynley Anderson, bioethics centre; Boris Baeumer, mathematics and statistics; Vincent Bennani, oral rehabilitation; Lyndie Foster Page, oral sciences; Clinton Golding, Higher Education Development Centre; Kimberly Hageman, chemistry; Mike Hilton, geography; Lisa Houghton, human nutrition; Jackie Hunter, psychology; Guy Jameson, chemistry; Niels Kjaergaard, physics; Mihaly Kovacs, mathematics and statistics; Beulah Leitch, anatomy; Craig Marshall, biochemistry; Jacques van der Meer university College of Education; Janice Murray, psychology; Lachlan Paterson, Te Tumu: School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies; Chris Prentice, English and linguistics; Mark Seymour, history and art history; Vicki Spencer, politics; Bruce Robertson, zoology; Will Sweetman, theology and religion; Geoff Tompkins, oral sciences; June Tordoff, School of Pharmacy; Angela Wanhalla, history and art history; Ceri Warnock, Faculty of Law; Kate Wynn-Williams, accountancy and finance; Research Associate Professor: Timothy Woodfield, Christchurch campus; Shieak Tzeng, Wellington campus.
