She was commenting in a wide-ranging keynote address to an annual national conference of Maori educators and students, at the Hutton Theatre, in the Otago Museum.
The number of Maori students enrolled at the university had risen 23% over the past five years, and 350 Maori students had graduated last year, she said.
Ninety of these students had gained postgraduate qualifications.
Prof Hayne noted 8.7% of Otago University domestic students were Maori, which was higher, in percentage terms, than at Auckland University.
International students from more than 90 countries were attending Otago University, and many were particularly keen to learn more about Maori culture while on campus, she said.
Otago University was helping to produce many "ambassadors for Maoridom" who would be "scattered to the winds" and have wide-ranging influence.
Maori cultural concepts, including manaakitanga, a concept including hospitality and welcoming, were also having a broad influence at the university.
That support and pastoral care took many forms, including Campus Watch staff, who were available day and night to support and protect students, including if they had had too much to drink, she said.
The latest three-day Te Toi Tauira mo te Matariki Hui a tau national conference ended yesterday.
Pearl Matahiki, manager of the Otago University Maori Centre, said the gathering and its extensive exchanges of ideas had been "magic".
Forty people had attended when the educational conference had last been held in Dunedin, in 2002. That number had risen to 115 this year, she said.
