Paul Roth and Barbara Brookes met at a graduate school in the United States, but when Prof Brookes got a job lecturing at the University of Otago, Prof Roth gave up his lecturing job in the US and came to New Zealand with her.
Prof Roth said he had always dreamed of studying law at university, but somewhere along the way, he got "sidetracked".
So when he arrived in Dunedin, it was a great opportunity to pursue his dream, and upon graduating with a law degree, he went straight into lecturing at Otago.
The husband and wife have remained there ever since, and forged high-profile careers for themselves.
But after a combined 70 years of lecturing, the couple have professed it is time to call it a day.
Prof Roth (66) retired on April 30 and Prof Brookes (65) retired this week.
Both said it was time for "new, young people to have great careers at the university".
"We’re excited because we’re going to Wellington to be near family, Prof Brookes said.
"We have a granddaughter there and we’re looking on this as a retirement adventure because we’ve been in Dunedin for a very long time."
Prof Roth has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Law for 32 years, where he has been a productive and significant researcher in New Zealand employment law and data protection law, both of which have received national and international recognition.
He has also been a volunteer duty solicitor for more than 20 years at the Dunedin Community Law Centre, has provided significant service to the NZ Law Society, and done work for several Government agencies and international organisations, including the United Nations International Labour Office, the European Union, and he was recently on an international team that drafted new model labour laws for Liberia.
Prof Brookes has been a lecturer in history at the School of Arts for 38 years.
She is one of the pioneers of gender history, and is an authority on the history of women, medical history and New Zealand history.
She has received national and international recognition, including the RSNZ Aronui Medal in 2018, and the 2017 Ockham Award for illustrated non-fiction for A History of New Zealand Women.
She has also provided extensive service to the university, serving as head of the department of history for 10 years, and as a University of Otago public orator since 2010.
She said the thing they would miss most about the University of Otago was the students.
"They keep you young. They’re always interesting and you learn from talented young people as well."
