Widely respected both on the University of Otago campus and in international academic circles, Prof Flynn (83) still undertakes research in both the Otago politics department and in psychology.
An award-winning academic, he is most well known internationally for his research involving the "Flynn effect", a substantial and long-sustained rise in intelligence test scores from about 1930 to the present.
Still a keen runner, Prof Flynn may have technically "retired" about 20 years ago but has since remained a busy teacher and researcher.
And the former long-serving chairman of the Otago politics department has published many more books since "retirement" than most academics would produce in their entire official working career.
Put it another way, if his career was a game of football, retirement is leading 11 to 5.
Since Prof Flynn "retired", he has had 11 books published, well up on the five published during his main "official" Otago career.
His many books include What is Intelligence? (2007), which offers a new theory of intelligence; Where have all the liberals gone? and Beyond Patriotism —the latter two critiques of US politics and foreign policy.
One of his major preoccupations is summed up in the title of one of his books: How to Defend Humane Ideals.
Other research interests include classics of political philosophy; race, class and IQ.
Over the years Prof Flynn has combined political and moral philosophy with psychology to clarify problems such as justifying humane ideals and whether it makes sense to rank races and classes by merit. The Otago politics department is this year celebrating its first 50 years of existence, and, as its inaugural professor, Prof Flynn recently gave a public talk, reflecting on his experience in teaching politics over that time.
"I had a lot of thoughts on a lot of important issues.
"I found a bit more time to explore those in retirement," he said in an interview.
"It’s complementary. The more you learn, the more you have to say."
US-born, Prof Flynn said that during his 50 years at Otago (1967-2017), 30 years as head of department, "the university, my students, and my image of myself altered".
"The university became student-centred, the students better (in most ways), and I became more absorbed in giving them and myself a measure of human autonomy," he said.
Asked why he had published more over the past 20 years, he said that although he had continued teaching, he no longer had to run a university department.
And, after running for Parliament as an Alliance candidate in Dunedin North twice in the 1990s, he was no longer involved in campaigning.
"Your kids grow up and move away."
Prof Flynn’s noticed plenty of changes over the past half century, including in the reading habits of some students.
"They read less, they read fewer novels."
And students tended to read less "great literature" — something he has tried to address in his "Torchlight List’’ series: books offering lists of memorable books to read before slipping off to sleep at night.
If Prof Flynn has long been researching and teaching, he has also long been trying to learn more himself.
Published last year, No Place to Hide, Climate Change: A short introduction for New Zealanders is his first significant foray into climate science, and was written as a result of his efforts to educate himself on the topic.
And that unfailing appetite for learning was captured in the title of his recent talk: "50 years of educating politics students and myself at Otago".
● Prof Flynn has received Otago University’s Medal for Distinguished Career Research, and an Otago honorary doctorate of science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and a recipient of its Aronui Medal.
