Pat Harrison (educationalist)

Dame Patricia Mary Harrison DNZM QSO (née Thomson; born 6 September 1932) is a New Zealand educationalist.

Dame Pat Harrison
DNZM QSO
Principal of Queen's High School
In office
1974–1994
Personal details
Born (1932-09-06) 6 September 1932
Dunedin, New Zealand
Spouse
Arthur Keith Harrison
​
​
(m. 1957)​
Children3

Early life and family

Born in Dunedin on 6 September 1932, Harrison was educated at Otago Girls' High School from 1946 to 1950.[1][2] She went on to study at Dunedin Teachers' College and the University of Otago, graduating with Master of Arts with second-class honours in 1957.[1][3]

In 1957, she married Arthur Keith Harrison, and the couple went on to have three children.[1]

Education career

In 1955, Harrison's first teaching post was at Queen's High School, Dunedin, where she became interested in students with special needs.[4] All of her teaching career, apart from three years in Christchurch, was spent in South Dunedin, and she served as principal of Queen's High School, Dunedin from 1975 to 1994.[4][5]

Community involvement

Since her retirement, Harrison has continued working with young people in Dunedin, helping the vulnerable and those who drop out of formal education, through programmes run by various community organisations including the Otago Youth Wellness Trust, which she founded in 1996.[6][7]

Between 1983 and 1994, Harrison was a member of the University of Otago Council.[4] She also served as a member of the Otago Regional Council.[4][8] Other community roles have included being an executive member of the Dunedin Council of Social Services, and chair of the Otago Regional Access Employment Council.[4]

Honours and awards

In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Harrison was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.[9] In 1990, she received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal,[1] and in 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[10] She was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education and the community, in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours,[11] and following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government in 2009, she accepted redesignation as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[12]

References
  1. Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 174. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  2. "Ex-girls who have become dames" (PDF). Newsletter. No. 19. Otago Girls' High School Alumni Association. September 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: T". Shadows of Time. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  4. "Education career rewarded". The Evening Post. 4 June 2001. p. 8.
  5. Houlahan, Mike (2 April 2018). "'Shining light' remembered". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  6. "Legends" (PDF). University of Otago Magazine. No. 48. Autumn 2019. p. 38. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  7. "Youth Wellness Trust – Otago". Citizens Advice Bureau. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  8. "Issues deserve scrutiny but with mutual respect". Otago Daily Times. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  9. "No. 50950". The London Gazette (4th supplement). 13 June 1987. p. 33.
  10. "New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  11. "Queen's Birthday honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2001. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  12. "Special honours list 1 August 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
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