University of Waikato

The University of Waikato opened in 1964 after many years of energetic lobbying by a group of Hamilton locals, determined to have a university in their city. The Hamilton campus covers 65 hectares, and is built on what was previously farmland.

To begin with, facilities were sparse, but in early 1965 new buildings were officially opened by then Governor-General Sir Bernard Fergusson. Sir Don Llewellyn was the founding Vice-Chancellor.

The University had just over 100 students in 1964, and celebrated its first 20 graduates of the Bachelor of Arts in 1967.

By the 1980s, Waikato was the fastest-growing university in New Zealand. Computer Science became an increasingly popular study choice and the thriving Department was elevated to a School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences in 1987.

The University always had a close relationship with its neighbouring teachers’ college and, leading the way for others to follow, became the first university in New Zealand to combine with its regional teachers’ college. Through its teaching programmes, the University began to establish a presence in Tauranga.

The University of Waikato has a longstanding relationship with the Kīngitanga and Waikato-Tainui, who are the traditional owners and custodians in the Waikato region. The University’s Hamilton campus is based on land originally inhabited by Ngāti Wairere and Ngāti Hauā of Tainui. Much of this land was confiscated in 1864 by the colonial government following the Waikato Land Wars, an act later found to be in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi.

To redress this, the Crown signed a settlement with Waikato-Tainui in 1995, part of which vested the land on which the Hamilton campus stands in the title of the first Māori King, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, to ensure it could not be alienated. It is now leased to the University by Waikato-Tainui.

The Tauranga Campus opened in 2019. The University of Waikato now has more than 13,000 students annually from all over New Zealand and the world.

Please see the university's History of The University of Waikato page for further information about the history of the university in general, campus development, alumni, vice-chancellors, and the university's coat of arms. 

In 2024 the University celebrated it's 60th Anniversary and as part of the celebrations the following video was created. An exhibition Huakina Te Pātaka Mahara - Tracing six decades of the University of Waikato special collections was curated and displayed at the Academy of Performing Arts, details can be found here.