Lifelong teacher and education leader dies

Former Massey University Faculty of Education dean and Professor Emeritus Ivan Snook died last month in Palmerston North at the age of 85.

Professor Snook served as the head of the Department of Education from 1985-90, and was dean of the faculty from 1989-93.

He began his career as a secondary school teacher, was a research fellow at the University of Illinois and became a lecturer at the University of Canterbury in 1968.

In 1981, he moved to Massey as a Professor of Education. During his tenure he also served as foundation chair of the Massey University Human Ethics Committee.

In 2012 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Massey for his outstanding service to the University and outstanding contributions to education in New Zealand and internationally.

Current head of the Institute of Education Professor John O'Neill says Professor Snook was revered for his personal and professional integrity. “Many of those who had worked or been taught by Ivan continued to judge their own actions against the high standards he had set, and were proud to say so publicly.”

His work was also acknowledged outside of Massey University, having received the New Zealand Association for Research in Education’s most prestigious award, the McKenzie Award, in 1994 and honorary fellowships from both the New Zealand Educational Institute and the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia in 1995.

Article date: 8/11/2018