Top honours for Indian-origin professor in NZ

University of Canterbury Associate Professor Ekant Veer, from the College of Business & Law’s Management, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship department, has been awarded New Zealand tertiary teaching excellence honours in a ceremony at Parliament.

Associate Professor Veer received a Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching award from Ako Aotearoa National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, presented at a parliamentary ceremony by the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins. The award represents years of commitment and support for learners that go far beyond good teaching practice.

Associate Professor Veer says his passion for teaching is inspired by the work of his grandfather who, despite growing up in poverty in India, sought education and succeeded in law. His grandfather gave back to his village and adopted city of Muzaffarnagar by building schools that enabled thousands of Indian children – especially girls – to access education and escape poverty. 

He now teaches and fights for equity and fairness as a sign of respect for his grandfather’s work as an educational activist, he says.

“I teach because I am the product of education as a social elevator. Without education I would not be where I am,” Veer says.

He joined the University of Canterbury in 2010 from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. He started out in business after his undergraduate studies at Waikato Business School, but soon returned to academia, realising that the greatest impact on his life had come from teachers, rather than business leaders.

Associate Professor Veer has a track record of teaching excellence, both in New Zealand and prior to that at the University of Bath.  He has previously been recognised with a UC Teaching Award and five Lecturer of the Year Awards from the UCSA since 2010. 

Last year he was presented with UC’s Teaching Medal for 2017. The Teaching Medal is awarded in recognition of an outstanding and sustained contribution to teaching at UC. The University’s highest award for teaching excellence is only awarded from time to time, and has been awarded 10 times in total.