11/05/2026
Congratulations to our accomplished alumna Dame Alison Paterson, who went back to studying at 85 and graduated on 7 May with a Master of Arts in Art History (First Class Honours) 🎓✨
A pioneering leader across finance, agriculture and public governance, Dame Alison returned to university to pursue her passion for history and art history, culminating in a masters dissertation exploring the transformation of Gibbs Farm into one of New Zealand’s most extraordinary sculpture parks.
“Above all, I’ve continued to learn and to exercise my brain.”
An inspiring reminder that lifelong learning has no age limit!
Dame Alison Paterson went back to studying at 85 and graduated with a Master of Arts in Art History (First Class Honours).
Dame Alison Paterson is used to breaking barriers. In 1976 she became the first woman appointed to a New Zealand producer board, and in 1979 the first woman to sit on the board of a publicly listed company.
A pioneering business leader whose career spans more than five decades across finance, agriculture and public governance, she says she had no interest in being “a lady who lunches” on retirement at 85.
But while business has been her career – her original qualification was in accounting – history, she says, is her first love, which led her to enrol at Auckland for a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in history and art history.
And that led to the masters, with a dissertation on the Gibbs Farm, the extraordinary 400-hectare sculpture park north of Auckland.
Created in 1991 by businessman and art collector Alan Gibbs, the park is known for its huge, eye-catching works by notable artists (Anish Kapoor, Neil Dawson), exotic animals freely wandering (giraffes, zebras), and the beauty of its rural setting with lakes and harbour views.
“My dissertation is the story of the conversion of a dry stock farm on the Kaipara Harbour into a sculpture park,” says Dame Alison.
“As a student, I've made a raft of new friendships from all walks of life, and benefitted greatly from exposure to the range of lecturers I’ve studied under, particularly Linda Tyler and Caroline Vercoe, who are truly inspirational. I believe the University invests considerable resources to ensure students 'get through'.”
“Above all,” she says, “I’ve continued to learn and to exercise my brain. Hopefully there will be useful lessons for others considering this path, communicated from a different perspective.”
Dame Alison graduated in absentia and continues to make her husband, the Honourable Barry Paterson, a retired High Court Judge, three stepchildren and seven grandchildren very proud.
Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/05/07/the-fine-art-of-keeping-on-learning.html
Image credit: New Zealand Herald Photograph by Richard Robinson
