The University of Auckland Business School

Wondering what university life is really like?

Register for Mānawa Mai Open Day on Saturday 29 August and visit the Business School to find out.

Explore the campus and teaching spaces, meet current students and staff, learn about studying business and discover the clubs and opportunities available at Waipapa Taumata Rau. Get involved in activities throughout the day and experience our university community.

Register now: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/manawa-mai/open-day.html

Before Semester Two kicks off, we welcomed our new Business School students at Orientation. It was wonderful to see so many new faces on campus, ready to start their journey with us.

We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus next week!

The University has been ranked 67th globally in the QS World University Rankings 2027 and remains among the world’s top 100 universities.

With more than 1,500 universities evaluated worldwide, the University of Auckland continues to perform strongly, across key indicators.

Key strengths include global connection, research impact and positive employment outcomes for graduates, highlighting the University’s contribution to society.

Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Frank Bloomfield said the results demonstrate a sustained commitment to excellence and the growing impact of the University’s work.

Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/06/18/auckland-remains-among-worlds-top-universities.html

Beatrice Faumuinā knows first-hand the difference a scholarship can make.

Now she’s helping shape the next generation of leaders as the new director of the Kupe Leadership Scholarship.

Over the years, she’s developed her own “magic sauce” as a business leader: family, faith and acts of kindness. These elements sit alongside the discipline, resilience and leadership skills she’s built through sport, business and governance.

She’s bringing this mix to the Kupe Leadership Scholarship programme, where she’ll help shape its strategic direction, strengthen its national and international profile, and support exceptional postgraduate leaders from across the University.

For Beatrice, who was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours, leadership is about honesty, service, humility and follow-through.

“I’ve spent years encouraging young people not to let barriers define whether they belong. I ask them instead to create opportunities to be in those spaces. I tell them, ‘Because of your culture, language, and who you represent, it’s vital that you’re in those rooms, whatever your aspirations are. Instead of saying, ‘They don’t look or sound like me’, that might be exactly why you need to be there.’”

Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/06/10/beatrice-faumuin--championing-future-leaders-.html

Info Evening is next week, have you registered yet?

Info evening is a great opportunity to find out what studying Business at the University of Auckland Business School really looks like. You'll hear from current students, see what our graduates have gone on to do, take a virtual campus tour, and get your questions answered on the spot.

Join us online on Tuesday 9 June at 6pm. Register now: bit.ly/4dQTyaN

Zolzaya Battsogt lost both her daughter and supervisor during her doctoral studies. This May, she graduated in their honour.

Soon after starting her PhD in Auckland, Zolzaya returned home to Mongolia to give birth to her youngest daughter. It was her fourth child: she already had twin girls and a boy.

“I left believing I would return with my newborn daughter, but I returned alone. My daughter died one week after I gave birth in hospital. It was an emotionally devastating experience for our entire family.”

Zolzaya temporarily suspended her studies and went to therapy for six months.

“As a mother of three children, and a wife, I needed to keep moving forward and accept reality, painful as it was. During that time, I promised my daughter in heaven that I would complete my degree and fulfil my dream of becoming a leader in my field.”

Tragically, three years after her daughter’s death, Zolzaya lost her doctoral supervisor, Professor Julie Cassidy, who was a respected academic, friend, and colleague to many in the Business School and the wider university.

Zolzaya finally made it to graduation, with an impressive, impactful doctoral thesis. It was the result of years of hard intellectual and emotional work.

“It was one of the most meaningful moments of my life, symbolising the fulfilment of the promises I had made to my daughter in heaven and to Professor Cassidy, while finally reaching a goal that had required years of perseverance, sacrifice, and resilience.”

This May, she became the first Mongolian scholar to complete a PhD in international tax and transfer pricing at the University of Auckland.

Read more of Zolzaya’s story here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/05/26/mongolian-scholar-completes-phd-after-profound-loss.html

If you know someone weighing up their options for next year, this one's for you.

Our Mānawa Mai Info Evening is a free online event where you can find out what studying Business at the University of Auckland Business School really looks like.

You'll have the chance to ask questions and get answers on the spot.

Jump on from home on Tuesday 9 June at 6pm.
Register here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/manawa-mai/info-evening.html

Serina McCarthy began her university journey at just 17, leaving high school after Year 12 to pursue a conjoint degree in Commerce and Law.

On 4 May she crossed the stage at Spark Arena, receiving her conjoint degree as her family and loved ones cheered her on.

Just days later her academic excellence was further recognised with Serina inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honours society for the top five percent of students in AACSB-accredited business programmes worldwide.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised primarily in Aotearoa New Zealand, Serina is of Sāmoan and Korean descent. Her father, James McCarthy, has ties across the three main islands of Sāmoa, including Sala’ilua in Savai‘i, Leone in Tutuila, and Malaemalu in Upolu, while her mother, Joo Eun Cha, is from Seoul, South Korea.

“Growing up within these diverse cultures has instilled in me a strong sense of compassion, respect, and responsibility towards my communities.

“My identity is both a privilege and a grounding force, shaping how I engage with my studies, work, and the people around me.

Throughout her studies, Serina sought opportunities to grow both academically and personally. She contributed as an author to a legal publication, participated in academic competitions, and was selected for the Kupe Leadership Scholarship.

Central to Serina’s journey has been her commitment to Māori and Pacific student success.

She worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Law School through the Moana Oceania programme, supported students as a Tuākana Tutor in Economics at the Business School, and served as Treasurer of Commerce o’ Pasifika.

Serina will soon begin work as an Associate Consultant at Boston Consulting Group in Auckland. Having completed her professional legal studies, she also intends to be admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in the near future.

As she looks ahead, Serina is clear about what guides her next steps: “I want to build a career that brings together rigorous training, cultural understanding, and a real commitment to the communities I come from and serve.”

Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/05/08/top-pacific-graduate-shaped-by-service-culture-and-community.html

Told at 15 to lower her ambitions, Abigail McClutchie went on to become a teacher and a doctor.

At high school in Manurewa in 1980, 15-year-old Abigail McClutchie (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou) was awarded the school prize for human biology. Soon after, she visited the careers counsellor to discuss her options.

“I told them, ‘I want to be a teacher or a doctor’. But the response was, ‘Oh, why don't you just become a hairdresser like your friends?’”

Despite the discouragement, she went on to achieve her goals, becoming both a teacher and a doctor, though not the medical kind she initially imagined.

On May 6, 2026, Dr Abigail McClutchie crossed the stage to receive her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Māori entrepreneurship after ten years of effort, during which she split her time between research, whānau, and her full-time Kaiārahi role at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

In a historic first, Abigail was the first ever doctoral candidate to defend her PhD thesis at the University’s Ngā Tauira Marae on the city campus. Breaking from convention, she introduced her work through a whakatau, bringing academia and te ao Māori together.

Abigail joined Waipapa Taumata Rau in 2012 as the He Tuākana manager. Since then, she’s progressed in a range of roles, always with a focus on empowering Māori students and staff to realise tino rangatiratanga (self-determination, independence, sovereignty).

In 2024, alongside a dedicated team, she co-founded the University of Auckland’s ReoSpace in Te Tumu Herenga, Library and Learning Services, where staff and students can practise speaking te reo Māori.

“ReoSpace acknowledges that in the revitalisation of te reo, we have places to learn te reo, but we also need places on campus to practise it and normalise conversational reo in public spaces.”

“It’s for all levels,” she says. “Whether you’re a beginner or fluent.”

Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/05/07/abigail-mcclutchie--a-life-of-mahi-rangatira.html