Professor Hingangaroa Smith is a prominent and internationally regarded Māori educationalist and scholar who has been at the forefront of transforming Māori and Indigenous education and schooling. His academic work centres on transforming high and disproportionate levels of Māori cultural, political, social, educational and economic marginalisation. His early academic work focused on the development of Kura Kaupapa Maori as theory and praxis. In his former position as Pro Vice Chancellor (Māori) at the University of Auckland, notable achievements included; implementing a Māori development strategy within the University; the oversight of the Proposal and winning of a National Centre of Research Excellence (Nga Pae o te Maramatanga); the initiation of the Māori and Indigenous doctoral programme aimed at creating 500 Māori PhD graduates across the country in five years; the recruitment of top Māori academic scholars into the University of Auckland. Professor Smith took up a Distinguished Professorial appointment in Indigenous Education at the University of British Columbia in Canada and eventually became the Head of Education Policy Studies there at UBC. He returned to Aotearoa to become the CEO of Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi for eight years, before retiring and accepting the Professorial Chair at Massey University. Professor Smith has made significant contributions to the political, social, economic and cultural advancement of Māori and indigenous communities in Aotearoa and around the Pacific Rim.