Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific Professor Jemaima Tiatia-Siau to give inaugural lecture

University of Auckland Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific Professor Jemaima Tiatia-Siau will demonstrate the great heights scaled when she gives her inaugural lecture this Friday 13 September.

Professor Tiatia-Siau (Sālelologa, Taga, Vaimoso, Siumu, Vaigaga, and Fusi Safata) will take to the podium at the Fale Pasifika as the realised dream of her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.

She will deliver her inaugural lecture, A Voyage of Resilience: Navigating Mental Health, Well-being, Heritage and Academia. Inaugural lectures celebrate academic staff who are newly appointed as professors. 

Having started out with a solid foundation from her supportive family, Tiatia-Siau said her educational journey had been transformative. Her late father, Toilolo Papu Iona Tiatia and mother Joyce Suresa Tiatia had both proudly worked blue-collar roles to secure a future for their children that would be abundant and successful. 

Both parents completed their schooling at 15  and entered the workforce to help support their families. In two generations, Tiatia-Siau has earned her PhD at the University, and in the past eight years, has advanced through the ranks to the University’s senior leadership team. She was promoted to full professor ten months ago. 

From an early age, the value of academic success was instilled in her, knowing the impact would be all pervasive and ripple out to the extended family. 

“It has been the dream of our ancestors, our great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents.  

“It is humbling to live, breathe, and walk in the light of true tautua (service), this is the reciprocal nature of my people; the giving back and the paying forward. The dream that our ancestors envisaged, and descendants can be proud of.” 

The epitome of Pacific success and a proud alumna of the University, Tiatia-Siau says it will be humbling to deliver her inaugural lecture. 

“I think back to that very first day of this journey, I was looking for my grandparents who were going to take me into university. And they were in their bedroom, saying a prayer for me before I set out on what has been an epic journey, which has really been their journey too. It was then that I knew, this was bigger than me.” 

Tiatia-Siau’s lecture will traverse her scholarly voyage, marked by personal and professional triumph and challenges. Her research has focused on mental health and wellbeing, and in particular suicide prevention. 

Although her senior leadership role has meant stepping back from teaching, she has played a key role in ushering through the next generation of postgraduate and postdoctoral Pacific academics at the University. 

Born in Tokoroa, South Waikato, her early life was shaped by her father's role as a Robt Stone fitter’s mate at Kinleith Mill, and their subsequent return to Sāmoa where she spent her childhood, before eventually relocating to Avondale in Aotearoa. 

She is most recognised for her pioneering research on Pacific health and wellbeing, with a strong focus on mental health and has extensively explored the impacts of social determinants on Pacific communities. 

Her work bridges the gap between academia and community engagement, emphasising culturally responsive approaches. As a sought-after speaker, Professor Tiatia-Siau advocates for equity in health and education, particularly for underserved groups.