Ian Hassall

Sir Ian Bruce Hassall (10 August 1941 – 14 June 2021 ) was a New Zealand paediatrician and children's advocate. He was New Zealand's first Commissioner for Children from 1989 to 1994. His career entailed working for children and their families as clinician, strategist, researcher and advocate. He was awarded the Aldo Farina Award by UNICEF in 2010 for his dedication to improving child welfare.

Since 2002 he was Senior Researcher at the Institute of Public Policy (IPP) at AUT University in Auckland. With Emma Davies and Kirsten Hanna he undertook research and advocated for attitudes, processes and structures that advance children's interests. He was part of the Every Child Counts campaign to place children's interests at the centre of government. He taught the undergraduate paper, Children and Public Policy.

Early life and family Born at Arapuni on 10 August 1941, Hassall was educated at Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland. He went on to study medicine at the University of Otago, graduating MB ChB in 1965, before earning specialist qualifications DCH (London) and FRACP (Auckland).