Stuart McCutcheon

Stuart Norman McCutcheon (10 November 1954 – 6 January 2023) was a New Zealand university administrator. Until March 2020 he was vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, at which point he was the longest-serving current vice-chancellor in New Zealand, having served three five-year terms. He was previously vice-chancellor at Victoria University of Wellington, and deputy vice-chancellor and assistant vice-chancellor (research) at Massey University.

In 2012, he was the highest-paid public sector worker in New Zealand.

McCutcheon was the chairman of the Riddet Institute, a Centre of Research Excellence in food science based in Palmerston North, and Secretary of the Woolf Fisher Trust.

Early life, education and early career McCutcheon was born in Wellington on 10 November 1954, and was educated at Rongotai College. He was appointed a lecturer in animal science at Massey in 1984, and became head of department in 1990. He served as Massey's assistant vice-chancellor from 1994 to 1999, when he was promoted to deputy vice-chancellor.

Administrative career McCutcheon oversaw a 15-year period of development at the University of Auckland. Staff numbers (FTE) rose from 4,332 in 2005 to 5,968 in 2019, his last full year as vice-chancellor. Over the same period, student numbers increased from 30,800 (EFTS) to 34,521. The University's physical facilities were modernised and rationalised with major new buildings for the faculties of business, science, engineering and medicine, the sale of the Tamaki Campus and the purchase of land for the Newmarket Campus.

The closure of three specialist libraries for financial reasons at the University of Auckland in 2018 created significant controversy. McCutcheon later released a statement to staff in which he clarified his position on free speech, noting he always has been, and always will be utterly opposed to prejudice, discrimination and hate speech of any kind, including the kind that is characterised as white supremacy, and acknowledging the very real hurt and sense of threat that some people at the University felt in response to these expressions of white supremacist views.

Personal life McCutcheon was married to Deborah and had two children.

Death McCutcheon died suddenly from a heart attack in Auckland on 6 January 2023, aged 68.