Thomas Hunter

Sir Thomas Alexander Hunter (28 February 1876 – 20 April 1953) was a New Zealand psychologist, university professor and administrator. He was vice chancellor of the University of New Zealand from 1929 to 1947, chairman of Massey Agricultural College from 1936 to 1938, and principal of Victoria University College from 1938 to 1951. At the age of seventy-five, Hunter retired after serving, for almost fifty years, at Victoria University College.

Early life Hunter was born in Croydon, Surrey, England. His parents Louisa Jane Harton, William Hunter, and Thomas went to Otago, New Zealand, in 1880. Thomas attended Port Chalmers District High School. Then went off to the University of Otago where he studied mental and moral philosophy. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1939 King's Birthday Honours, and in 1952 he became an honorary fellow of the British Psychological Society.

In 1946, Hunter's colleagues presented him with a volume of essays, The university and the community, the first time such event took place in New Zealand. In 1950 he received an honorary doctorate of literature from the University of New Zealand.