Emeritus Professor Linda Holloway will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws at an Otago graduation ceremony on Saturday.
Sixty years after graduating for the first time, a leading pathologist will cross the stage once again to receive one of the University of Otago’s most prestigious awards.
Emeritus Professor Dame Linda Holloway will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws at a graduation ceremony on Saturday. She will also give the graduation address.
Dame Linda was the pathology medical advisor for the Cartwright Inquiry, which investigated the treatment of women with cervical cancer at National Women’s Hospital in Auckland.
She joined Otago in 1975, later becoming Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Health Sciences (renamed Pro-Vice-Chancellor) and was the first woman to be Dean of the Otago Medical School.
“The University honouring me in this way is totally unexpected and I am overwhelmed by it,” she says.
Dame Linda started her career at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1964 and becoming a lecturer in pathology. During her undergraduate studies, she was awarded a pathology scholarship in Stockholm which influenced her later choice of specialty, and a Nuffield travelling scholarship to Fiji that gave her a lasting love of the Pacific and its people.
After graduating, she trained in academic and diagnostic pathology, before moving to New Zealand in 1970 when she married her husband, John Holloway.
She lived in Gisborne and later moved to West Otago where she spent time in rural general practice, before relocating to Dunedin and completing her specialist training.
Her family returned to Scotland for two years where she was a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, completed her doctoral thesis in perinatal pathology and gained experience in lung pathology.
On returning to New Zealand, she accepted an appointment as a senior lecturer in Otago’s Department of Pathology, based on the Wellington campus. She later became Professor and then Dean of the Wellington School of Medicine – the first woman to be Dean of Medicine in the country.
During her time in Wellington, she undertook research into perinatal pathology, respiratory disease, and breast cancer.
One of her key contributions to health in the New Zealand was her involvement in the Cartwright Inquiry from 1987 to 1988. The inquiry was a watershed moment in patients’ rights globally and led to significant reforms towards a patient-centred heath care system.
She has also held several board roles including chair of the National Health Committee, member of the Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee, long-serving chair of the Abortion Supervisory Committee, and director of the Institute of Environmental Health and Forensic Sciences Ltd.
Dame Linda says her career with Otago enabled her to spend 19 years at the Wellington campus, which allowed both she and her husband to have fulfilling careers.
“The second half of my career with the University in Dunedin allowed me, during my time as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, to focus on the interdisciplinary nature of the health professions and be involved in the beginnings of Interprofessional Education at Otago.
“In the years following my retirement from full-time work, I have enjoyed providing interim leadership to a number of departments.
“As someone who loves teaching, I have been able to continue to teach undergraduates in my discipline of pathology.”
Dame Linda was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1997 for services to medicine, elevated to Distinguished Companion in 2005, and Dame Companion in 2009.
Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson says Dame Linda has made a significant impact on women’s health in New Zealand.
“Dame Linda’s career achievements are nothing short of extraordinary. She has been a trailblazer for women in medicine and we are proud to have had her at Otago for so many years.”