Full Name
Professor Damon Salesa
Job Title
Vice-Chancellor
Company
Auckland University of Technology
Speaker Bio
Professor Damon Salesa is the Vice-Chancellor of Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland University of Technology (AUT). He leads a university of more than 27,000 students and 4,000 staff, making AUT one of the largest universities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Before joining AUT, Damon held academic and leadership roles at the University of Auckland and the University of Michigan, including as Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific, Co-Head of Te Wānanga o Waipapa (School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies), and Associate Professor of History.
Damon is the author and editor of numerous books and academic articles. His publications include Island Time: New Zealand's Pacific Futures, Racial Crossings: Race, Intermarriage and the Victorian British Empire, which won the Ernest Scott Prize, and An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific Essays, which received a prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Award in 2024.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and a Fellow of Oriel College, University of Oxford.
Damon leads AUT's work on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies and is actively involved in conversations about education, innovation and pedagogy. He is Chair of Universities New Zealand's International Committee and serves on a number of other boards.
Before joining AUT, Damon held academic and leadership roles at the University of Auckland and the University of Michigan, including as Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific, Co-Head of Te Wānanga o Waipapa (School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies), and Associate Professor of History.
Damon is the author and editor of numerous books and academic articles. His publications include Island Time: New Zealand's Pacific Futures, Racial Crossings: Race, Intermarriage and the Victorian British Empire, which won the Ernest Scott Prize, and An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific Essays, which received a prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Award in 2024.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and a Fellow of Oriel College, University of Oxford.
Damon leads AUT's work on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies and is actively involved in conversations about education, innovation and pedagogy. He is Chair of Universities New Zealand's International Committee and serves on a number of other boards.
