![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/copy-of-associate-prof-john-broughton-at-the-university-of-otago-dental-school-photo-by-craig.webp\")
Associate Prof John Broughton at the University of Otago Dental School yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter. <\/p>\nA\u00a0University of Otago teacher, scholar and\u00a0pioneer in M\u0101ori\u00a0\u00a0health and dentistry, Emeritus Prof John Broughton, has died.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prof Broughton dedicated more than 40 years of his professional academic life to the advancement of health science and M\u0101ori health.<\/p>\n
Family informed the university of Prof Broughton\u2019s death on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He\u00a0was a Professor in the Department of Preventative and Social Medicine and Associate Dean M\u0101ori for the School of Dentistry.<\/p>\n
Among his achievements was the introduction and development of hauora M\u0101ori curriculum in health professional courses, and as the inaugural Director of the Ng\u0101i Tahu M\u0101ori Health Research Unit.<\/p>\n
Associate Prof John Broughton at the University of Otago Dental School yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter. <\/p>\n
A highlight of his research was the International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership, \u2018Reducing disease burden and health inequalities arising from chronic dental disease among Indigenous children: an early childhood caries intervention\u2019.<\/p>\n
He was awarded a PhD in 2006 after a doctoral thesis in M\u0101ori oral health and became professor in 2012.<\/p>\n
Following his retirement in 2020, he remained dedicated to the university,\u00a0providing a welcome at almost every graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n
In 2020,\u00a0he\u00a0was awarded the status of Emeritus Professor for his distinguished and long service. In 2025,\u00a0Otago\u00a0University awarded him an\u00a0Honorary Doctor of Science in recognition of his outstanding career and contribution to healthcare and M\u0101ori advancement.<\/p>\n
In addition to his outstanding academic career, Prof Broughton was an award-winning playwright whose work brought te ao M\u0101ori to stages in Aotearoa and overseas.<\/p>\n
He also served for many decades in the New Zealand Territorial Force as a commissioned officer and was recognised with the Efficiency Decoration.<\/p>\n
And he was a dedicated member and supporter of the Otago University Rugby Football Club.<\/p>\n
University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson said\u00a0Prof\u00a0Broughton\u2019s immense contribution to the advancement of M\u0101ori health, dental healthcare and preventative and social medicine will forever live on in the students he taught, the research he pioneered, and the knowledge he imparted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe many gifts he had, he shared with intelligence and grace, enhancing our collective understanding and contributing to a better Aotearoa.<\/p>\n
“The ora John planted will continue to bloom, as it was sown in every clinician who benefited from his mahi. We will miss him greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n
An obituary will follow.<\/p>\n
– Allied\u00a0Media\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u00a0University of Otago teacher, scholar and\u00a0pioneer in M\u0101ori\u00a0\u00a0health and dentistry, Emeritus Prof John Broughton, has died.\u00a0 Prof Broughton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-601706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}