Dr Evelyn Imelda Coxon, was awarded the CNZM (Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) for services to Pacific and tertiary education, as part of the Queens Birthday Honours list 2021.          

Dr Eve Coxon has been involved in Pacific education for almost 40 years and is recognised regionally and internationally. 

During her time at Auckland University, Dr Coxon has established undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Pacific education and Pacific Studies. 

She has supervised 45 PhD or Masters’ theses, the majority authored by Pacific students. She was founding director of the Research Unit in Pacific Education and played a key role in the development of the Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative for Pacific Peoples which has, for more than twenty years, fostered new generations of regional Pacific education leaders. She has undertaken research in a range of Pacific countries, contributed to academic programmes at Pacific universities and authored numerous books, journal articles, book chapters and research reports, mostly in collaboration with Pacific colleagues. She has been appointed to many advisory positions by governments across the region, such as Education Sector Support Advisor to the Tongan Ministry of Education, Policy Advisor to the Samoan Ministry of Education, and New Zealand Representative on the Fiji Education Commission. She has been President of the Oceania Comparative Education Society and since 2016 has held leadership positions on the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. Dr Coxon continues in an honorary position at Auckland University actively supporting students, Pacific education research and researchers.