The University of Otago recently appointed seven of its leading scholars to prestigious new roles as sesquicentennial distinguished chairs, and one of these appointees was NPM's co-director Professor Jacinta Ruru.

Jacinta said her appointment was an "incredible opportunity'', and she would be undertaking several projects, including co-editing, with Justice Joe Williams, the country's first comprehensive Maori law treatise. Her research has focused on exploring Indigenous peoples' legal rights to own, manage and govern land and water including national parks and minerals in Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, United States, Australia and the Scandinavia countries.

In addition to winning the Prime Minister's supreme award for tertiary teaching, she has also been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Jacinta was the first Māori Law Professor in Aotearoa New Zealand.