Alumni making waves—How a law degree unlocked the world
Nathan Hoturoa Gray (Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne me Waikato-Tainui [whangai]) graduated in 1999 with an LLB(Hons) and BA in Political Science and International Relations. He’s currently based in the United States, where he runs study abroad programmes for Michigan State University (MSU), the globally top-ranked university for education abroad. His CV also features governance, leadership, publishing (he has written seven books), communications, and journalism roles, as well as his legal work.
It’s an extensive resumé, and Nathan credits his time at Te Kauhanganui Tātai Ture—Faculty of Law for the remarkable breadth of his interests and expertise.
It’s been such a good degree to have because I’ve been able to pivot to so many different industries—the writing and the research skills have been incredibly useful to my career.
Nathan spoke to V.Alum the day after the recent US elections, which he’d been covering for New Zealand’s Stuff, including reporting from Kamala Harris’s final rally at MSU. He says he first got a taste for politics and law in high school, while in South Africa in 1993 on a Rotary Ambassadorial exchange, witnessing the build-up to that country’s first free democratic elections.
In law school, Nathan tutored and undertook a summer clerkship at Chapman Tripp. He was awarded a scholarship to UC Davis in California, where he completed the final semester of his law degree—that included a one-year working visa which allowed him to take up an internship on the island of Saipan, a territory of the US in the Pacific. He then got a job in Alaska for the large American law firm Perkins Coie.
While law was definitely a passion, drawn from observing his father’s 60 years as a senior partner of Chapman Tripp, Nathan didn’t feel fulfilled working solely in a legal environment. Travel, however, was something he loved, so he took his writing and legal skills on the road.
In 2002, Nathan became the youngest Westerner in history to walk and document the entire length of the Great Wall of China. He wrote a Penguin best-selling book about his experiences, and a documentary about the journey was showcased on the National Geographic channel.
He has covered many different global events including the Beijing Olympics, the Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand and three soccer world cups.
I’ve travelled to 86 countries, writing for a range of international publications including National Geographic. I cut my journalistic teeth on a Māori magazine called Tu Mai, as well as Hollywood’s leading tax incentives and locations magazine P3 Update.
He eventually found his way back to Aotearoa and worked in law and journalism, but felt he wanted to give something back at a community level, too.
“Having experience in law—as well as the arts—meant a natural move for me was to explore governance,” he explains. “I spent five years on Te Waka Toi, the Māori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand, and three years on the Board of Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision [the former Film Archive]. I’m currently on the Board of DocEdge, which runs one of two Oscar-qualifying Documentary Festivals in the world, as well as a Ngāi Tahu Māori land trust in Koukourarata [Port Levy]. Having a law background has enabled me to apply those skills and formally contribute to the different communities I’m interested in.”
Another highlight of his career has been working for the Alan Duff Books in Homes Trust, which saw him give around 500 talks at schools across the motu. “It’s a brilliant organisation that has gifted over 15 million books, and thus was a unique opportunity to get into every corner of the country and show kids what’s possible. It was an incredibly rewarding time that showed me just how dedicated and hard working the country’s teachers are.”
Nathan describes his current passion as running education abroad programmes to inspire the next generation of leaders. Nathan and his wife developed a Conservation Medicine programme for Michigan State University where they bring groups of students to New Zealand, and have also run courses in Hawai’i and Switzerland. The Conservation Medicine programme takes an interdisciplinary approach to health by considering the relationships between animal, environmental, and human health through the lens of culture.
“The programmes help me to bring a Māori framework to conservation and show Americans the value in embracing an indigenous, intergenerational mind set,” he says.
“I also teach students how to use communication skills to get their scientific messages across to a wider audience. It’s been really good to give back to the next generation, in the same way all those amazing people at Te Herenga Waka did for me as I was coming up the ranks and trying to find my way. It’s hugely fulfilling work.”
Te Kauhanganui Tātai Ture: Finding purpose through a shared community
This year, as always, my brilliant colleagues have produced world-leading research, taught over 2000 extraordinary students, and engaged widely to make Aotearoa and the world a better place. I know of no law school with fewer than 30 academic staff and as many students that manages such excellent teaching and research. Our equally amazing professional staff have done an extraordinary job in not just keeping things working but also making students’ lives just a little easier.
Our students are our future, and I tell them they are better versions of us—in some of the tough times this year, it is they who have helped us get through. I am constantly amazed at what our students get up to after they leave here, and just sometimes I like to claim a little bit of the credit that properly belongs to you!
But Tātai Ture is not just made up of those lucky enough to work or study here in the Old Government Buildings (OGB)—it is made up of all of you, wherever and whenever you get to read this.
We have decided to do V.Alum a bit differently so we can tell stories from within and from outside OGB. Please take a few minutes to read about our wonderful research, student leaders, and the achievements of some of our alumni.
The last couple of years have been unsettled for Te Herenga Waka, and I suspect that the next couple will be challenging for all our universities. The Law Faculty, however, has continued to be a thriving part of a university that is beginning to flourish again. We have five new academic staff who either have just started with us or will soon be here for us to nurture—emerging scholars in international trade, intellectual property, and comparative constitutional law; a leading mergers and acquisitions scholar from the US; and a new Professor of Public Health.
I am still getting used to working in the Dean’s office. Being Dean of the faculty that I have worked in for 30 years is a privilege and an honour but also, to be honest, a bit daunting. I have been amazed by all the goodwill and offers of help that I have received. I genuinely believe that despite the challenges 2025 will bring, we really can build an even better law school for our community. Priorities for next year include emphasising our links with the main University, joining with our friends across Bunny Street in Wellington School of Business and Government to create a unique Pipitea experience at the heart of our capital, emphasising the ‘place-based’ experience of learning law at VUW, and working to raise Pasifika achievement. Next year also is the first year of the new integrated tikanga curriculum that all students will study—we can’t wait to get started.
If we can do all this, it will be in no small part due to the tireless work of my predecessor, Lee Godden, who worked harder than any person I have ever known at the Law School. Lee had to return to Australia in August to care for whānau, but not before she had secured the funding for our new appointments.
It is summer, at least for those in Aotearoa. Just before Christmas, I will be in one of my happy places, Fiordland, walking the Kepler Track with my best man (whom I met in second-year law) and his family. On my to-do list are reading all the books that I missed out on during the year, fighting the ivy in our garden, and mostly just sitting in the sun—which is guaranteed this Wellington summer. I hope to finally make it in February to the top of Angelus Peak in Nelson Lakes. I also plan to catch up on some of my colleagues’ excellent research (really truly!)—you should too! Pick something from the list—it is all great.
One book I’m currently learning a lot from is Zest, written by my old torts student Daniel Kalderimis KC, who courageously writes about his recovery from depression, with the help of not only psychology but also philosophy. Daniel’s book is not so much about how to do law but is a lot about how we should choose to be more purposeful in those things that give us meaning. Daniel reminds me, though, that law is all about the narratives that connect people. Outside my family and friends, it has also been this university and our shared law community that have given me a sense of purpose and meaning. So I can’t wait for 2025.
Whiti te rā
Geoff