Robert Chapman papers.

Professor Robert Chapman was born in Takapuna on 30 October 1922. He attended Auckland Grammar School before enrolling at Auckland Teachers’ College in 1941 and Auckland University College in 1942. During the war he served in New Zealand in the Air Liaison Section of the Army, and then in the RNZAF as a meteorological observer. At Auckland University College his talent was soon recognised when he won the Lissie Rathbone Scholarship for the top student in stage one English and History. He went on to win the prestigious Fowlds Prize for the top scholar of the year at Auckland University College, and graduated with an MA in History (with first class honours) in 1948. He became one of the pioneering academics at the University of Auckland, who along with others such as Sir Keith Sinclair and Allen Curnow, during the 1960s asserted that New Zealand had its own identity equally worthy of examination as that of Great Britain. Appointed as lecturer in History in 1948, he was subsequently Research Fellow in Political Science at the Australian National University from 1953-1956, then Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor of History at the University of Auckland, and became foundation Professor of Political Studies in 1964. In addition to his academic and research activities, Robert Chapman developed an impressive reputation as a broadcaster and commentator on political matters from the 1950s, and became a regular part of television coverage on election night for a long period. His expertise in this field was reflected in his appointment to the Regional Advisory Committee of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (1965-1969), and he later sat on two important broadcasting reviews, the 1973 Committee on Broadcasting, and the 1986 Royal Commission on Broadcasting and Related Telecommunications in New Zealand, which he chaired.

Chapman’s strong interest in media coverage of the political landscape led to his establishing the Robert and Noeline Chapman Audio-Visual Archive in the 1960s. The Chapman Archive is New Zealand’s largest and most continuous collection of broadcast news and current affairs available in an as broadcast form. Its television news and current affairs holdings are very extensive, and in many cases the Chapman collection is the only surviving record of New Zealand political, social and economic history, and certainly the only one combining extensive radio and television resources. In recognition of this national significance, the Archive was deposited with the New Zealand Film Archive in 2001, to ensure its long-term preservation and access.

Robert Chapman was an inspiring teacher as well as a gifted researcher, and a list of his former students reads like a who’s who of broadcasting, politics, and academia. They include a number of distinguished academics at the University of Auckland, and on the political front, former Speaker Jonathan Hunt, Minister of Trade Phil Goff, former health minister, Michael Bassett, and one-time staff member Prime Minister Helen Clark. Although he acted as an adviser to many on the political front, his expertise was not applied in a partisan way, and he himself never belonged to a political party. Although he retired in 1988, he maintained strong links with the Department in his retirement years.

Perhaps less well known was Robert Chapman’s strong interest in New Zealand art and literature. He was an avid collector of New Zealand art and helped establish the University’s art collection. He was an accomplished poet in his own right, and made a major contribution to New Zealand letters with the publication, in 1956, of An anthology of New Zealand verse which he co-edited with Jonathan Bennett. He also maintained an interest in New Zealand letters and contacts with local writers throughout his life. Chapman’s ability to integrate research across the disciplines was a central characteristic of his work, alongside the skill of meshing the minute detail of political behaviour with the broad trends of social and political change.

Chapman’s wider academic contributions included several major books on New Zealand politics and society, 3 edited works, and numerous substantial articles and chapters in books. For a select bibliography of his works see: Chapman, R. M. (Robert McDonald) New Zealand politics and social patterns : selected works by Robert Chapman; edited and introduced by Elizabeth McLeay. Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1999 (pp. 367-369).

Robert Chapman married Noeline Amy Thompson in 1948. They had three sons, Guy, Ralph and Hal. Chapman was made a CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1987. Robert Chapman died on 26 May 2004 and Noeline died on 28 November 2005.