Te Taka Adrian Gregory Keegan is a New Zealand academic and Māori language revivalist. He is descended from the Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Apakura, Te Whānau-ā-Karuai ki Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Whakaaue iwi.[1]

Te Taka Keegan
NationalityNew Zealand
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Waikato
ThesisIndigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai. (2007)

With a background in hardware engineering, Keegan returned to the University of Waikato to pursue a Master's degree in Traditional Māori Navigation.[2][3] He then became involved in the computer science department and became the first to teach computer science in immersion te reo Māori[4] He completed his PhD titled Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai based on work with the New Zealand Digital Library, a research project led by Ian H. Witten.[5][6] His academic profile can be found at the Waikato University website.[7]

Keegan led the team that translated Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 into te reo Māori[8][9] and consulted with the team that translated Office 2013 and Windows 8.[10] The former involved coining many new terms, which have since been incorporated into A Dictionary of Māori Computer related terms.[11] He was also involved in SwiftKey having Māori as a supported language.

In association with spending a sabbatical at Google, Keegan was the driving language force behind Google Maori.[12][13][14] He is also one of the trustees of Tūhono, a database linking individual Māori with their iwi.[15]

Awards

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In 2017, New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English presented Keegan with the nation's highest teaching award,[16] the Prime Minister's Supreme Award, in recognition of Keegan's sustained commitment to teaching and learning.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Dr Te Taka Keegan (Deputy Chairperson)". www.tuhono.net.
  2. ^ "Dr Te Taka Keegan". Science Learning Hub.
  3. ^ "Aria". www.cs.waikato.ac.nz.
  4. ^ "He tangata whai kupu". Stuff. 28 August 2009.
  5. ^ Keegan, Te (2007). Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai (Doctoral thesis). Waikato Research Commons, University of Waikato. hdl:10289/3997.
  6. ^ "NZDL: People". Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  7. ^ "University of Waikato". profiles.waikato.ac.nz. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  8. ^ GIFFORD, ADAM (16 April 2003). "Maori language macron idea finds favour with Microsoft engineers" – via www.nzherald.co.nz.
  9. ^ KIRIONA, RENEE (20 October 2004). "Te reo boots up for 21st century" – via www.nzherald.co.nz.
  10. ^ "Te reo Māori choice for Windows 8, Office 2013, and the Internet".
  11. ^ Taiuru, K.N. (2006). A Dictionary of Māori Computer Related Terms: English - Māori. Karaitiana N. Taiuru. ISBN 978-0-9582621-1-8.
  12. ^ Helft, Miguel (9 March 2010). "Google's Toolkit for Translators Helps Feed Its Machine".
  13. ^ Gifford, Adam (29 July 2008). "Te Reo no longer lost in translation" – via www.nzherald.co.nz.
  14. ^ "Kua puta a Google Whakamāori ki te reo Māori: Google Translate now in Māori".
  15. ^ "Tūhono Trust," www.tuhono.net. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  16. ^ Clifford, Aidan (22 August 2017). "Te Reo and Binary Combine to Win Prime Minister's Supreme Award". microsoft.com. Microsoft. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Weaving te reo into technology - Dr Te Taka Keegan wins top teaching honour". 9 August 2017. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.