Tauranga Girls' College Alumni Association has awarded Professor Giselle Byrnes with its excellence beyond school award.
Giselle studied at TGC from 1981 to 1984 and has made her career teaching and researching New Zealand history.

Professor Giselle Byrnes.

She holds a PhD in history and taught at Victoria University for 10 years before being appointed professor and chairperson of the University of Waikato Department of History in 2007.
She was also a Fulbright Visiting Professor in New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University in Washington DC in 2006.
Since mid-2008 Giselle has also held the university-wide leadership role of pro vice-chancellor, with responsibility for all doctoral candidates across the university.
She is known nationally and internationally for her work on Treaty of Waitangi issues and debates around national identity.
Giselle has published extensively in the field of history; has written two books and was general editor of The New Oxford History of New Zealand.
She is currently exploring how history at university can better connect with the community at large and is working with schools on the new history senior secondary curriculum.
Giselle is on the New Zealand Journal of History editorial advisory board, actively involved with Fulbright New Zealand, and from 2005-2007 was national president of the New Zealand Historical Association.