Jens Mueller honoured in the New Year list, champions global education from his Tauranga base, reports David Porter.
Jens Mueller
Jens Mueller sums up his complex role quite simply: “Do what you can do well.”
For him, that means recruiting foreign students who return home post-study and later come back to New Zealand to help the country grow.
For these efforts, Tauranga-based Mueller was appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the New Year Honours, for services to education. It was a further elevation for Mueller, who was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 2015 for services to business and education.
“Recruiting and also teaching are things that I have a passion for, but you have to be prepared to work across time zones. There are no Christmas holidays in India, no morning days in the southern hemisphere, so you have to work at night. So long as you manage it with your personal life it works well.”
Born in Germany, Mueller came to New Zealand some 30 years ago and was originally an associate professor at Waikato University for 20 years. He then moved to Massey as a professor.
“I teach mainly global-related courses to master students,” he says.
And he is actively involved in immigration recruitment.
His decision to settle in Tauranga was, as he puts it, “accidental” – sparked by a chance meeting with someone who loved the city.
“I started out with a tiny little house on the beach in Papamoa,” he says.
“As someone who had lived in Los Angeles at a time when living by the beach was quite unaffordable, this was quite amazing – that you could have the sand under your feet and still be able to afford living here.”
Jens Mueller came to New Zealand some 30 years ago and was originally an associate professor at Waikato University for 20 years. He then moved to Massey as a professor.
Mueller describes New Zealand as a “fabulous” place to do business provided that you are willing to do business internationally.
“There is no question that we punch well above our weight in terms of trade relations with other countries.”
He says New Zealand has the largest number of free trade agreements of anywhere in the world.
“We’ve done incredibly well, but it requires you to be present and to connect and you can’t do that all by Zoom, it needs a strong handshake.”
Mueller suggests that it’s a disadvantage for companies that want to start off in New Zealand, because the country doesn’t have a large home population base. In Europe, the US or Canada you could use the home population to start your product or service, he says.
“We pretty much go overseas for anything we want to develop at scale.”
Jens Mueller
He suggests that New Zealand is a great starting point for ideas, but it requires much larger populations, capital investment and larger market, to bring things to a global scale.
Mueller notes that Tauranga has changed a lot over the 30 years he has lived there.
“It’s become much more city-like than just a resort and a town that is surrounded by beaches and happiness,” he says.
“It has become much more substantial.”
As New Zealand continues to navigate its place in the global economy, leaders like Jens Mueller remind us that success lies in connection – between education and enterprise, between local roots and international reach.
His journey from Germany to Tauranga, and from academia to global engagement, underscores a simple truth: growth comes not from isolation, but from embracing the world with both hands – and a firm handshake.
Jens Mueller, left, with the new Indian consul general Madan Mohan Sethi in Auckland talking about strengthening India-New Zealand trade and economic engagement.
