From what I can gather, it's a special title at the University of Otago. It means he was received the standard title of Distinguished Professor [0] as part of a special group of appointments made to celebrate the university's 150th anniversary in 2019. [1]
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_professor 1: https://www.otago.ac.nz/otagobulletin/news/poutoko-taiea-dis...