27/05/2026
Zolzaya Battsogt lost both her daughter and supervisor during her doctoral studies. This May, she graduated in their honour.
Soon after starting her PhD in Auckland, Zolzaya returned home to Mongolia to give birth to her youngest daughter. It was her fourth child: she already had twin girls and a boy.
“I left believing I would return with my newborn daughter, but I returned alone. My daughter died one week after I gave birth in hospital. It was an emotionally devastating experience for our entire family.”
Zolzaya temporarily suspended her studies and went to therapy for six months.
“As a mother of three children, and a wife, I needed to keep moving forward and accept reality, painful as it was. During that time, I promised my daughter in heaven that I would complete my degree and fulfil my dream of becoming a leader in my field.”
Tragically, three years after her daughter’s death, Zolzaya lost her doctoral supervisor, Professor Julie Cassidy, who was a respected academic, friend, and colleague to many in the Business School and the wider university.
Zolzaya finally made it to graduation, with an impressive, impactful doctoral thesis. It was the result of years of hard intellectual and emotional work.
“It was one of the most meaningful moments of my life, symbolising the fulfilment of the promises I had made to my daughter in heaven and to Professor Cassidy, while finally reaching a goal that had required years of perseverance, sacrifice, and resilience.”
This May, she became the first Mongolian scholar to complete a PhD in international tax and transfer pricing at the University of Auckland.
Read more of Zolzaya’s story here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/05/26/mongolian-scholar-completes-phd-after-profound-loss.html
