Leonie Eileen Pihama (born 1962) is a New Zealand kaupapa MÃÂori academic.
Pihama was born in 1962. She wrote her 1993 master's thesis at the University of Auckland with the title Tungia te ururua, kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o te harakeke: a critical analysis of parents as first teachers. She completed her PhD at the same institution in 2001 and her doctoral thesis had the title Tëhei mauri ora: honouring our voices: mana wahine as a kaupapa MÃÂori: theoretical framework, and was supervised by Fiona Cram, Judith Simon and Linda Tuhiwai Smith. She won a Fulbright-NgàPae o te MÃÂramatanga Scholar Award and is now a NgàPae o te MÃÂramatanga principal investigator. She rose to Associate Professor there, before moving to the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. Notable students include Donna Campbell.
Pihama served on the establishment board of Whakaata MÃÂori (MÃÂori Television) and then as a director, but quit after three years due to a conflict of interest involving a family member.
In 2017, Pihama was ranked as one of the '100 MÃÂori leaders' by Te Rau Matatini. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2022.
Pihama is of Te ÃÂtiawa, NgÃÂti MÃÂhanga and NgÃÂ MÃÂhanga ÃÂ Tairi descent.