Kate Milligan Evans (née Edger, 6 January 1857 – 6 May 1935) was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree, and possibly the second in the British Empire to do so.

[3][4] There was no higher education for girls at the time, but as she showed academic promise, she was placed in the top class of Auckland College and Grammar School.

In addition to being the principal she taught English grammar, composition and literature, physical science, Latin, mathematics, singing and geography.

She was also a founding member of Wellington's Society for the Protection of Women and Children, and a Dominion Secretary of the League of Nations Union of New Zealand.

Edger's sister Gertrude had a daughter, Geraldine Hemus, who became the third woman in New Zealand to be admitted to practice law as a barrister and solicitor.

[7][8] Her elder sister Emily Marian Edger (1850-1935) married William Judson, noted for building a set of town houses at 203-209 Ponsonby Road, Auckland.

She died in New Zealand aged 79 in 1941, having resided in Benares, India, for forty years where she taught, gave lectures on theosophy and wrote several books on theosophical subjects.

[3] The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust provides financial assistance for women pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate degrees.