Douglas Copland was born in New Zeland in 1894. He received his bachelor of arts and master's degree at the University of New Zealand and then in 1924 became the first Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne. In 1946, he was appointed Australian minister to China, attended the first session of the United Nations General Assembly and participated in preliminary negotiations for drafting a peace treaty with Japan.
In 1948, Copland returned to Canberra, Australia and to academic life as founding vice-chancellor of the Australian National University. In 1953, Copland accepted the post of high commissioner to Canada and while in Ottawa also served as Australia's official representative on several United Nations bodies. He was a member and then President in 1955 of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and chaired the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Committee on European Migration in 1953 in Geneva. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Copland was to deliver a series of three lectures but fell ill after his first lecture and returned to Australia. He delivered his first lecture on November 15, 1961 titled "The Changing Structure of the Western Economy". The lecture along with a selection of his other writing was published by McGill University Press in 1961 and is available at the McGill Library here.
Douglas Copland delivers the Beatty Lecture, with Principal James seated next to him.
Image: McGill University Archives.
Douglas Copland at a press interview, 1961. Image: McGill University Archives.
Images: McGill University Archives, photographer, Charles Kinghorn
