Distinguished Grad. not Invited to V.U.C.

An old V.U.C. identity—and one of New Zealand's best known intellectual exports—has recently been paying his first visit to Wellington for 11 years. Me is Dr. Ronald L. Meek, now lecturer in Economics at Glasgow University.

Ron Meek was one of the leaders of left-wing thought at V.U.C. during the roaring red thirties, a frequent contributer to "Salient" in its early years, and author of some of the College's best extravaganzas.

Winning a travelling scholarship in Law in 1939, he got as far as Panama on his way to Cambridge when war broke out, and he returned to New Zealand. He then continued to study at V.U.C., this time emerging with an M.A. in Economics. He had his scholarship transferred from Law to Economics, and eventually went to Cambridge in 1946, gaining his Doctorate in 1948. Ever since he has been on the staff of Glasgow University.

Married to an Oxford graduate in Russian who has been on the staff of the School of Slavonic Studies at Glasgow (publishers of "Soviet Studies"), and himself widely read and travelled in Russia and East Europe, Meek has some most interesting things to say about recent switches in Communist policy. His address on Poland to the Wellington Institute of International Affairs a fortnight ago is reported to have been brilliant.

He has also, during his present visit, given courses of lectures on the history of economic thought at Auckland and Canterbury University Colleges—but not, amazingly enough, at his old Alma Mater. He will go from here to Japan, where he is to lecture at a number of universities, and then, possibly, to China and the U.S.S.R.

Dr. Meek is at present in the South island, but will be returning north through Wellington about mid-August. He has expressed willingness to address a joint cottage meeting of the V.U.C. Socialist Club and Social Democrat Society then on some aspect of "Stalin and De-Stalin". Final date and place of meeting will be advertised.