Graeme Moodie
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Graeme Cochrane Moodie (27 August 1924 – 3 August 2007) was the founding professor in 1963 of the Department of Politics at the
University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...
. He is most notable as principal author of ''The Moodie Report'', which set out what is now the general model for student participation in the governance of modern British universities, and ''The Government of Great Britain'' (1961), regarded as a classic in its field and a standard textbook for students of British politics.


Early life and education

Born in
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, the son of an
ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...
, and educated at Lathallan School in
Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, Moodie contracted
polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
at the age of nine (which left him with a lifelong limp) and was taught in hospital until 1936. His schooling was completed at the well-known
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
school,
Leighton Park Leighton Park School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ...
near
Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
and he then studied
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
and
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at St Andrews University. While studying at
The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...
, he was elected president of the Junior Common Room and the University Liberal Club. In 1946 he obtained a first-class honours
degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...
in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.


Academic career

Moodie spent a year after graduating as an external tutor in politics at
Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
and then returned to St Andrews University as a lecturer in political science. Between 1949 and 1951 he was a
Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, includ ...
fellow at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, and in 1953 returned to St Andrews as senior lecturer in politics, spending a further year (1962–1963) at Princeton. He pursued his interest in politics outside academia, standing as the Labour Party candidate for Dumfriesshire in the 1959 general election, and gathering 42% of the vote. Moodie became the first professor of politics and head of department at the newly founded
University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...
in 1963, where he remained until his retirement in 1980. During this time, he helped to establish the University's Centre for Southern African Studies, and continued work in this field after his retirement, researching post-
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
academia and particularly academic freedom. In 1991 he was a visiting professor at the
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
.


Principal works

In 1959 Moodie wrote the influential Fabian pamphlet ''The Universities: A Royal Commission?'', which set out a framework for the governance of Britain's newest universities. As a former student, Haleh Afshar wrote, His 1961 work, ''The Government of Great Britain'', became a standard university textbook for students of politics. Later works include ''Opinions, Publics and Pressure Groups'' (1970) and ''Power and Authority in British Universities'' (1974) formed educational thinking in the 1970s and argued for less authoritarian structures, including student participation in university governance, which has now become the norm.


Other appointments

* Chairman & Vice-President, Political Studies Association of the UK * Chairman of the Society for Research in Higher Education * 1970- 1977, Provost, Langwith College,
University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...
* 1986 & 1993, visiting Professor at
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
* 1981 - 84, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of York


Personal life

Graeme Moodie and Kate Cremin (d.1985) married in 1956, having a daughter (Herald), two sons (Dan and Mark) and a stepdaughter (Jenny); after a short-lived second marriage, he married Andréa Russell in 1997. He was also a keen photographerLangwith Exhibition
/ref> and chairman of the Village Trust for Heslington, the village adjacent to the
University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...
and in which he lived.


References


External links


Catalogue of Moodie's papers on higher education research
held at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moodie, Graeme 1924 births 2007 deaths People from Dundee People educated at Leighton Park School Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Academics of the University of St Andrews Princeton University faculty Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of York British educational theorists British political scientists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates 20th-century political scientists