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Sir Ivison Stevenson Macadam (18 July 1894 – 22 December 1974) was the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and the founding President of the National Union of Students. He was also the editor and chairman of the advisory board of the Annual Register of World Events; a longtime member of the editorial board of the Round Table and sat on the governing bodies of King’s College, London and other organisations. Early life Born 18 July 1894 at Slioch, Lady Road, Edinburgh, he was the second son of Colonel William Ivison Macadam, (1856–1902), and Sarah Maconochie MacDonald (1855–1941). He was the grandson of Stevenson Macadam, (1829-1901). Educated at Melville College, Edinburgh, he was the second King's Scout to be invested in Scotland, and the first Silver Wolf Scout in Scotland, awarded for "services of the most exceptional character by gift of the Chief Scout". He was invested by Chief Scout and founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell. World War One He served in World War I, attached to the City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers. He was the youngest major in the British Army as Officer Commanding Royal Engineers, Archangel, North Russian Expeditionary Force, the ill-fated Allied military campaign 1918–1919 following the armistice with Germany, and the final major military action of WWI (Mentioned in dispatches [MID] thrice). He was awarded the OBE in 1919 at the age of 24 for his service there. University education Ivison, like many of his generation who served in World War I, attended university at a later age than normal after his wartime service. He studied at King's College London and Christ's College, Cambridge. National Union of Students He was the founder president of the National Union of Students, being elected their first president in 1922 when the Inter-Varsity Association and the International Students Bureau merged at a joint meeting held at the University of London. He was the then president of King's College Union Society. After his experience in the First World War in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science he stated his vision of the role that the NUS would play. The Union is in no way a propagandist organisation, it is an association of students for the furtherance of students' interests. But spirit of service permeates the movement and no one can fail to see how direct a bearing this national and international student co-operation must have on the great and pressing problems of reconstruction in Europe. If students are co-operating today surely there is hope for tomorrow. The NUS's founding constitution stipulated that it must operate as a non-political and non-religious student organisation as the factional differences among nations were felt to have led to the recent world conflict. The non-political stipulation was dropped in 1969. From its outset the NUS founders were also noteworthy in ensuring that women were involved at its highest levels through a constitutional requirement. Macadam was involved in the formation Confédération Internationale des Étudiants (International Confederation of Students) bringing together student bodies from the original member countries of the League of Nations, including the US, and subsequently others. The CIE inaugural conference was held in Prague in 1921. He chaired until 1929 the CIE's commission responsible for International Relations and Travel. He stepped down as the NUS President in December 1922 to serve as Honorary Organising Secretary, which became in effect their senior executive until 1929. While still at Cambridge, he was able to obtain the financing for a permanent headquarters for the NUS at Endsleigh Street, London, W.C.1.(opened in 1925).. Its headquarters remained there until the properties were sold in 2010 to acquire their new building Macadam House at 275 Gray's Inn Road, London. In 1927 Macadam spearheaded a successful fundraising appeal to endow the Union and place it on a sound financial footing. He was one of the original trustees of the National Union of Students and remained one until the end of his life. The main students' union building and Faculty of Engineering at King's College's Strand campus is named the Macadam Building in his honour (opened 1975). In 2004, KCLSU President Michael Champion instituted the Macadam Cup, a day of sporting excellence between medical and non-medical students at the college. The new NUS National Headquarters was named Macadam House in 2013 at 275 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8QB. Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) He was the first Secretary and Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs serving as its chief executive between 1929 and 1955 based at Chatham House, 10 St. James's Square, London, S.W.1. A London County Council plaque on Number 10 states "Here lived Three Prime Ministers WILLIAM PITT Earl of Chatham 1708–1778 Edward Geoffrey Stanley EARL OF DERBY 1799–1869 William Ewart GLADSTONE 1809–1898". The Grade I listed building designed by Henry Flitcroft in 1730s was named on its gifting to the institute after the first of these three Prime Ministers (Pitt the Elder) as Chatham House. Macadam oversaw the growth of the institute from William Pitt's former Cabinet Room where as Prime Minister Pitt had presided over his Cabinet overlooking St. James's Square located above the entrance hall. To enable the institute to increase the breadth and range of its activities, Macadam steadily expanded office and meeting space for the Institute by acquiring the freehold properties adjoining 10, St James Square (Chatham House). Macadam was responsible for numerous international conferences around the world. He organised the first Commonwealth Relations Conference at Hart House, University of Toronto, Canada in 1933 (the first Commonwealth conference per se), followed by others at Lapstone near Sydney, Australia in 1938, at Chatham House, London in 1945, at Lucknow, India in 1950., and at Lahore, Pakistan in 1954 Also various Institute of Pacific Relations Conferences, including that at Banff, Canada (1933) followed by Yosemite, USA (1936). He was a participant in the Congress of Europe at The Hague, Netherlands in 1948. He travelled to the British Dominions and helped the independent establishment of the various Commonwealth Institutes of International Affairs or where such bodies had earlier been established in both Australia and Canada to generate financial support from benefactors in order that they could have their own full-time secretariats. The Canadian Institute of International Affairs funding 1932 (now known as the Canadian International Council); the Australian funding 1934. The formation of the Institutes in New Zealand 1934; in South Africa 1934; in Indian 1936; in Pakistan 1947. At Chatham House he is remembered for his Scottish drive and application ... He organised persons, events and work with equal stern obje.... Discover the Alta Macadam popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Alta Macadam books.