Sir Douglas Copland (1894–1971)

BA UNZ (1915), MA Hons (1916), DSc (1925), LittD (1935)

Sir Douglas Copland, the Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Melbourne, was an influential figure in academia, government, and international diplomacy, renowned for his role in shaping Australia's economic landscape, particularly during WWII.

Foundation Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Melbourne, Sir Douglas Copland was a remarkable economist, academic, government advisor, bureaucrat and diplomat.

A black and white photo of seven men sitting and standing in 1920s era suits.

He was the first president of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand, and the first editor of The Economic Record. Douglas was foundation vice-chancellor of the Australian National University, foundation principal of the Administrative Staff College, and first chair of the Committee for the Development of Australia (CEDA).

The ‘economics profession’ and the Faculty of Commerce

Douglas arrived at the University of Melbourne in 1924 from the University of Tasmania, where he had established his reputation for pioneering the development of the economics profession in Australia. Economics had been taught at the University of Melbourne since its establishment, in the Faculty of Arts, initially as political economy.

As Dean (from 1927, the Sydney Myer Chair of Commerce), Douglas acknowledged the desires of business, as the local business leaders had lobbied for the new faculty. So, he designed the Bachelor of Commerce degree to have a ‘broad cultural basis’. In 1930, Douglas assumed control of the School of Economics in the Faculty of Arts.

Cartoon of Sir Douglas Copland
Professor Sir Douglas Copland, University of Melbourne Archives Image Catalogue, UMA-I-1967

His teaching concentrated on monetary and fiscal policy and the current problems of the Australian economy. Students were trained for business and not in business. The Ritchie Chair of Economics was established in the Faculty of Arts with Douglas’s good friend Lyndhurst Giblin selected for the position. The new chair was integrated with the School of Commerce and Douglas and his staff pioneered the Honours School of Economics.

Douglas encouraged governments to seek professional advice in decision-making and to employ graduates trained in commerce. As the Australian and New Zealand representative of the Rockefeller Foundation in the social sciences, he fostered the internationalisation of Australian economics.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, he led a committee of economists and under-treasurers that reported to the loan council on ways to restore financial stability. The resulting Premiers’ Plan was originally called the Copland Plan.

In 1933, Douglas was invited to deliver the first of the Alfred Marshall memorial lectures at Cambridge. Published as Australia and the World Crisis, 1929 to 1933, it earned him international acclaim. He was one of three world economists chosen to speak at the 1936 Harvard tercentenary. In only a few years, the University of Melbourne’s economists were dominating in ‘the scene’, and student numbers increased. Douglas’s roles in the university expanded and he was involved in its finance and administration. Considered for vice-chancellor, he missed out by one vote to John Medley.

From 1944, the faculty was renamed the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, as the economics department was established. Douglas was transferred to the new Truby Williams chair of economics in absentia as he was the economic consultant to the Prime Minister. Commerce staff had been seconded to work for the war effort (1939-1945), with Douglas becoming the most powerful bureaucrat. He resigned from the faculty in 1945.

Influence in local and international affairs

Appointed as Australian minister to China in 1946, Douglas attended the first session of the new United Nations General Assembly. He returned in 1948 as the Australian National University’s foundation vice-chancellor and stipulated that he retain his role as an economist. While his advice to government was not always appreciated, he was awarded a Knighthood in 1950.

In 1953, he was appointed high commissioner to Canada. Douglas was president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1955.

Returning home in 1956, his national and international experience continued to be appreciated with many and varied influential pioneering roles, including foundation principal of the Australian Administrative Staff Council, leading a trade mission to China and USA in 1960 and first chairman of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.

In the Faculty of Business and Economics, Douglas Copland’s name is perpetuated by its main lecture theatre. Charles Wheeler’s portrait of Copland is held by the University.

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