About Stevenson and the Stevenson Lectures

The Stevenson Lectures in Citizenship were established in 1921 by a bequest to the University from Sir Daniel Macaulay Stevenson (1851 – 1944) a Glasgow-born engineer, politician and philanthropist.  

He served as a Glasgow councillor for the Woodside ward from 1892 and as Lord Provost (1911-1914).  He was a dedicated “municipal socialist” concerned to improve the lives and broaden the horizons of Glaswegians: -  he promoted the Sunday opening of Art Galleries and Museums; the introduction of a free library service; the creation of a telephone service under civic ownership; and corporation subsidy to music.

After 1914-18 War he was increasingly devoted to the cause of international understanding.  He became a great benefactor of the University, across faculties and disciplines – giving money to expand Engineering, fund chairs in Spanish and Italian and bringing Philosophy, Economics and Politics into the ambit of the Citizenship Trust Fund.
Stevenson was elected Chancellor of Glasgow University in 1934 a position which he held until 1944. 

The purposes of the Citizenship Trust Fund are…  “to make provision in Glasgow for instruction in the rights, duties, and obligations of citizens in relation to the city, the state, and the commonwealth of nations; to promote study, inquiry and research in subjects bearing on local government, national polity, and international community; and thereby to emphasize the compatibility of civic or local with national patriotism, and of both with full and free international co-operation.”