Sir Ivison Stevenson Macadam KCVO CBE was a Scot, who was the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and the founding President of the National Union of Students.
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Born 18 July 1894 at Slioch, Lady Road, Edinburgh, he was the second son of Colonel William Ivison Macadam, VD, FRSE, FIC, FCS and Sarah Constance MacDonald. Educated privately in Scotland, 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'. In both cases he was invested by Chief Scout and founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell.
Macadam 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 (dispatches thrice). He was awarded the OBE in 1919 at the age of 25 for exceptional service there.
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 was educated at Melville College, Edinburgh; King's College, London and Christ's College, Cambridge.
He was the founder President of the National Union of Students, President of King's College London Students' Union, and he was one of the original trustees 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. The main students' union building at King's College's Strand campus is named the Macadam Building in his honour. In 2004, KCLSU President Michael Champion instituted the Macadam Cup, a day of sporting excellence between medical and non-medical students at the College.
Later he was a member of the King's College Council 1957-74; Delegacy 1960-74; vice Chairman 1971-74 and Fellow.
Macadam was the first Secretary and Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs between 1929 and 1955, based at Chatham House.
In this capacity he travelled to the then 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 there for them to have their own full time secretariat ( the Australian Institute of International Affairs funding 1934;The Canadian funding 1932 ; The formation of the Institutes in New Zealand 1934; The South Africa 1934: The Pakistan 1947.
He was also responsible for organising numerous of international conferences around the world (eg Canada 1932, Australia 1933, New Zealand 1934 etc.)
During World War II he was Assistant Director General and Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Information between 1939 – 41.
After his work in establishing the Ministry, he returned to the Royal Institute.
He also became the editor of The Annual Register of World Events 1947-73, the world’s oldest annual reference book founded by Edmund Burke. He was also a member of the editorial board (the Moot) of The Round Table: A Quarterly Review of the Politics of the British Commonwealth 1930-1974. Britain’s oldest international journal. (Now published as The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs).
His other positions included:
Macadam was a founding Member of the Council, King George’s Jubilee Trust 1935-74 (Vice-Chairman 1972-74), which is a part of the Royal Trusts under the Chairmanship of HRH the Prince of Wales.
He was responsible for the official royal programs under the auspices of the King George’s Jubilee Trust for the processions and services for King George V and Queen Mary’s Jubilee, 1935; The Coronation of their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, 1937; The wedding of the Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten, RN, 1947; The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953; the wedding of the Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones,1960 and the wedding of Princess Alexandra of Kent and Angus Ogilvy, 1963. These were sold on behalf of King George’s Jubilee Trust mainly along the parade routes by the Boy Scouts but also in news agents and bookshops. The substantial additional funds thus raised helped supplement King George's Jubilee Trust’s work in support of young people, youth organizations and youth projects.
Macadam married an American Caroline Ladd Corbett, who was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and was a descendent of one of its founding families. Before marriage, she was Assistant to the then US Secretary of State, Henry L. Stimson, and the couple met at the international conference Macadam had arranged at Banff, Canada in 1932. After their marriage, she was of invaluable support to her husband in opening doors both through her wide contacts there and through her American family in helping him to raise the substantial funding required for the operations of The Royal Institute of International Affairs. She was later Chairman of the Eastern Counties Women’s Conservative Associations.
The couple had four children: Helen Ivison Taylor, William Ivison Macadam, Elliott Corbett Macadam and Caroline Alta Colacicchi (who writes under name Alta Macadam). The couple lived in London and at Runton Old Hall, East Runton, Norfolk where keen sportsman Macadam would shoot and fly fish.
He died on 22 December 1974, at his home at 16 Upper Belgrave Street, London.
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