I have transcribed the following paper-trail regarding the appointment of Marcus Fleming for a one term visiting Professor appointment because of the biographical information of this important economist included in the letter requesting formal approval from the provost of Columbia University as well as its providing an example of the minimal paperwork apparently required for a visiting position in 1950 compared to what is required in most universities at the present time.
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COMMITTEE ON INSTRUCTION
FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
MINUTES OF MEETING: October 3, 1950
Present: Professors A.R. Burns, Goodrich, Malone, Peffer, Strong
Absent: Professor Abel
Present by Invitation: Professor Lazarsfeld
[…]
Approval of new appointments
Economics
- Marcus Fleming, recent Deputy Director of the British Cabinet Secretariat, as Visiting Professor of Economics (European Institute), for the Spring Session at a salary of $4,500 plus a travelling allowance. (The hope of the Department is to extend this appointment during the period for which funds for the European Institute are at present provided.
- Evsey Domar, Associate Professor of Economics at The Johns Hopkins University, as Visiting Associate Professor of Economics 146 while Professor Bergson in on part-time leave.
[…]
Source: Columbia University Archives. Minutes of the Faculty of Political Science, 1950-1962.
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Letter from Department Head Professor James W. Angell
to Vice-President and Provost Dr. Grayson L. Kirk
October 10, 1950
Dr. Grayson L. Kirk,
Vice President and Provost
of Columbia University,
Low Memorial Library.
Dear Dr. Kirk:
I enclose herewith a Nomination for Appointment, requesting the appointment of John Marcus Fleming to the position of Visiting Professor of Economics (European Institute.) I believe this appointment has already been acted upon favorably by the Committee of Instruction of the Faculty of Political Science.
Mr. Fleming, who is married and has several children, is a little past forty. He received the degree of Master of Arts, with Honours in History (1932), and in Economics (1934), at Edinburgh University. He studied Economics further at the London School of Economics, 1934-35. He then became a member of the Secretariat of the League of Nations in Geneva, 1935-38, and in the latter part of that period was a member of the Economic Intelligence Service. He spent 1938-39 in the United States as a Rockefeller Fellowship. Since 1939 he has held a series of posts I the service of the British government, combined with extensive teaching at the University College in London. Beginning with the latter part of the war, and down to this past summer, he has been Deputy Director of the Economic Section in the British Cabinet Secretariat. He has served as a British representative to the Organization for European Cooperation in Paris, and to the United Nations at Lake Success. His written work includes a large study of American business cycles, prepared for the League of Nations just before the war, as a working document, but not formally published, and some half dozen important articles in leading professional journals, on problems of economic theory and international trade.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
James W. Angell
Executive Officer
Department of Economics
[Penciled note in margin: OK/GK]
Source: Columbia University Archives. Central Files 1890-, Box 409, Folder “Angell, James W. 7/1950-6/1953”
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Carbon copy of response of Dean John A. Krout to Professor James W. Angell
16 October 1950
Professor James W. Angell
Executive Officer
Department of Economics
Fayerweather
Dear Professor Angell:
I have your letter to Provost Kirk about the nomination for appointment of John Marcus Fleming to the position of Visiting Professor of Economics (European Institute) during the period from February 5, 1951 to June 30, 1951. Since this nomination has the approval of the Committee on Instruction of the Faculty of Political Science, I am sending through the appropriate authorization.
Cordially yours,
John A. Krout
Dean
mp
cc: Miss Mullen
Source: Columbia University Archives. Central Files 1890-, Box 409, Folder “Angell, James W. 7/1950-6/1953”
Image Source: Marcus Fleming (1911-1976) page at Policonomics.com