1967-2007: Celebrating 40 years of Dundee

Laureation Address for
John Letford, Russell Reid and Norman Robertson
by Professor Chris Whatley

Chancellor, I have the honour to present for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, three individuals, lord provost John Letford, Russell Reid and Norman Robertson, or as he's better known, Norrie Robertson.

My presentation is made on the grounds of their contribution to the development of excellence in our community.

The backgrounds of the three men who stand before you are very different, in terms of class and occupation, but each man's roots lie deep within the city's economic history. John Letford began his working life as an apprentice marine coppersmith at the former Caledon shipyard and later worked for Kelly's at Carolina Port and then NCR. Shortly after leaving school Russell Reid joined D C Thompson as a general reporter and worked on most of that world-renowned and long-lived Dundee publishing house's newspapers before becoming editor of The Sunday Post in 1989, a position he held until his retiral in 2001. Norrie Robertson graduated in law - from University College, Dundee - before embarking on a long and distinguished career as a solicitor and notary public with the long-established, Dundee law firm now known as Blackadders.

Dundee over the past forty years has experienced dramatic change. The city has not only seen the virtual disappearance of the industry in which a century ago it led the world - jute manufacturing - but sadly too even some of those companies which provided new hope after the Second World War have also gone, or have a greatly diminished presence. Consequently there was a sense, which I certainly felt when I first set foot in Dundee in 1979, of despondency - which was to be seen in the physical fabric of the place, in the form of silent and boarded up mills and factories, damp tenements and ill-lit closes; amongst many of the town's people there was an understandable sense of defeat.

Yet something quite remarkable has happened over the past thirty years. Dundee has been re-born, as a city of discovery; the city's people have shaken off the stour of the mills and the burdens of their history, and begun to rediscover their self-confidence. New-found optimism about the future is to be seen in the extensive redevelopment and massive investment that is being funnelled into the city's infrastructure, businesses and housing, and indeed its university.

But the path of change is rarely smooth, or pain free. And this is where the three men standing in front of you today come in. Each of them, in very different ways, has been part of the redevelopment process, but they have also eased it by working with and on behalf of the people of Dundee. In this respect and again to varying degrees they also represent something else that's vital during periods of rapid transition: continuity and familiarity; attachment to a mix of values that are the mark of the best human communities: optimism, compassion and commitment, fairness and integrity, warmth and good humour.

We would be here for a long time this afternoon - well into the evening in fact - if I were to list individually the various community-based and charitable organisations the three men have belonged to and served.

But that part of the community which all three of them have devoted great parts of their lives to has been the city's young people. Norrie Robertson was one of the leading figures on the Trust that has run the Whitehall Theatre since 1983, and nothing has given him greater pleasure than seeing the curtain rise at the Whitehall and watching youngsters from all kinds of backgrounds singing and dancing and performing at the highest level, and discovering in the process what real talent many of them have. Doors are opened thereby into the rest of their lives; excellence is unleashed. Norrie admits that he is no performer himself - although for more than thirty years he was a member of Dundee's Gaelic Choir; he continues to take an interest in Gaelic culture.

Russell Reid on the other hand first played a church organ in public 55 years ago this weekend in what was a memorial service for King George VI. He has played the same instrument in this very venue several times, but has not until today stood upon the stage. Russell's link with younger musicians has been mainly through Dundee University's Operatic Society as well as the Music Society, whose members he has supported, encouraged and mentored for many years; today we want to return and acknowledge that friendship.

John Letford has spent a lifetime working with young people and apprentices; he has run boys clubs and through his work as a training manager with Community Industry he has assisted youngsters with learning difficulties or who were otherwise disadvantaged gain a foothold in the workplace. Sport and football are John's primary enthusiasms and in 1965 he was instrumental in establishing the Sunday Boy's League in Dundee - a league which began with eight teams but which at present attracts some 2000 young football players.

But there is something else that unites the three men - their passion for this place, the city of Dundee. I have tried - not very successfully - to measure the depth of this passion. What I can do however is share with you the evidence I've tried to weigh. Both Norrie Robertson and Russell Reid were born in Dundee, and are able to trace Dundonian roots extending back for at least 200 years; both men spent some of their schooldays in Dundee, at Morgan Academy in Norman's case, while Russell was at Muirhead primary school and later spent time at the Harris.

Both men however talk regretfully of having suffered exile, and confess to mild feelings of distress at having spent time away from Dundee during their periods in national service, in Russell Reid's case in the distant parish of Leuchars; it was even worse for Norman Robertson who had to endure the privations of London. Subsequently however they have tended to stay put, for good reason in Norman Robertson's case as he confesses that he begins to feel homesick on journeys from Dundee as soon as he reaches Longforgan - which for anyone who doesn't know is precisely five miles from where we are this afternoon.

At first sight John Letford would seem to be the odd man out, as he was born far to the north of Dundee - in distant Aberdeen. But he came here early in life, in 1943, and spent time at school here, at Logie secondary. And John has all the fiery passion of the convert. Through his engagement with the labour movement in Dundee, as a city councillor, as a tireless defender of his constituents' interests, John has demonstrated his commitment to Dundee and its people; in return, by electing him in 2003 as lord provost, a position which he has filled with unassuming dignity, Dundee's citizens have demonstrated how far they have taken this particular adopted son to their hearts. At the University of Dundee too we greatly value John Letford's immense contributions as an active member of our prime governing body, the University Court.

But love of the local should not be confused with parochialism. These are men whose links and connections and contributions have been nationwide and often international. They command respect. The newspaper which Russell Reid edited for so many years, The Sunday Post, is read by and connects with ordinary people across the Scottish diaspora. Notwithstanding his Dundee base, Norrie Robertson was between 1986 and 1996 a member of the International Bar Association. A mark of the internationality of John Letford's time as lord provost has been the way he has focussed Dundee's civic twining arrangements towards youth visits that enable the city's young people to experience different overseas cultures. Recognition has taken many forms. Russell Reid was presented with the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002; Norrie Robertson was Dundee's citizen of the year in 2004 and in 2006 was awarded an MBE for services to the community.

As examples of excellence in citizenship, they are an inspiration for us all.

Chancellor, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws upon John Letford

I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws upon Russell Reid

Finally, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws upon Norrie Robertson.