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Adam Smith tercentenary celebrations  Picture: Photo: Martin Shields
Adam Smith tercentenary celebrationsPhoto: Martin Shields

In praise of economic revolutionary Adam Smith

Lectures, guest speakers and music are lined up

Glasgow University and its current students are celebrating one of the institution’s most distinguished alumni.

It is 300 years since the birth of political thinker and economic revolutionary Adam Smith - considered the founder of modern economics.

An exhibition, lectures, guest speakers and musical celebrations are lined up to mark his legacy.

Tercentenary Week will take place in Glasgow from 5-10 June, to coincide with the date that was believed to be Smith’s birthday.

It is part of the University’s ongoing events and activities to commemorate his tercentenary year.

Lectures

Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Nobel Prize winner Professor Angus Deaton of Princeton University, will join academics and students in Glasgow over the week.

Photo caption: Adam Smith Business School students Shaun Turner and Wanyaporn (Wendy) Kwangsue enjoy a sneak preview of the Tercentenary Week Adam Smith artefacts exhibition, with senior librarian Julie Gardham. Photo: Martin Shields
Photo caption: Adam Smith Business School students Shaun Turner and Wanyaporn (Wendy) Kwangsue enjoy a sneak preview of the Tercentenary Week Adam Smith artefacts exhibition, with senior librarian Julie Gardham. Photo: Martin Shields

The lectures by Gopinath and Professor Deaton are supported by The Hunter Foundation.

Other activities, including a lecture by Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, are supported by the John Templeton Foundation for the tercentenary.

The IMF’s Gita Gopinath will be awarded an Honorary Degree by the University during Tercentenary Week.

She said: “It’s an honour to deliver the Adam Smith Tercentenary Lecture.

“Adam Smith’s thinking both in ‘The Wealth of Nations’ and ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ continues to offer a useful lens through which to view today’s economic and ethical questions.

“I look forward to travelling to Glasgow.”

 

Adam Smith left a great legacy which shaped the University of Glasgow, the field of economics and the world.

Anton Muscatelli

 

Professor Sir Angus Deaton said: “This celebration and the recent revival of interest in Adam Smith in his homeland is hugely welcome.

“When I grew up in Edinburgh in the 1950s and 1960s, his name was never mentioned. Yet he is one Scotland’s greatest thinkers.

“In economics, we need to better recognise the importance of his philosophy, his humanity, and his empiricism, and not only his celebration of markets. I am delighted to come to Glasgow to participate.”

Sir Tom Hunter, philanthropist and founder of The Hunter Foundation, said: “The Hunter Foundation is proud to support this lecture series in honour of one of the founders of the enlightenment, a leader of the world...we truly hope his tercentenary sparks thought provoking insight into how mankind can move forward towards a new enlightenment of opportunity for all.”

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of Glasgow, said: “Adam Smith left a great legacy which shaped the University of Glasgow, the field of economics and the world.

“His studies and writings introduced new ideas, insights and concepts that are taken for granted today but were revolutionary in their day.

Wendy Kwangsue is pictured with a parchment burgess ticket made out to Adam Smith from the City of Glasgow, 3 May 1762. Photo: Martin Shields
Wendy Kwangsue is pictured with a parchment burgess ticket made out to Adam Smith from the City of Glasgow, 3 May 1762. Photo: Martin Shields

“It is a privilege for the University to be so closely associated with Adam Smith.

“I am delighted that through his tercentenary we’re bringing together academics, students and the public to discuss his relevance today to events across the world.”

The week will conclude with a day of activities, discussion, music and art at the University of Glasgow.

International scholars and practitioners will bring Smith into conversation with contemporary issues.

Confirmed panellists include world leading economists such as Professor Sir John Kay (Oxford University); Professor Anne Case, Princeton University; and Professor Benjamin Friedman, Harvard University.

Prominent

Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in June 1723 and started his studies at the University of Glasgow aged 14.

In 1740, he was awarded the Snell Scholarship, which is still in existence today, and left to study at Oxford.

In 1751, Smith returned to Glasgow as a Professor of Logic, later becoming Professor of Moral Philosophy.

While at Glasgow, Smith published the first edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759, developing upon the principles and concepts explored in his lectures.

Smith’s final connection with the University came in 1787 when he assumed the prominent position of Rector.

He published arguably his most famous work The Wealth of Nations in 1776 and died in 1790.

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