Flower Fellowship
A man who had little formal education himself has made a generous donation to Waikato University. Bill Flower, farmer and property developer, has made available $30,000 per annum for three years to fund a doctoral fellowship in economics.
"I had to leave school when I was 12 because of the Depression. My parents couldn’t afford to send me to boarding school. My father went bankrupt during the Depression and I knew I didn’t want that to happen to me."
Bill came to New Zealand when he was 20, contracted pneumonia and spent two months in hospital. "There was no welfare state then and I had to pay for my hospital stay. I got a job at Ruakura and worked for 15 months to pay off the loan before I could return to Australia." But there was a lot about New Zealand he liked, including a young Bay of Plenty woman named Joan, and back to New Zealand he came.
War was looming and despite having no formal qualifications Bill applied for the New Zealand Air Force – he had to attend Hamilton Technical College to get up to speed for the entry test, which he subsequently passed with flying colours. In England he transferred to the RAF and flew Halifax bombers. "For some of the time I was based near Oxford and was able to do some economics papers through the university. That taught me the basic principles of how the economy worked and gave me a better understanding about how I could do better financially."
After the war, Joan and Bill married, and like many returned servicemen, was given a 100 per cent government loan to buy a farm - Longacres in Morrinsville - which they farmed for 15 years. "In the fifties it was easy to make a profit from your land and those who were careful could save and invest." Bill bought commercial properties in town and a few years later a 650 hectare block in Piopio, which he developed into a dry stock farm.
The couple had four children of their own and also helped out less fortunate young ones when they saw an opportunity, or potential, being wasted. They sent several boys to Outward Bound, and took in boys to work on their farms during the holidays, for work experience and sometimes to keep them out of trouble. To see them succeed has given the Flowers a lot of pleasure.
"When the idea to build a university was proposed I thought it would be the greatest thing that could happen in Hamilton," says Bill. "They called a public meeting to find people to form a committee to raise funds for the halls of residence. I volunteered." He had a long friendship with founding Vice-Chancellor Don Llewellyn and with Professor John Ward, founding dean of FASS and founding chair in economics at Waikato Management School.
"The management school has had a long association with Bill," says current dean and economics professor Frank Scrimgeour. "Bill and Joan have previously made available undergraduate prizes in global and environmental economics which were appreciated by the students, and I know that they also present an annual award for diligence at Cambridge High School and an annual grant to the Youth Education Trust.
"This new fellowship that Bill has so generously provided is pitched at postgraduate level with a broad stipulation that it has to have an agricultural focus," says Prof Scrimgeour. "Bill believes that New Zealand’s future lies in agriculture and the fellowship will assist a keen economics student to impact that future."
The University has recently taken steps to enhance its capability to support land base industries. "We’re a strategic sponsor at National Fieldays, which showcases what the University has to offer agribusiness and we have appointed new staff who have significant agricultural research interests," says Prof Scrimgeour. "Graeme Doole has joined the Economics Department and Kevin Old has joined Finance. The Flower Economics Fellowship is an important complement to these appointments and will add momentum to this initiative."
Bill Flower says we cannot compete with manufacturing countries such as China, and with the world population continuing to increase it is obvious our focus should be food production. "The fellowship offers plenty of scope," he says. "We’ve got the climate, we’ve got the land to grow food and there are so many areas that could be investigated, such as optimising food production opportunities, free trade agreements, farm ownership and labour issues, the impact of government policies on New Zealand agriculture, urban impact on rural development."
Bill reckons he’s had a pretty good life. He’s given his time, advice, and money when needed, he’s travelled all over the world, on trade missions and for pleasure - but even then he’s looked at places with a farmer’s eye - and now at 90, he feels it’s time to give something that all New Zealand might benefit from.
Waikato University’s Director of Development Christine Brabender says the fellowship is a great opportunity for a student not to have to worry about money while they investigate something that’s important to New Zealand. "The University is fortunate that there are gentlemen like Bill who care about the University’s place in the community, realise its relevance and who want to contribute to research that could help shape New Zealand’s economic direction."