The son of a police constable, Morven left school for teachers' college - as did so many of Parramatta High's students. Of all the school's he taught at, he remained immensely fond of Canterbury Boys' High School and returned many times to be a guest speaker at their speech nights.

Morven went to become a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the Teachers' College. After the war he studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science earning his Phd in 1950. In 1955, he became the Director of the Department of Social Work at Sydney University.

He was a great supporter of the university's interest in drama which led him to be a foundation director of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and the Olde Tote Theatre Company. He was also a member of the Commonwealth Immigration Advisory Council and president of the Good Neighbour Council of NSW.

In 1958, he was appointed to the first academic chair of sociology created in Australia at the University of NSW and held that position until his early death in 1965. He was considered to be rather "an eccentric, a man of peace, with the most gentle manners". He certainly stamped an indelible mark on the faculty and the university. So much so they named the Arts building after him.

One very junior lecturer at the time tells this story, which it has been said "encapsulates Morv".

(He, the young lecturer) became increasingly concerned as time wandered past the appointed lecture hour. Said Morven: 'My boy, am I to judge from your agitation that you imagine your presence in their classroom could be of some benefit to the students? The good ones', he said, 'will get there without you, and the others you can do nothing for.'

That junior lecturer was Tony Vinson who as Professor Vinson recently chaired an inquiry into public education.

Some of the information for this article has been kindly reproduced with the permission of the UNSW Archives and we thank them for their generosity and assistance.