W. I. Laing

Wiliam "Bill" Laing, the founding editor of the Lincoln students' newspaper/magazine Caclin was born in Roxburgh on 8 June 1924 and after secondary education at Dunedin's Otago Boys' High School he came to Lincoln College and graduated Bachelor of Agricultural Science in 1946 and Master of Agricultural Science (Hons) in 1948.

For his MAgrSc he produced a notable thesis The Role of Goats in New Zealand and outside of study he was awarded a New Zealand Universities Blue in soccer. He captained the Lincoln College soccer team, playing at centre forward. The team was runner-up in the Christchurch competition in 1945.

During his student years Bill was a keen athlete with a particular reputation as a race walker. Fellow student, soccer Blue and athlete Doug Davies of Auckland recalls that when Bill was training "many of the staff came outside just to watch him practice his famous rolling heels and swinging arms technique." Bill was also an accomplished violinist, noted for his rendition of the popular Second World War song "Blue Smoke Goes Drifting By". He was Vice-President of the Student Executive in 1944.

From Lincoln Bill joined the Department of Agriculture in Fiji where he married, lived and worked for many years, mainly as an agricultural consultant for the New Zealand and British governments. He also worked for the Department of Agriculture in Samoa and the Solomon Islands. He returned to New Zealand to live in the 1970s, residing in Auckland.

Bill Laing died in Auckland on 3 September 2006, aged 83.