James Ernest Strachan

James Ernest Strachan (20 April 1883 – 30 September 1973) was a New Zealand educator. He was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1883. He was the principal of Rangiora High School from 1917–1948, during which time he abolished corporal punishment and the prefect system and introduced the school council, among others.

Education In 1903, he entered the Dunedin Teachers' College. He also took classes at the University of Otago, graduating MA with honours in mental science in 1905.

He retired in 1948, although he relieved at Greymouth Technical School, Waimate High School and Christ's College. His publications included The school looks at life (1938), an account of the Rangiora experiment. His experiments at Rangiora High School were discontinued by his successor, J. F. Moffatt, but were later widely adopted in the New Zealand school system.

Radio Strachan was a notable amateur radio expert. He was credited with having sent New Zealand's first radio signal (the length of a back garden in Dunedin). His interest in the potential of wireless telegraphy to create international goodwill through better communication had led him to develop a school radio station, ZL3AI, where pupils could enhance their knowledge of the new technology while sharing ideas with their counterparts overseas. A lifelong interest in international affairs resulted in his leading the New Zealand delegation to the conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations in 1931. He gained a Carnegie Foundation travel grant to the United States and Europe in 1938. He was also chairman of the reception committee that met Charles Kingsford Smith after his trans-Tasman flight in 1928.

Personal life While at Lawrence, he married Mary Irene Chalmers on 2 September 1914. They had one daughter. Mary Strachan died in 1923, and James married Vera Agnes Barrell at Waikuku Beach on 3 January 1934. He enjoyed painting and photography.

Death Strachan died at Christchurch on 30 September 1973, survived by his second wife, daughter and two sons. An autobiographical memoir was left uncompleted at his death.