Rise of Neville Chamberlain 1934 and he was still fundraising as Prime Minister. Stating that he was painfully aware of the defects of his own education, he played a part in the establishment of the University of Birmingham, of which Mason Science College became a part. Joseph Chamberlain became the University's first chancellor; Neville Chamberlain was appointed to its Council and later to its Board of Governors. Though he declared himself uninterested in politics, Chamberlain supported his father's views loyally. He made speeches in support of British policy towards the Boers and when the Boer War broke out, supported the British war effort. During
Neville Chamberlain British press. Negotiations between the Czech government and the Sudeten Germans dragged on through mid-1938. They achieved little result; Sudeten leader Konrad Henlein was under private instructions from Hitler not to reach an agreement. On 3 August, Walter Runciman (by now Lord Runciman) travelled to Prague as a mediator sent by the British government. Over the next two weeks, Runciman met separately with Henlein, the Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš and other leaders, but made no progress. On 30 August Chamberlain met his Cabinet and Ambassador Henderson and secured their backing—with only First Lord of the Admiralty Duff Cooper dissenting against