Planning commenced in 1955 through the Rotary Club of Brisbane, as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Rotary International. Professor White stepped down as Warden in December 1960 (he later took up a post at Canada's McGill University Faculty of Engineering), while planning continued under the auspices of a committee led by Bert Martin, businessman and district governor of Rotary International. On 15 June 1963, the Administrator of Queensland, Sir Alan Mansfield, unveiled the foundation stone for the residential college. According to institutional biographer Basil Shaw's authoritative account, "“Eight years of erratic progress were over. They were years marked by expressions of racism and opposition in some quarters at the university; by bureaucratic red tape; by poor public recognition; and, despite the dedication of the fundraisers, by desultory financial responses and poor returns. (Yet it was)… determined that International House would open by March 1965. A lot had to be achieved in a short time.""