Harvard University | Columbia University | Yale University | Auckland | University of Paris | New York University | Stanford University | Princeton University | University of Cambridge | University of Pennsylvania | University of Michigan | University of Chicago | University of California, Berkeley | University of Toronto | Cornell University | University of Oxford | University of London | University of Oslo | Cambridge University | University of Southern California | college football | McGill University | Johns Hopkins University | Northwestern University | University of California | Eton College | Brown University | University of Queensland | University of Minnesota | University of Washington |
Born in the Auckland suburb of Devonport to parents Rupert and Louise E. Godley, Godley grew up in Auckland and did his BSc at MSc at Auckland University College, followed by service in World War II and a PhD at Cambridge in cytology and genetics under Ronald Fisher.
Between 1929 and 1931 he studied English literature at Auckland University College, where he met the third of his closest friends, J. A. W. Bennett.
He was appointed to the chair of English at Auckland University College in 1933 and moved to New Zealand.