In 1889, he was presented by his friends and pupils, under the presidency of the Earl of Carnarvon, with a testimonial in the form of a marble portrait bust of himself by Boehm, now deposited in the Mausoleum room at the British Museum ; the balance of the fund was by his own wish devoted to founding a studentship in connection with the British school at Athens.
Starting in 1984 (initially it was called the Durham Birzeit Studentship Fund), the Trust has brought students from the West Bank and Gaza to study in a wide variety of academic departments, including Archaeology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Durham Business School, Economics, Engineering, English, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Physics and Social Work.
Born in Torbay and brought up in Brixham, he was educated at Churston Ferrers Grammar School where he developed his taste for history, which he went on to study at University College London where he was awarded the Derby studentship for the best first of 330 candidates.
The Institute offers research training through Ph.D. studentships, and hosts Undergraduate and Masters level research projects conducted as part of its own M.Sc. courses and courses at other institutions.
In 1946 Meek moved to Cambridge, England with a Strathcona studentship to read for a Ph.D. under Piero Sraffa and Maurice Dobb.
He then proceeded to obtain a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, as a member of Churchill College, Cambridge, in 1990, supported by an Isaac Newton Studentship.