THE JOURNAL
2020
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CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR.............................................................. 03
SPORTS AND SOCIETIES.................................................. 61
FROM THE MASTER...........................................................05
BREWSTER DEBATE........................................................... 65
FROM THE SENIOR TUTOR.............................................08
CHAPEL CHOIR.....................................................................66
FROM THE BURSAR.............................................................12 FITZWILLIAM IN A PANDEMIC: THE FIRST NINE MONTHS.....................................................................................17 HOW TO TAKE A PHYSICALLY-DISTANCED MATRICULATION PHOTO..................................................24
ALUMNI NEWS UPDATES FROM MEMBERS............................................67 FROM THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR.................... 68
MASTER AND FELLOWS OF THE COLLEGE............32 2
NEW FELLOWS AND BYE-FELLOWS......................... 36
IN MEMORIAM
COLLEGE STATISTICS........................................................ 40
FELLOWS..................................................................................70
ACADEMIC AWARDS AND PRIZES...............................41
MEMBERS................................................................................72
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS APPROVED................ 43 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR..................................... 44 FROM THE CHAPLAIN....................................................... 46 FROM THE LIBRARIAN...................................................... 48 MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR....................... 50 TALKS AND LECTURES......................................................52 FROM THE JCR PRESIDENT........................................... 54 FROM THE MCR PRESIDENT..........................................57
Cover Photo: Undergraduate Matriculation 2019
THE FITZWILLIAM SOCIETY........................................ 86
Gardeners Camelia and Nick, with Halloween produce
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FROM THE EDITOR In a year like no other, the College has decided to produce and distribute this edition of the Journal in a digital format designed for reading on screen. Following Dr Cleaver’s retirement as Editor last year, this edition is the product of many hands, all tucked away in our respective home offices, at our kitchen tables, in our garden sheds... Our literary ‘cloth’ may have been cut to fit our current capacities, but we have also expanded the traditional ‘academic year’ review to run from October 2019 to the end of Michaelmas Term 2020. This year, it felt strange to pause the narrative on the 30th September, and the contrasts between the Michaelmas of 2019 and the term we have just concluded are thought-provoking. I do hope you enjoy reading the updates contained within, and excuse any limitations you may find in their presentation. When the printing and postage of a hard-copy version becomes more manageable, it will be possible to order one through the Communications Office. I will be in touch with details about how to do this in due course. With best wishes for 2021, Dr Nicola Jones Director of Communications & Engagement
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A photograph to celebrate 40 Years of Women at Fitzwilliam, taken October 2019. Jet Photographic
FROM THE MASTER
This has been an extraordinary year, both for the College – and, frankly, for me. I suspect that whatever the contents of the job description and recruitment process neither could have prepared me for the rollercoaster of COVID crisis management and planning for the new normal – which of course keeps changing. I was fortunate to have the Michaelmas term 2019 and early part of 2020 to get a real feel of the College, gain a greater understanding of Cambridge, spend time with students, chat with staff, enjoy some music inside and beyond the Chapel, chair College meetings in person, attend excellent Fellows’ and graduate students’ talks, meet alumni – and so much more. I was very grateful for my warm welcome, tolerance of my lack of detailed knowledge of all things collegiate Cambridge and openness to my way of approaching the role. In the months of ‘courtship’ and the months preceding my admission I experienced the friendliness of Fitzwilliam. Indeed, for me the consistency of that message across the community was a big attraction, together with the obvious commitment and belief in widening access to an ever-broader group of bright students. Faced with COVID, the College has shown resilience and compassion. As a community and as a Fellowship we have had to take fast decisions, govern via Zoom, communicate quickly, be flexible and regularly change our previous positions on a range of issues as advice and regulations have changed. We have had to call extraordinary meetings of College committees, especially of the College Committee, hold short and focussed daily BCP Gold Team calls and activate a cross-College working group to handle COVID planning over the Long Vacation. The Bursar, Senior Tutor and myself have been involved in weekly sometimes daily - fora across the colleges and University, and the Admissions Tutors and Domestic Bursar have been similarly engaged. Our staff, academic and non-academic, worked tirelessly to keep things running and then they planned – extensively – for Michaelmas term 2020. Our students have shown
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remarkable stoicism whether in College or back home, supported by their Tutors, DoSs, supervisors and others. The JCR and MCR were imaginative in running events here and online even under restrictive rules and were very constructive team players in discussing measures for Michaelmas 2020. I think it is fair to say that Michaelmas 2020 was a good term; we kept the Fitz spirit alive and kicking. In spite of the restrictions we worked hard to deliver a good collegiate experience. On a personal basis I have been fortunate to be working with such good colleagues. It is invidious to single out names, but I would like to express my thanks. Andrew Powell was an excellent Bursar and I am delighted that we were able to recruit such a talented replacement in Rod Cantrill; Paul Chirico is a dedicated Senior Tutor whose integrity shines through to students and colleagues alike. The College has been fortunate to benefit from the commitment of our Graduate Tutor, Admissions tutors, President, Development Director, and the Domestic Bursar and his team. The Fellowship has continued to be involved, and lively. Our committees for the most part function well with good support, but our governance is, of course, dependent on the involvement of often very busy people. The use of Zoom has increased participation but we have, of course, greatly missed the experience of being together physically. As always there was change, good colleagues left through retirement or moves to new jobs elsewhere, but we were joined by excellent new Fellows who, I believe, have been attracted to Fitzwilliam by our culture.
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It is important to me, as Master, that I represent Fitz and our values beyond the College site. As a result of my interest in access to higher education, I have served as the Head of House on the Foundation Year programme board, and on the Advisory Group on Access and Participation (AGAP). I have been intensively involved in the student asymptomatic COVID testing programme as the Head of House on that group and I have also been involved in a number of other University events and bodies. I joined the Prince’s Teaching Institute as a trustee with a Cambridge link. Actions and decisions are powerful symbols of the fundamental values of an organisation. In that vein, this year, I would highlight variously our united approach to Cambridge students being “sent” home – i.e. our belief that this should happen where home was the best solution but we should warmly support those who could not leave College; our decision to pay Furlough at 100%; our COVID community statement (rather than, for example, a signed code of conduct for students); our determination to uphold free speech but abhor racism; our determination to admit as many capable students from less advantaged backgrounds as possible in the marking debacle in summer 2020; our delivery of free meals from our kitchen during school holidays to Cambridge Sustainable Foods, a local charity providing meals during the school holidays. There are, of course, other examples. This is not in any way to be complacent: there are very tough challenges ahead but I hope also significant opportunities if we move forward as a College. Financially, things will be very difficult, and inevitably this will mean hard, and
quite possibly unpalatable decisions in the months ahead. It is clear that there will be no quick recovery from the impact of this epidemic. We will also need to engage our supporters – alumni and beyond – to reduce the financial impact of the current crisis, and to look with ambition and creativity to the years ahead. We will all need to share the vision for the future. Never has it been more important to reflect on our values, and to ask ourselves how we are advancing in our mission as a College. I think that it is precisely at the moment when we are most challenged by circumstances that we should draw confidence from our direction of travel. The public exams fiasco last summer, and our positive response to admit those who we believed would flourish here, on the basis of assessments and interviews, meant that in 2020 Fitz admitted its most socially diverse cohort in recent memory. It is good to see that some other colleges have equally strong statistics. But the welcome progress of others should also serve as a challenge to us. Widening participation is core to Fitzwilliam’s mission but we will need to, and should want to, widen and deepen this work. I hope that this will include looking at preparation for studying here, support to current students and preparation for life post university. The effect of COVID has served to highlight and unfortunately increase the gap between disadvantaged and other young people. No college can operate in isolation, and the current situation has only emphasised the importance of collaboration and debate across collegiate Cambridge and between colleges and the wider university. It should be obvious, but is not always thought by all, that the interests of collegiate Cambridge are dependent on the strength of the University. The global race for talent and research funding is intensifying and will be negatively affected by Brexit. The international league tables emphasised that UK universities are in danger of falling behind, even before the deterioration of the economy was factored in. In the UK Higher Education is under greater scrutiny than ever before. Cambridge is not immune to this, and nor is Fitz. The present moment, with all its challenges and opportunities, must be reflected in our planning. In 2018, when we last developed our Strategic Plan, the world felt very different. Rather than simply revise the current Rolling Plan, it feels timely to redefine our mission, to be confident about our identity as a College and to develop clear priorities for the years ahead and to develop a fundraising campaign to support them. This work needs to, and will, involve the whole breadth of our community. As I write this in January 2021, we have just entered a new lockdown. We will face this difficult term with resilience and determination – but look forward more than ever to being able to rejuvenate College life in person.
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FROM THE SENIOR TUTOR where they can work productively, and we welcome their continuing residence during periods of lockdown.
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In a few pages’ time, the former Bursar has written in detail about the College’s institutional response to the COVID crisis. As in every area of life it has been enormously complicated, changeable, and organisationally time-consuming. We have made many decisions, and great stamina has been required from many staff in working out the policies which set out those decisions clearly and the protocols which enact them as fairly as possible. But the key decisions themselves have often been easier than might be expected, despite the challenges of co-ordination between colleges and University, the rapidly shifting public health situation and the constantly evolving legislation and guidance. We have been guided quite securely by principles which reflect the widely-shared ethos of the College. It helps that we – and our predecessors – have said these things before. We were founded as a community that recognises the power of education to transform lives: so we do not forget that however disruptive the pandemic, however imperfect the year, this is that time of transformation for many of our current students as their course begins, continues or concludes, and we have a responsibility to support them as fully as we possibly can, whatever the circumstances. We always work hard to ensure that College membership is available to people whatever their social or economic background and wherever they come from: so we hold in mind that for some of our students College is home, or for others the only home
We have seen, for generations, that the best education equips individuals with the critical and adaptable skills necessary to tackle the most serious and urgent problems, and that research, across the disciplines, can discover solutions when they are most needed: so we continue to foster the work of our undergraduate and graduate students whether near or far, more than ever in 2020 when those problems are so evident and so acute. And while alert to very real current concerns about inter-generational fairness, we recognise our responsibility, as the present trustees of the institution which has fostered this ethos for a century and a half, to be mindful of the interests not only of current members of the College but also of their successors for generations to come: so while we strive to enhance bursary support for students struggling at a time of extreme economic disruption, we are proportionate in our admissions decisions in order not to deny opportunities to the succeeding year group, and closely attentive to the severe financial consequences of the year’s disruptions, working to mitigate their lasting effects on the College’s ability to support future students. The pandemic has demanded resilience from everyone, and our students, led and supported brilliantly by very active JCR and MCR committees, have shown great adaptability and fortitude. Supervisions, lectures and the various usual forms of pastoral support have of course remained available, albeit online for long periods. I am deeply grateful for the tireless work my colleagues have put in to supporting and inspiring our students near and far throughout this time. Of course, despite strenuous efforts to improve accessibility, online activities are not always equally effective for all participants, and we try to ensure arrangements are flexible and responsive in such circumstances. The year’s pressures have reinforced the need for a further enhancement of the support available (in the College and across the University) for student wellbeing and mental health. Certain groups of students experienced particularly upsetting circumstances during the year, notably the series of killings which prompted the Black Lives Matter protests. Sadly but inevitably, many members of College suffered bereavements as a
result of the pandemic. Many international students were anxious about the health of family members hundreds or thousands of miles away; and of course a different set of uncertainties persisted for all our European students. Never has there been a greater need for the mutual support and respect that a twenty-first century community such as ours should offer, and by and large I believe the College stood up well. The pandemic forced all Easter Term assessments online, and with very few exceptions first-year and second-year assessments were not classed. Most thirdyear and fourth-year undergraduates were classed, and 70 achieved Firsts (or equivalent), of which nine were starred Firsts. Eight students were awarded University prizes. During the year 24 doctoral dissertations by Fitzwilliam students were approved for the award of PhD degrees. 40 College Senior Scholarships were also awarded, and 19 prizes for Masters Students achieving Distinction.
STUDENT FUNDING We make use of generous funding from alumni and others to try to meet the needs of current students, aiming both to assist those experiencing financial hardship and to support engagement in all areas of college and university life, academic and extracurricular. The total value of financial awards to students increased by 13% this year to £0.97 million, and the College’s share was 20% of all fee income received. The main source of funding for undergraduates of limited financial means was the Cambridge Bursary Scheme, operated and funded jointly by the University and the Colleges. 119 Fitzwilliam students (31% of Home/EU undergraduates) benefitted from these awards. In addition, 46 first-year and 42 second-year undergraduates received Top-up Bursaries, largely funded by Trinity College; 103 undergraduates received Fitzwilliam College Maintenance Bursaries; and 15 received Goldman Sachs Bursaries. Graduate student support awards in 2019-20 totalled £0.37 million: 2 fullcost Masters Studentships, 1 full-cost PhD Studentship, 4 part-cost PhD Studentships, 26 smaller part-cost graduate scholarships, 42 College Senior Scholarships, 43 Maintenance Bursaries, 5 Tenth-Term awards to support PhD students in their final stages, and 36
Research Awards to support conference attendance and other important research activities. To enable all students regardless of financial means to take advantage of opportunities to enrich their educational experience, the College provided 47 undergraduate Travel Awards (a smaller number than usual, for obvious reasons), 185 Prizes and Scholarships, 36 awards from subjectspecific funds, 39 music awards, 95 sports awards, 13 awards from the Master’s Gift Fund and Fitzwilliam Society Trust Fund, and 157 further awards from the Student Opportunities Fund (including Vacation Project Accommodation Allowances, Charitable Project Awards, contributions towards the cost of in-sessional support in English for international students, awards for successful participation in the Cambridge University Language Programme, and support for costs resulting from disabilities (including Disability Rent Rebates)).
STUDENT NUMBERS October 2019 brought a significant increase in undergraduate applicant numbers – 739 for 2020 entry – and yielded an impressive diversity both in offers and acceptances. In August 2020, 154 undergraduates were confirmed for 2020 entry. A small number deferred their places, but no student who had obtained their offer level was made to defer to 2021. The results period was
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complex this year, incorporating last minute changes of Government policy. Nevertheless, upon confirmation, 78% of those regulated by the Office for Students had been educated in the state maintained sector, the College’s largest ever proportion. 48% had at least one of seven ‘widening participation’ flags. Most of our in-person outreach activities were curtailed by the pandemic, but the admissions teams developed a series of online events which will remain part of an enhanced programme in future years. 154 new graduate students also confirmed that they would take up places at the College in October 2020 (101 for Masters courses, 38 for PhDs, 2 part-time EdDs and 13 for clinical medicine/ veterinary studies), and 66 new part-time MSt students commenced courses during the year.
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
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Academic staff continued to combine research and teaching, as conditions allowed. On the basis of their research, teaching and institutional contributions, Dr Gathercole was recommended for appointment to a Professorship, and Dr Jardine, Dr Lees, Dr Mukherji and Dr Powell were recommended for appointment to Readerships. Professor Giles Oldroyd (Director of the University’s new Crop Science Centre) was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). Dr Holly Canuto was appointed to the Senior Tutorship at St Catharine’s College; Dr Rogier Kievit left to take up an appointment as Professor of Developmental Neuroscience at the Donders Institute, Radboud University, in the Netherlands, and Dr Sarah Kolopp left to take up an appointment as Lecturer at the Sorbonne, in Paris. Former Master Professor Nicola Padfield and alumni Sonita Alleyne OBE, Sir John Vincent Cable, Sebastian Dakin, Andrew Powell and Adele Thomas were elected into Honorary Fellowships. Visiting Fellows in Michaelmas 2019 worked on scanning helium microscopy and Catalan literature. 13 new ByeFellows joined the College in 2019-20, taking the total number to 44, and 19 of the University’s post-doctoral researchers were elected into a new category of College membership, as Research Associates. As usual, the College hosted a diverse programme of lectures, discussions, conferences and cultural events, which continued online during lockdown. Highlights
included Professor Bhaskar Vira’s Foundation Lecture entitled ‘From the Himalayas to the Fens: Towards a Political Economy of Environment and Development’, an inaugural ‘Fresh Thinking at Fitz’ discussion between Dame Louise Casey, Rt. Hon. Charles Clarke and the Master on issues from education to social exclusion, with a focus on why some issues seem so intractable and how that could change; Professor Giles Oldroyd’s online Arrol Adam lecture on ‘How beneficial associations in plants can drive sustainable food production’; and an excellent series of graduate symposia which moved online and increased in frequency during the pandemic. A new actor-musician ensemble based at the College, Jack & Master, ran three practical workshops; Mr Francis Knights completed a 30-concert recital series of keyboard music from the c.1610 Fitzwilliam Virginal Book; and Dr Subha Mukherji’s conference and festival ‘Migrant Knowledge, Early Modern and Beyond’ brought together international scholars, artists and activists to think about migration and what it does with, and to, knowledge, marking the culmination of her five year ERC-funded project ‘Crossroads of Knowledge’. I remember approaching my graduation from another Cambridge college many years ago with a sense of the end of an era, no inkling that both my friendships and my relation with the institution would continue and deepen in the ensuing years. I think that among those studying at Fitzwilliam College these days there is a much stronger sense of a community which stretches across the generations – but the disruptions of the pandemic and in particular the absence of the usual graduation ceremonies last summer were very keenly felt and, for some, may have shaken that sense of belonging. We have said loudly and repeatedly, in print and on video, that we look forward to welcoming those students back for a proper extended celebration when that is once again a possibility. And beyond that we are determined to find more ways to ensure that the College remains open to hosting, inspiring, and learning from our members throughout their lives. Whatever circumstances the College faces, its purpose is clear: to support the development of our members past, present and future, and the benefits that your learning and research help you bring to the wider world. Paul Chirico Senior Tutor
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During the Easter term lockdown, and throughout the summer months, the Grove lawn, with its physically-distant chairs and tables, became a popular place to study and revise for those remaining in College. Photo: Bluebell Drummond
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FROM THE BURSAR their way through the first chapter of the pandemic. It is clear to me that in tackling the impact of the pandemic we as a community have benefitted immensely from our transparent governance and strong culture.
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I am pleased to write my first set of Bursar’s notes, having succeeded Andrew Powell at the beginning of October 2020. I am immensely grateful to Andrew, not only for the skill and care in which he steered the College’s finances for some 11 years but also for the extensive handover I received. The warm and opening welcome I have had from all elements of the College community and the superb support from colleagues across the College have enabled me to settle in and left me with a sense that I have been here longer than just a few months. I come to the role of Bursar with over 30 years experience in finance and business. I have a background in corporate finance, working for a number of international banks, before founding a financial advisory company in the early 2000s. I have a good knowledge of Cambridge, having lived here since I was an undergraduate studying Architecture at St Catharine’s College in the mid 1980s. That knowledge is reinforced through my involvement in local politics and as a trustee of a local homeless charity. As a result, I have some visibility of the workings of the University and collegiate Cambridge (my wife is an academic) but I still have a lot to learn.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS Michaelmas Term 2020 has gone so quickly, just as terms tended to do when I was an undergraduate. Overlaid on the natural cycle of term activity has been the ongoing management of the pandemic. It has required us to be nimble and creative across all aspects of College life. I have been fortunate to benefit from the experience of a group of colleagues who had navigated
The challenges for the College in Michaelmas Term were similar but different from the ones we faced earlier in the year. Whilst in the first lockdown, the majority of students went home, in the lockdown in November the student population remained in residence. The Term saw the erection of a marquee on Fellows’ Court, to provide a much-needed outdoor space for all members of the community. New practices have also emerged, such as the weekly asymptomatic testing for students and the socially-distanced formal halls. Our students have enthusiastically embraced the different living environment the pandemic has forced upon us, such as making the most of our outdoor spaces for student events even when the weather was inclement. Our staff, who are the glue that ensure our community runs smoothly, have stepped up to the challenges the pandemic has caused. As they have in the past, they have gone the ‘extra mile’ during term to ensure that College life is as normal as can be for all members of our community.
FINANCE AND INVESTMENTS The year was one of two parts, with a clear divide when the COVID-19 pandemic broke in March. In November 2019, the Governing Body approved the adoption of new investment principles prioritising environmental, social and governance behaviour as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability (ESG). The College had not invested directly in high impact fossil fuels, tobacco manufacturers, or weapons manufacturers since 2016, and the formal adoption of ESG principles at the heart of the College’s investment policy, marks an important consolidation. Indirect investments in these areas will now be minimised and kept under constant review. The adoption of these principles was the outcome of a College-wide consultation led by the Investment Committee over a number of months, but also including open meetings with students and the Fellowship.
We were delighted to contribute over 200 meals to local charity Cambridge Sustainable Food in Michaelmas.
Up to the end of March, the College was forecasting a small deficit for the year, but by the end of the year recorded an operating deficit of £973,000, the highest in our history (before taking account of ‘one-off ’ items). The pandemic had a material impact on our finances for the year. Our income fell mainly due to the College losing rents from students and catering income for Easter Term as we operated on a largely virtual basis and also because we were unable to undertake conference activity during the summer period. In response, we took steps to reduce our costs. In addition to specific cost control measures, such as a staff hiring freeze and no payment of the staff discretionary bonus, we benefitted from a number of natural efficiencies as a result the lower level of activity in Easter Term and through the summer. The impact on our finances also extended to the value of our endowment, which for the first time in a number of years fell. This was due to a combination of the volatile performance of our investments as the financial markets were affected by the pandemic and because we were not able to sustain the level of annual contribution to the endowment. It is clear that the ongoing pandemic will put further major strain on our finances over the next 12 to 18 months. Our sources of income will continue to be under immense pressure as we have seen at the start of Lent term 2021, with the loss of rental and catering income arising from the national lockdown. It is also unlikely that our conference activity will return to its historical levels for at least two to three years. As a result, we will need to rely more heavily on other sources of income, in particular the generosity of alumni through donations. We will also need to ensure that we look for further efficiencies in the way the College manages its finances.
BUILDINGS Whilst at its core the College is about a community of fellows, students, staff and alumni, the buildings and grounds in which we live, work and socialise are an important component in shaping the character of our community. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we have maintained the momentum of investing in the fabric of our buildings. In the early part of 2020, we took the decision to undertake the extensive refurbishment of D, E and F staircases, at a cost of approximately £5 million. The scheme not only involves bringing up to modern standards much-loved architecture, but also will result in visual changes to the College’s façade facing Huntingdon Road through the creation of a number of bays. Internally, the space has been reconfigured providing modern student rooms and creating a series of communal kitchens that allow students to come together more easily in a relaxed environment. This arrangement has proved to be really popular in the refurbished A, B and C staircases. The work of D, E and F highlights the fact that a significant part of the original College fabric (now some 60 years old) still needs fundamental refurbishment, so we are able to offer accommodation appropriate for a modern twenty-first century college community. Rod Cantrill Bursar
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RECONSTRUCTION WORK BEGINS ON THE HUNTINGDON ROAD FAÇADE
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Photograph: Dr J. R. A. Cleaver
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For all those in College during the first lockdown, the gardens provided a welcome respite from the challenges. Photo: Bluebell Drummond
FITZWILLIAM IN A PANDEMIC: THE FIRST NINE MONTHS “Unusual”, “Extraordinary”, “Unprecedented” ...we quickly ran out of adjectives to describe the period we are now living through. Our collegiate way of life is seriously challenged as we endure lockdown, social distancing, face coverings and PPE. We have learned new words like Furlough, R-number and others have taken on new usage, such as “I will Zoom you”. In this reflection on the first phase of the pandemic, former Bursar and Honorary Fellow, Andrew Powell, looks back over how far we have come...
When we first heard at the beginning of January that a new virus had broken out in Wuhan in China it all felt very far away. We marvelled at the Chinese ability to lock down an entire city with a population of millions and reflected that such a strategy would never work here. Few appreciated the extent of the learning in Asia that had followed the outbreaks of swine flu in 2009-10 and particularly SARS in 2002-03. By the end of January it suddenly started to become real at Fitzwilliam. The University’s Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) issued travel advice to those travelling to and from affected areas - first Wuhan and then very quickly the rest of China and many countries in south-east Asia. Within the College, Dee Williams, the College Nurse was quick to appreciate the significance of the virus, and we found ourselves making contingency plans for students who had to “self-isolate”. The first cases in the UK were reported at the end of January - two Chinese tourists who had come from Wuhan; on the 8th February a ski party in France was the source of several infections including a party from Brighton, and then by the 23rd it was clear that there was a major outbreak in Italy. Coronavirus, shortly to be named COVID-19, was on our doorstep, and at the beginning of March the first case in the UK which could not be traced to a link with foreign travel was announced.
THE FIRST WAVE ARRIVES By early March, as the pace quickened, the flow of confusing information from different sources was becoming very difficult to manage, so we took the decision to convene the “Gold” team of the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) on 5th March. This consists of the Master, Senior Tutor, Bursar, Domestic Bursar and those Heads of Department most directly involved in managing the crisis. Through March and the first week in April we met daily by telephone. The BCP log is a daily record of the issues we discussed. Government advice began to tighten with the Prime Minister’s speech of 12th March, the same day that we reported our first self-isolating student in Fitzwilliam. At this point the prospect of students returning home at the end of the Lent term (21st March) became real. Varsity reported on 13th March that Trinity
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College was planning to tell all Undergraduate students that they must leave College for the Easter vacation unless under ‘exceptional circumstances’. This gave rise to frenetic efforts over the weekend of 16th and 17th March to pull together, not just a common message on departure, but also a mechanism for co-ordinating communications across the Collegiate University going forward. The University declared that it was moving to “Red” status on 18th March, and the Vice Chancellor was able to say in his announcement:
limited to those whose role made it essential that they attend. In the event Stage 1 was very short lived, going live on 19th and being superseded by Stage 2 on 21st March, but the two weeks of planning that preceded the move was invaluable in giving us, as a staff, a sense of confidence in our ability to manage and respond to the situation. I must pay tribute to the work of the Heads of Department, and particularly to the IT team during this period, who enabled us to manage the transmission to home working remarkably easily.
“We are asking students – both undergraduate and postgraduate – to return home now, if possible. It is especially urgent for international students needing to make travel arrangements to do so as quickly as possible, as many countries are already imposing travel restrictions. Students unable to leave Cambridge will continue to be supported by their colleges, and college accommodation will be available if needed.”
The UK went into “lockdown” on 23rd March. On 27th March Matt Hancock (Health Secretary) and Boris Johnson (Prime Minister) announced that they were self-isolating having tested positive for the virus. Boris Johnson went into intensive care on 6th April. On the academic side, the University Departments were working flat out to devise online examination systems that would be a fair test of student achievements. During this period we were monitoring student departures, closing buildings and furloughing staff. After the initial exodus, we had 133 students living in College accommodation of whom some 50 were on the main site. Gradually the numbers fell as students managed to find flights home, and by 10th June we were down to 117. We tried to keep a buttery service running for those who remained, but had to take the decision to close it on 6th April, as there wasn’t enough traffic through it to justify the risk and cost of maintaining the service.
Also on the 18th the Prime Minister made another series of announcements, including the closure of schools and the cancellation of exams, decisions which were to have a chaotic impact on our admissions process later in the year. From a college’s point of view it felt impossible to plan ahead in any matter regarding students; the need to interpret Government guidance, which was very difficult to apply to specific circumstances, to take advice from Public Health England and the ACCD, to reach common positions with the University and across the 31 Colleges meant that we were unable to establish any sense of control of the situation, or indeed answer the myriad of questions coming from students. An open meeting for students was held in the Auditorium, and livestreamed on YouTube (there were about 30 students in the Auditorium and over 70 online), in which the Master, Senior Tutor, Bursar and Domestic Bursar took questions and responded to the best of our ability. Most often the answer was ‘we don’t know’. However inadequate we felt, this event was very well received by the student body and set the tone for a series of communications over the following weeks. On the staff side we were able to do some planning. At an emergency meeting of Heads of Department on 13th March we had approved a two-stage response in terms of working practices. Stage 1 involved partial working from home, testing working from home arrangements, putting in place rotas that ensured single occupancy of offices at all times. Stage 2 envisaged everyone working from home who could do so, with staff on site being
It became apparent that the financial impact on the College was potentially devastating. The loss of income from Easter term rents and catering and from conference business, which was non-existent from March, amounted to some £2.3m - more than 25% of all our free reserves. Indeed it would have been, were it not for Government support through the furlough scheme, and intercollegiate support through the Colleges’ Fund, which was very quick to announce that this year’s grants could be taken to cover operating expenses. Fitzwilliam is always grateful to those Colleges who provide support in this way, but never more so than this year. 2019-20 still won’t have been a great year, but without the help from those sources it could have been very hard to recover from. The impact on 2020-21 is also very severe, with the certain loss of conference business in 2020, and its uncertain status in 2021, as well as the continued impact on other income streams, notably catering. The Furlough scheme, properly known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was first announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on
20th March. The Master sent me a one-line email as it was being announced (5.21pm); it just said “This is huge” - and indeed it has been. For all the criticism of Government decisions across the period and the initial scepticism that some of us felt as to whether the scheme would work, this scheme was bold, timely and achieved exactly what it set out to achieve - to save jobs. Administered through HMRC, it delivered as promised and worked without noticeable problems. Furlough is a completely new concept in U.K. employment law. It was the turn of Sarah Rowland Jones, HR officer, to be challenged! The first set of guidance was issued on 26th March, and on the 6th April 104 staff went on furlough. A further 30 staff were working from home, leaving just 17 out of 134 attending College. And so began the best part of three months of lockdown in College.
COLLEGE LIFE IN LOCKDOWN For the month of April, when the UK infection and death rates were at their height, we operated on site with 24 hour single staffing in the Porters’ Lodge, just two gardeners, four housekeeping staff (Manager, supervisors and a house porter, cleaning communal areas only), and two in the Finance department. There were four maintenance staff operating on an “on call” basis. The entire Catering and Events teams and most of Housekeeping were on furlough as there was no work for them to do, and several other teams were operating at part strength. Those that were not on furlough were working from home. Cambridge was never as badly affected by the virus in this phase as other parts of the country, notably London. However we did not escape; there were a number of severe cases across the University and I know of three people amongst the staff and Fellowship who suffered a severe incidence of COVID. For them it was a frightening and debilitating experience, one where you never know how the illness is going to turn next and which can take a long time to get over. Fortunately all recovered, but their experiences made the dangers very real for all of us. For those students whose home was their college room, life was particularly tough with no facilities open. With the Library closed, operating only a ‘click and collect’ service, the options for study space were very few. Fortunately the weather this summer was glorious and the availability of the College gardens to relax and study
was a major blessing. The students themselves accepted the restrictions with remarkable equanimity; most had some company in households of at least two, and those who were on their own were offered a move to a household. After the first month, the long grass on the Grove lawn made it look as though students were studying in a hay meadow. College buildings and grounds require constant attention, otherwise they begin to deteriorate very quickly. We brought the Gardens team back in May, and the Maintenance team returned to work in June. One of the constant jobs was regular and frequent ‘flushing’ - the process of running the water in unoccupied buildings to prevent incidence of legionella - an even more serious risk in hot weather. The period whilst the College was largely empty was also an ideal time to complete small projects. Out of sight of the Bursar, online supervisions and then assessments were being conducted. The Tutorial office were working at full stretch to administer an extraordinary number of different assessments devised at short notice by the various departments with different approaches for first and second year undergraduates
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The Journal and finalists. College business went on. We discovered the variety of video conferencing tools. No longer is Skype synonymous with video conferencing, as once was the Hoover to vacuum cleaning! Now we had to grapple with Google Meet/ Hangouts, WebEx, Teams and Zoom. Zoom quickly established itself as the system of choice, simple to use and versatile enough to handle large meetings. Our days were filled with back to back Zoom meetings. “Shall we Zoom?” became a common phrase as noun turned to verb. Over time it was entertaining watching colleagues and oneself (because you can see yourself on Zoom!) grow progressively hairier! Some indeed have taken the opportunity to make a permanent style change! Committee meetings on Zoom turned out to work really well. They are somehow more disciplined, and fairer to all participants, and it has been noticeable that attendance has been higher as people have not had to factor travelling time into their schedules. The first-ever Governing Body to be held on Zoom took place on 6th May. The Arrol Adam Lecture was delivered on Zoom by Professor Giles Oldroyd to a far bigger audience than would normally have made the journey to attend.
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The MCR and JCR presidents and committees worked tirelessly throughout this period to maintain the student community, putting on virtual events, and keeping close to the mood and concerns of their members, most of whom were by now far from Cambridge. 2020 was to have been a Winter Ball year, but the Ball committee, who were just getting into their stride when COVID struck, took an early decision to postpone this year’s event to March 2021 in the hope that the current Committee would be able to see their plans through. (Ed. Given current restrictions this has been postponed now to 2022). This was sad, but the biggest sadness was the need to cancel graduation ceremonies, thereby depriving our finalists of their opportunity to celebrate and savour their achievements and to say farewell to the College that had been their home for at least three years. We have promised them that we will not forget, and will organise a suitable event as soon as conditions allow, but it will not be ‘in the moment’.
RE-OPENING THE COLLEGE It has been said many times this year that it is much easier to close operations down than to reopen them. The first challenge was reuniting students with their belongings, as most students did not have the time or the transport available to make an orderly departure when the lockdown was called. Whilst many had managed to pack up their things in boxes ready for collection, other rooms had the air of the Marie
Celeste about them, as though the occupant had just popped out for a few minutes intending to come back and tidy up! Travel restrictions were eased slightly in June, allowing collection, but we were still under strict lockdown conditions and those who were able to get back to College had to do so under a managed booking regime and without interacting with anyone else in College. For international students return was not an option, and other arrangements had to be made. Throughout the month of July our housekeeping staff were busy, packing, shipping or storing belongings of those who could not return, and giving all the bedrooms a thorough deep clean so they could be reused when needed. The other issue that preoccupied much of the University at this time was the return of Research Students, especially those who were laboratory-based and had left their experimental work in a suspended state. This proved to be a very complicated matter, depending first on University Estates to prepare the building, then on the academic Department to implement safe working practices, and then on the College to confirm availability of accommodation and appropriate living conditions. In practice very few students returned until July. We were also anxious to prioritise the needs of some of our medical students who were on stand-by to help out in the hospitals, and needed to be in selfcontained accommodation so they could be kept as safe as possible from external exposure to the infection. The Prime Minister’s announcement of 23rd June paved the way for substantial relaxation of the lockdown restrictions, and reopening of many businesses in a fashion. It was too late by this time to save any of the conference business on which the College is so dependent, but we were able to reopen some College facilities in a limited way. The restoration of a service in the coffee shop, albeit on a take-away only basis with limited hours, was an important signal to the small College community in residence. 2m lines were marked on the floor to keep queuing to a safe distance and a perspex screen was installed to protect the staff. The MCR was opened under strict physical distancing rules implemented by the MCR committee, and a number of meeting rooms were re-purposed as private study rooms, to alleviate the sense of confinement experienced by students who, up to now, had only had their bedroom or the garden as an option. On 25th July we were able to follow this with a controlled reopening of the Gym, and (an important moment for this Bursar) Oxford Road reopened for cricket. Single sculling was permitted on the river. More staff were steadily coming back to work. The housekeepers were brought back in numbers to deal with the accommodation challenge. Tutorial, Finance
and other administrative staff began to reappear on site with safe distancing and perspex screens built by our Maintenance team - these will be around us for a long time I think. Sadly, there was still no work for the Catering staff who will have endured the longest period of lockdown, and very little for the Events office, although as the summer went on and new challenges arose we were able to redeploy a number of people in essential jobs elsewhere. The BCP team continued to meet. Every decision to open up a facility required careful consideration, based on ever-changing guidance, risk assessment and wider practice across collegiate Cambridge, and detailed drafting of rules and procedures. Topics at this time were reopening the SCR, Fellows’ use of their offices, and hosting Admissions visits to the College.
PREPARING FOR THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR Throughout this period the Bursars collectively had been worried about the availability of accommodation for returning students. Early views of the implications of having to manage students in “households” suggested that colleges would have to operate well below their normal capacity, and this was coupled with an expectation that the cancellation of A-levels and the use of other forms of assessment would lead to a significantly higher intake of undergraduate freshers. There had been much speculation about the likelihood of attrition in overseas student numbers, but no evidence had emerged that this was occurring. A system was put in place to share capacity estimates with the idea of optimising accommodation across colleges, or perhaps even opening discussions with other institutions in Cambridge who might be expected to have spare accommodation. So we were waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the A-level results and the conclusion of the Admissions round! In normal times the A-level results arrive in College on the Saturday before they are publicly released on the following Thursday. This gives a short time for the Admissions teams to confirm offers and review marginal cases so that offers can be confirmed on the day. In the absence of A-levels, student grades this year were awarded on the basis of an algorithm which took teacher grade predictions and rank ordering from schools, and then “normalised” them by reference to a number of factors, including the school’s past performance at A-level.This algorithm produced our usual numbers of candidates achieving their offers. After going through our normal process of reviewing the files of near miss applicants, and reprieving a number of widening participation candidates, we reached our target number of 140 undergraduates. But across the country there was an outcry, as 40% of pupils turned out
to have had their results downgraded, including those at schools with long experience of predicting grades. Between Saturday 15th and Monday 17th August the Government changed its methodology twice, eventually ending up with results based solely on teacher assessed grades. Twice more our Admissions tutors and staff ran the review process. In the end we fetched up with 152 confirmed offers. Not as dramatic a change as experienced elsewhere - and a justification of our system based on moderation, tests and interviews. Once we were through the Admissions period, the need to get ready for the next term suddenly made the planning much more urgent and tangible. As we began to plan for students’ return for the new academic year, we realised that the BCP group had become too unwieldy to act as an effective decision-making body for some quite complex issues, such as how and when to open up the catering activities. We convened a separate weekly senior decision making group, comprising the Master, Senior Tutor, Bursar, Domestic Bursar, Graduate Tutor and Director of Development & Communications, which took one or two topics each week according to the priority of the moment and worked through them in detail. This worked well, and the BCP meetings became the vehicle for sharing information and decisions that came out of the senior group. The structure was agile enough to cope with changes of direction as well as structured planning. We were anxious to encourage students to return early wherever possible, so we could allow for two weeks of quarantine, where necessary, before the start of term, and also avoid the congestion and intense social interaction that normally occurs when students assemble at the start of the year. One of the big issues at the time was how to manage quarantine - should we separate quarantining students from those who were not required to do so, or was it acceptable for students to quarantine in their allocated bedroom? The logistical implications of the first strategy made it unrealistic, and in the end it was also the students’ expressed desire that quarantine should be served in the student’s chosen household. The Porters’ Lodge resumed normal opening hours on 1st September, we reopened the Buttery on 14th September and the Library on 28th September, all with new and appropriate physical distancing measures in place. New policies had to be debated, decided and drafted on matters such as the use of face coverings, the extent to which normal disciplinary procedures should apply, on visitors and on the conduct of supervisions. We were anxious to preserve as much of the collegiate experience as possible during a Michaelmas Term which was inevitably going to be severely constrained. So we had many debates about formal dining. An experimental Formal Hall at the end of August indicated
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that physically distanced dining was feasible, and that became the basis of our plans for the Term, although by this time the level of infections nationally was rising again and we were all aware that it wouldn’t take much for all our plans to have to change again. The other matter that occupied our time, especially towards the end of the month, was preparation for the introduction of the University’s asymptomatic testing programme, which was expected to be an important tool in managing the University through Michaelmas term. The principle was that all students were allocated to a household - between 4 and 12 people. Each student would take a self-administered test, and then the samples would be pooled within each household and a single test run on the pooled sample - in this way the volume of tests to be analysed was reduced significantly. Self-testing would take place on a particular day each week, with each College being allocated its own day. If a household returned a positive test result then all members of the household would then be tested individually. The College’s role would be to receive the test kits, to arrange for them to be delivered to the households, and then to receive back the completed tests for collection by the central test team.
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LEARNING POINTS The most heartening aspect of the last seven months for me was the way the College pulled together in the face of the crisis. Everyone - staff, students and Fellows - played their role, whether it was to lead, to implement, to advise, to communicate, to help out, to provide personal support or to accept a period of furlough. They did so willingly, patiently and without complaint, and despite the frequent and frustrating changes of direction coming from Government and the University in the face of this unknown and unpredictable situation. People volunteered their time and/ or their expertise in many different ways. For some this meant putting in hours which were way beyond the call of duty, often to prepare documents and materials which had to be rewritten a day or two later. For others it meant working in unfamiliar areas, and for many it meant accepting suspension of normal day to day working activities in the greater interest of the College. It was a testament to the strength of the Fitzwilliam community, founded in the shared commitment to our still-young institution that is such a strong feature of the culture of the College. It is most important to have a plan - a plan gives a framework for decision making, a way of anticipating what might be to come. A plan should never be thought
Even wit COVID-
of as a prediction of the future, indeed its very purpose is to enable change of direction as circumstances develop. In the face of the unknown, a staged plan which can be quickly escalated as the situation develops, is a good tool. We used this for staff planning in the early stages before lockdown and the University deployed the same technique; it really helped to bring sense of stability and feeling of control to develop which helps give everyone, including the leadership team, a sense of confidence in managing the unexpected. The fact that we already had a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) structure in place for dealing with emergencies meant that in the early stages there was a framework for managing the situation. When the BCP was designed, we did not envisage an emergency that would last as long as a term, let alone a year or more, but we were able to adapt the framework as we went along. By and large it worked well. Actions continued to be recorded throughout the seven months that I ran it; we had no systematic review of the actions, but they proved to be a very useful reminder of the pace at which things developed - I was quite surprised to be reminded of the sequence of events when I went back over them for the purpose of writing this article. Memory plays strange tricks! When the time comes to review the experience, the biggest learning points will be around communication, which is the most difficult aspect of handling an
or later the situation becomes unmanageable. Good crisis communication therefore requires visible leadership, a trusted source and system of providing up to date information, and a team that is able to update that trusted source in near real time. We found the use of a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) document, published on a dedicated page on the College website was the best way in the early stages. It provided a single reliable source of information which people could get used to referring to, and which was easily updated when things changed and could be cross referenced from multiple channels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
th restrictions in place, we were able to hold an impromptu, -secure send off for the Bursar, in the Dining Hall.
emergency to get right. Everyone knows it is important, but there is an embedded tendency in all of us to focus on action first, and then rely on those people most involved in the action to shape the communications as well. The BCP structure recognises that the communications function must be involved at all stages, but the role was implicitly seen as being reactive and supportive. A key lesson of COVID for me was that there needs to be someone on the Gold team who can take the load away from those leading the action. We eventually got there with the appointment of the Development Director to the role of Director of Communications, but it took time and it would have been better if she had been more centrally involved from the beginning. It is easy to underestimate the extent to which the regular systems and predictable routines which shape our daily lives enable us to take decisions without having to think or consult too much, because we instinctively “know how things work”. In a crisis, when normality is suspended, everyone even remotely connected with the incident needs information on which to base decisions, just at the moment when reliable information is not available. In the absence of a trusted source, rumour and gossip take over, especially in the world of social media. This is compounded by the journalists, be they student or otherwise, who are all on the hunt for a story, a scandal, and a unique angle. You cannot afford to ignore them because, if you do, sooner
From a personal point of view I have been lucky, firstly to live in an area where countryside exercise has been easily available, and secondly that the Bursar’s job, at least on a day to day basis, can be done online. I missed the human interactions, as well as the natural break in the day which happens when you have to leave the office. On the other hand I have benefitted greatly from enforced daily exercise and the absence of College lunches and dinners! A number of people have remarked that the Bursar has changed shape and lost weight! Infection rates in the UK have been rising steadily since the beginning of the month, mostly in the north of England where local lockdowns have been reinstated. In Manchester and Leeds and Newcastle groups of students have become infected following start of term parties, and are in isolation. The news scandals are of students locked up for 10 days without food. In Cambridge we are fortunate that the infection has taken time to reach us and incidence is still low. The University has set up its own testing centre and plans are well advanced to introduce the asymptomatic testing of all student households. Our plans e.g. for freshers week and for formal dining are still having to be changed on a daily basis. As I prepare to hand over to my successor it feels as though we have just got through the first chapter, and we are preparing for the next. The return of students is a moment of high risk, and Government is planning for a resurgence in November through to March. However this time we expect College life to go on. Andrew Powell 30th September 2020
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HOW TO TAKE A PHYSICALLY-DISTANCED MATRICULATION PHOTO...
In contrast to the cover image of this edition of the Journal - taken in October 2019 - the 2020 matriculation photos posed a new challenge to our regular photographer, John Thompson of Jet Photographic. In place of a carefully-constructed gantry, to be negotiated gingerly in heels and gowns, students faced a new health and safety risk: COVID.
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Colleges tackled the obvious problem of proximity in a number of ways. Some resorted to aeriel shots, taken from chapels and towers; others opted to photograph students in their household ‘bubbles’. But at Fitzwilliam, we firmly believe in the the best of the old and the new, and were keen to attempt something a little more 21st century: a digital composition, designed to recreate the traditional photograph, but ‘stitched’ together using technology. The work began several months before the arrival of the students, when a hardy group of graduate students - locked down in the summer at Fitzwilliam - agreed to be guinea pigs. Look closely at the picture in the background...can you see anything unusual? John Thompson explains: “In lockdown last summer I was fully aware we may not be able to take our traditional Matriculation picture on our staging. I had this idea of trying to take individual people, superimposing it and making it look just like the Matriculation photos colleges are accustomed to. “Living in a village and due to lockdown, the challenge was finding half a dozen young people to experiment on. Fortunately, Suzy Sheardown from Tutorial volunteered some graduate students. We arranged a summer’s evening and half a dozen graduate students came along in their gowns.”
Thanks to Jet Photographic for this historic creation...
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The undergraduate Freshers’ photos were taken on Tuesday 6 October, details of which are pictured here, and the graduate photos were taken on Saturday 10 October, with plenty of students using the opportunity to get their own photographs in their gowns. Socially-distanced queuing was required, and, unsurpisingly, the process was a lot more involved for the photography team. John adds: “My staff said they much prefer using staging – it’s so much easier. Just taking the photographs was a challenge. We had to take three photographs. The first photograph was a student holding their name identifier, then we took another photograph of them pretending they were on the staging – we had to make sure some were sitting, some were standing – and then we had our traditional portrait posed with the College backdrop. The process of stitching wasn’t exactly straightforward either, many students were quarantining for the start of term either due to international travel or possible infection - and that process couldn’t begin until all the photographs were taken. While it is hoped that next year’s photographs can be ‘back to normal’, we are very proud of the creations overleaf...
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2020 GRADUATIONS Following the UK-wide lockdown, the University announced that all graduation ceremonies would take place in absentia until further notice. Most eligible Fitzwilliam students undergraduate and graduate - have taken their degrees through this process. The College will welcome back all students affected by the change of arrangements to celebrate their success as soon as it is safe to do so. The Senate House is planning to hold a ceremony for those who graduated in absence that will replicate much of the standard graduation ceremony. Graduands will be presented by the Praelector in Latin. The only difference will be that, once presented in turn to receive the degree, they will be congratulated individually for having received the degree, instead of admitted to the degree. The Graduands also will not kneel since that is a symbol of submission to receiving the degree. It may also be the case that social distancing will still prevent some of the positions for standing or kneeling, anyway. In all other respects the ceremony will be as a graduation ceremony. Everyone will wear the gowns of the degree already received, so that Cambridge graduates receiving postgraduate degrees will wear the postgraduate hoods rather than the one for the degree which they previously received. Dr James Aitken, Praelector
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UNDERGRADUATE MATRICULATION
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GRADUATE MATRICULATION
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MASTER AND FELLOWS OF THE COLLEGE (AS AT MICHAELMAS 2020) MASTER
Baroness Morgan of Huyton, Sally Morgan
HONORARY FELLOWS
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HM King Juan Carlos I of Spain HM Queen Sofia of Spain Professor Federico Garcia-Moliner Professor Peter Haggett CBE FBA Mr Roger Dawe CB OBE Sir Humphrey Burton CBE Mr Nigel Stapleton The Hon Mr Justice (Kwok Nang, Andrew) Li CBE JP Professor Brian Johnson FRS FRSEd The Rt Revd Dr Michael Nazir-Ali Professor Joseph Stiglitz Professor Sir Angus Deaton The Rt Hon Sir Dennis Byron PC The Hon Mr Justice Ouseley The Rt Hon Lord Justice (Sir David) Kitchin QC Professor Robert Lethbridge The Rt Hon Lady Justice (Dame Sarah) Asplin QC The Rt Hon Lord Lamont of Lerwick His Honour Judge (Dean) Spielmann Professor Monkombu Swaminathan FRS Sir Peter Bazalgette Ms Sharon White DBE Professor Paul Muldoon Baroness Morrissey DBE of Chapel Green, Helena Morrissey Ms Helen King QPM Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FMedSci FRS Sr Josep Carreras Dame Cressida Dick QPM Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE CStJ FRSA FBCS Professor Nicola Padfield QC (Hon.): Professor in Criminal & Penal Justice Ms Sonita Alleyne OBE FRA FRSA The Rt Hon Sir John Vincent Cable Mr Sebastian Dakin Ms Adele Thomas Mr Andrew Powell
LIFE FELLOWS
Dr Harry Hudson Professor David Thompson DD FRHistS Professor Geoffrey Whittington CBE FCA Dr Geoffrey Walker Dr Kenneth Prandy His Honour Judge David Pearl Dr Robin Porter Goff* Professor Brian Johnson FRS FRSEd Dr John Cleaver: Archivist Professor Derek Fray FRS FREng Professor Robert Lethbridge Mr Barry Landy Dr David Bowyer FRSM Professor Nigel Slater Dr Elisabeth Marseglia Professor Graham Davies DD FBA FSA Dr William Allison Dr Alan Clark Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms FBA Dr David Scott Professor Michael Potter: Professor of Logic Professor Nicola Padfield QC (Hon.): Professor in Criminal & Penal Justice Dr Rosemary Horrox FRHistS Dr Kenneth Platts Professor Dominic Keown Dr Sean Holly *We were sadly informed of Dr Porter Goff ’s death in Dec 2020, and obituary will follow in next year’s Journal
FELLOWS
Dr Jonathan Cullen: President, Tutor for Graduate Students, Acting DoS in Engineering, Acting DoS in Manufacturing Engineering; UL in Engineering Mr Richard Hooley: DoS in LLM and MCL; UL in Corporate Law Dr David Cole: DoS in Engineering, DoS in Manufacturing Engineering, JMA Senior VicePresident; Reader in Mechanical Engineering Professor David Cardwell FREng: Professor of Superconducting Engineering, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy and Planning Dr John Leigh: DoS in Modern & Medieval Languages; USL in French Dr Hero Chalmers (on leave in 2020-21): Fellow Librarian, CTO and DoS in English
Professor Bhaskar Vira: Graduate Tutor, DoS in Geography; Professor of Political Economy
Mr Francis Knights: Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS in Music; Deputy Junior Proctor
Professor Robin Langley (on leave in 2020-21): Professor of Mechanical Engineering (1997)
Dr James Aitken: Praelector, DoS in Asian & MiddleEastern Studies; Reader in Hebrew, Old Testament & Second Temple Studies
Professor Epaminondas Mastorakos: Professor of Energy Technologies
Dr Anna Watson: CTO and DoS in Economics
Professor David Coomes: Fellow for Research, DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological); Professor in Plant Sciences, Director of University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute
Dr Andrew Jardine: DoS in Natural Sciences (Physical); Reader in Physics
Professor Martin Millett FBA FSA: Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology
Dr Stephen Sawiak: Financial Tutor, Tutor for Undergraduate Students, ADoS in Mathematics for Natural Sciences, JMA Senior Treasurer; RA at the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre
Dr Rachel Camina: Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS, CTO and AL in Mathematics Dr Alexei Kovalev: UL in Mathematics Dr Subha Mukherji: DoS in English; Reader in English Dr Robert Abayasekara: Tutor for Undergraduate Admissions (Sciences), Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS in Pre-Clinical Medical Sciences Professor James Elliott: DoS in Natural Sciences (Physical); Professor of Macromolecular Materials Science
Dr Kasia Boddy: Reader in English
Dr Emma Lees: Peter & Audrey Wilson Estates Gazette Fellow in Land Economy, Dean, DoS in Land Economy; Reader in Environmental & Property Law Dr Gabriel Glickman: DoS in History; UL in Early Modern British & Irish History Dr Julia Guarneri: DoS in History; USL in American History Dr Nicola Jones: Director of Communications & Engagement, Co-Steward and SCR Steward
Dr Andrew Wheatley: ADoS in Chemistry, Fellow Health & Safety Officer; Reader in Chemistry
Professor Ianthi Tsimpli: DoS in Linguistics; Professor of English & Applied Linguistics
Dr Kourosh Saeb-Parsy MRCS (on leave in 2020-21): DoS in Clinical Medicine; Reader in Transplantation
Dr Christos Genakos: DoS in Management Studies; Reader in Economics
Dr Sara Owen: Tutor for Admissions (Arts), Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS in Classics; AL in Classics
Dr Richard Powell: DoS in Geography; Reader in Human Geography
Dr Jason Rentfrow: DoS in Psychological & Behavioural Sciences; Reader in Personality & Individual Differences
Professor Michael Kenny FAcSS: Professor of Public Policy, Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Dr Paul Chirico: Senior Tutor, Disability Officer
Dr Aaron D’Sa: DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological); Acting DoS in Clinical Medicine; Specialist Registrar in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine
Professor Simon Gathercole: Secretary of the Governing Body and the College Committee, Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS in Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion; Professor in Divinity Dr Matthew Wingate: Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS in Mathematics, JMA Senior President; Reader in Mathematics
Mr James Manton: Research Fellow in Biology Dr Cyrus Mostajeran: Henslow Research Fellow in Engineering
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Dr Benedict Wiedemann: Research Fellow in History Dr Jonathan Rogers: Deputy Fellow Health and Safety Officer, DoS in Law; UL in Criminal Justice Dr Pedro Mendes Loureiro: DoS in Human, Social & Political Sciences; UL in Latin-American Studies Dr Christelle Abadie: UL in Engineering Dr Jean-Michel Johnston: Acting Fellow Librarian, Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS and CTO in History Dr Stevie Martin: DoS in Law; UL in Public Law Dr Céline Vidal: Co-Steward and SCR Steward; DoS in Geography; Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow at the Department of Geography Dr Cléo Chassonnery-Zaïgouche: Tutor for Graduate Students, Research Fellow in Economics Dr Olenka Pevny: Tutor for Graduate Students, Keeper of the College Works of Art; UL in Slavonic Studies
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Professor Srinivasan Keshav: DoS in Computer Science; Robert Sansom Professor of Computer Science Professor Giles Oldroyd FRS: Fellow Environmental Officer; Russell R. Geiger Professor of Crop Sciences Mr Rod Cantrill: Bursar, College Data Protection Lead, Safeguarding Officer, Freedom of Information Officer Dr Ross Hill: Research Fellow in Molecular Biology Dr Elisa Galliano: DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological); UL in Neuroscience
BYE-FELLOWS
The Venerable John Beer: Wine Steward Dr Nicholas Pyper: Chemistry Dr Andrew Buckley: ADoS in Earth Sciences; Department Administrator Dr Robert Harle: DoS in Computer Science; USL in Computer Science Professor Mark Arends: Pathology Dr Yin Wu: Pathology Dr Matthew Neal: Deputy Praelector, Acting Tutor for Undergraduate Students; History Dr Victoria Condie: Acting Tutor for Undergraduate Students; Medieval Literature Dr Timothy Williams: DoS in Pre-Clinical and Clinical
Veterinary Sciences; USL in Clinical Pathology Professor Christopher Watson: Professor of Transplantation Ms Georgina Cannon: Senior Associate Director of Cambridge University Department of Alumni Relations Dr Fiona Danks: Acting Tutor for Graduate Students; Geography Dr Danny Ho: Chemistry Dr Graham Spelman: Engineering Mr Paul Hoegger: DoS in Modern & Medieval Languages; German Language Programme Co-ordinator/Teacher Dr Martin Parker Dixon: Acting Tutor for Undergraduate Students; Music Dr Andrea Giusti: Engineering Dr Nima Razavi-Ghods: Engineering Ms Catherine Groom: Director of Music Dr Amy Ludlow: SRA at the Institute of Criminology Dr Katherine Davies: Natural Sciences (Biological) Dr Enrique Galindo-Nava: Natural Sciences (Physical) Dr Timon Hilker: Natural Sciences (Physical) Dr Adam Thorn: Computer Officer at the Department of Chemistry; Natural Sciences (Physical) Dr James Womack: AL in Spanish and Portuguese, Department of Modern & Medieval Languages Mr Eric Martin: DoS in Architecture Dr Silvianne Aspray: AL in Theology Dr James Brind: Aerothermal Engineering Dr Diandra Brkic: Psychology Dr Alex Carter: Academic Skills Dr Milena Ivanova: DoS in Philosophy Dr Saeed Kayhanian: Academic Foundation Doctor; Medicine Dr Peter Martin: Geography Dr Magdalena Strauss: Mathematics Dr Kim Ashton: Music Dr Anita Gibbons FRCP AFHEA: Consultant Gastroenterologist, Hinchingbrooke Hospital; Regional Sub-Dean, Clinical School Mr Alan Fuller: Domestic Bursar Dr Alex Pryce FRSA: Director of the Transition Year Course Dr Holly Canuto: Director of Education in the School of Biological Sciences Dr Jeongmin Choi: DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological) Dr Ares Llop Naya: Batista i Roca Fellow in Catalan Studies; AL in Catalan, Department of Modern & Medieval Languages Dr Dunstan Roberts: Isaac Newton Trust TA and DoS in English Revd Graham Stevenson: Chaplain; Acting Tutor for Undergraduate Students Dr Oliver Burton: Engineering Dr Jaakko Heiskanen: Politics and International Studies
Dr Sarah Kolopp: RA in Sociology Dr Jennifer Powell: Head of Collection, Programme and Research at Kettle’s Yard; UL in History of Art USL University Senior Lecturer UL University Lecturer UAL University Assistant Lecturer ADR Assistant Director of Research SRA Senior Research Associate RA Research Associate AL Affiliated Lecturer CL College Lecturer TA College Teaching Associate CTO College Teaching Officer DoS Director of Studies ADoS Assistant Director of Studies
VISITING FELLOWS 2019–2020
Dr Leah Roberts: Genomics Dr Leonardo Rundo: Radiology Dr George Savulich: Psychiatry Dr Shashi Singh: Geography Dr Saša Šviković: Biology Dr Qian Wang: Chemistry Dr Carly Whyte: Biology
1869 FELLOW BENEFACTORS
Mr Peter Selman Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE CStJ FRSA FBCS Mr Xiaoyang Xie Lady Julia Olisa
JUNIOR MEMBERS’ ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
Professor Paul Dastoor (Michaelmas term) Research Associates Dr Konstantinos Bakis: Engineering Dr Jeongmin Choi: Plant Sciences Dr Yi Ting Chua: Computer Science Dr Paul Coxon: Engineering Mr Léo Cunha Caldeira Mesquita: Materials Science Dr Hannes Gauch: Engineering Dr Safet HadžiMuhamedović: Divinity Dr Alice Ievins: Criminology Dr Adarsh Kaniyoor: Materials Science Dr Panchali Kanvatirth: Pathology Dr Hayley Macpherson: Cosmology Dr Livia Ribeiro de Souza: Engineering
Senior President: Dr Matthew Wingate Senior Vice-President: Dr David Cole Senior Treasurer: Dr Stephen Sawiak
Sadly not a photograph from 2020, but a reminder of the joy of graduations past: we look forward to the return of in-person graduations, just as soon as we can.
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NEW FELLOWS
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MR ROD CANTRILL
DR ROSS HILL
DR ELISA GALLIANO
Mr Rod Cantrill was appointed as the Bursar from 1st October 2020.
Dr Ross Hill is a career development fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology where he studies the consequences of DNA damage for stem cell maintenance and fertility. The main aim of his research is to understand how germ cells (sperm and eggs) maintain the integrity of their DNA and faithfully transmit genetic information to the next generation.
Dr Elisa Galliano is a University Lecturer in Neuroscience in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (PDN). Prior to that, she worked at King’s College London and Harvard University as a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral fellow, and trained at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (PhD in Neuroscience) and University of Pavia (MSc in Neurobiology, BSc Biology). Research in her laboratory focuses on the ways in which the brain responds to incoming stimuli and uses such experiences to flexibly modify itself at a cellular level. This process, called neuronal plasticity, is fundamental, as it is thought to be the molecular basis of behaviours such as network development, learning, memory, and sensory processing.
Rod has over 30 years’ experience from a career in finance and business. He also has a deep knowledge of Cambridge as an alumnus of St Catharine’s College, from his involvement in local politics and as a trustee of Wintercomfort, a Cambridge homeless charity.
Failure to do so can result in the accumulation of germline mutations, which are the foundation of genetic disease and the substrate on which natural selection operates.
NEW BYE-FELLOWS
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DR OLIVER BURTON
DR HOLLY CANUTO
DR JEONGMIN CHOI
Dr Oliver Burton works on integrated routes to 2D material synthesis and subsequent application in device fabrication. Working on the chemical vapour deposition of 2D materials such as graphene, Oliver is using both in-situ and ex-situ characterisation methods to understand how these materials grow and how we can control and utilise contamination levels of certain elements in the catalyst to the advantage of the final 2D film quality. In parallel he is working towards optimising the application of these films after their growth for both research and industry and working on novel repeatable methods of process tolerant 2D material based device fabrication.
Dr Holly Canuto, formerly Fellow, Admissions Tutor (Sciences), Tutor and Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Biology), was appointed as Senior Tutor at St Catharine’s College from Easter Term 2020. She resigned her Fellowship on 3 March 2020, and was appointed to a ByeFellowship from the same date.
Dr Jeongmin Choi is a Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Biological). She is a molecular biologist in the Department of Plant Sciences and studies how plants interact with beneficial microbes. Approximately 80% of land plants associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to gain essential minerals such as phosphorus, thereby representing the most common plant symbiosis on earth. Her research aims to uncover molecular mechanisms of how nutrient levels in soil influence arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. She believes the knowledge gained from her research has the potential to reduce fertiliser input and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
The Journal
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DR JAAKKO HEISKANEN
DR SARAH KOLOPP
DR ARES LLOP NAYA
Dr Jaakko Heiskanen is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies. His primary research interests are centred on the history and theory of international relations, especially the systemic or structural transformation of international orders. He is also interested in the history of nationalism, the politics of identity and difference, and the practice of conceptual history. His PhD dissertation traces the genealogy of ethnicity, focusing on the significance of this concept in the constitution of the modern statessystem. His postdoctoral research project explores the concept of the nomad.
Dr Sarah Kolopp is a political sociologist and an alumna of the French École normale supérieure. She has lived, taught and researched in various places, including Paris (as a Teaching Fellow at Sciences Po Paris), New York (as a visiting fellow at NYU’s Institute for French Studies), Cambridge (at Clare College and Fitz) and Miami. In October 2020 she was appointed to a Lectureship in Political Science at the Sorbonne, Paris. She has therefore resigned her Fellowship but as she is remaining in Cambridge for this academic year she has been appointed to a Bye-Fellowship.
New Batista i Roca Fellow, Dr Ares Llop Naya has extensive experience in higher education teaching and research, having held various academic positions including at the Universitat de Barcelona, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and at Cardiff University. The main focus of Ares’ research lies in microvariation and linguistic change of the Romance languages, especially Catalan and Pyrenean linguistic varieties. She has explored the mechanisms and acquisition processes underlying both diachronic linguistic change as well as the micro-synchronic variation of unexplored Romance negation systems.
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DR JENNIFER POWELL
DR DUNSTAN ROBERTS
REVD GRAHAM STEVENSON
Dr Jennifer Powell is a Director of Studies for History of Art. She joined Kettle’s Yard in 2013 where she is Head of Collection, Programme and Research. She formally joined the Department of History of Art in October 2017 as a part-time lecturer specialising in modern and contemporary art, but has contributed to teaching as a visiting lecturer since 2013.
Dr Dunstan Roberts is Isaac Newton Trust Teaching Associate in English, Director of Studies for English and teaches several papers in the English Tripos, including Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and Tragedy. His teaching is particularly concerned with the material processes by which texts were created, modified, disseminated, and received.
The Revd Graham Stevenson, Chaplain at Fitzwilliam since October 2019, was appointed to a Bye-Fellowship from 1 October 2020.
At Kettle’s Yard she leads the programming and collection teams, overseeing the exhibitions, research, collection and learning functions. Jennifer studied as an undergraduate and completed her MPhil and PhD at the University of Birmingham. She is a visiting lecturer for Sotheby’s and ICE, Cambridge.
His research examines the social and intellectual history of books during the early modern period. Its aim is to broaden our knowledge of what books people owned, what books they read, and how they read them. At the moment, he is preparing a book-length study of Edward, first Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1582-1648).
Graham trained for Anglican ordination at St Mellitus College in London and served at St Francis’ Church in North Kensington as an Eden Team leader. Interest in academic theology led him to extend his training by completing an MA in Biblical Studies at King’s College London. Alongside his chaplaincy role, Graham is working on a part-time PhD on evolution and Augustine, under the supervision of Andrew Davison and Rowan Williams.
The Journal
COLLEGE STATISTICS
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UNDERGRADUATE STATISTICS
GRADUATE STUDENT STATISTICS
At the beginning of the academical year 2019-20, there were 463 students in residence registered for undergraduate degrees, 252 men, 210 women and 1 undisclosed. Corresponding numbers for 2018/19 were 459, 259 and 200.
In January 2020 there were approximately 326 fulltime graduate students who were part of the College; the total changes throughout the year as, for instance, PhD students are approved for their degrees, and so a ‘snapshot’ is presented.
By Origin Undergraduate Home 362 78.2% EU 28 6.0% Overseas 73 15.8% Total 463
About 39% of the full-time graduate students were from the UK, about 22% from European Union countries, and about 39% from outside the European Union. The graduate student body was about 62% male and 38% female.
In Easter Term 2020, given the exceptional circumstances of this year, the only students formally classed in their Assessments were undergraduate Finalists and graduate students. Scholarships and Prizes were, therefore, only awarded to undergraduate Finalists and (where applicable) graduate students.
Of the full-time graduate students, 57% were either registered as candidates for a PhD or on track to be so registered (185 students), and 32% were undertaking MPhil or other one-year Masters degrees, some as a precursor to studying for a PhD. Other full-time students were in medical or veterinary studies (32 students), undertaking other courses such as those leading to PGCE or LLM, or at the Judge Institute working for an MBA.
The total number of students awarded Firsts was 70. It was agreed that in the interests of consistency we would define ‘Finalists’, in this context, as all third- and fourth-year undergraduates receiving classed results, whether graduating or continuing to integrated Masters courses. The results for the Undergraduate finalists in 2019-20: Firsts with Distinction Firsts 2.1 2.2 3 Pass Merit Pass Deserved Honours Ordinary Fail Total
2020 8 50 54 6 0 1 13 1 0 0 133
2019 1 39 59 4 3 5 4 0 0 0 115
There were also 123 part-time graduate students; about 69% male and 31% female; and about 43% UK, 15% EU, and 42% from outside the EU. The largest group was 93 senior Police Officers studying Applied Criminology and Police Management. There were 16 other Master of Studies students, 10 PhD and PhD-track students and 4 students on other courses.
ACADEMIC AWARDS AND PRIZES GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENTSHIPS FOR 2020–2021 Awards for PhD studies Kuok Family – Lee Kuan Yew PhD Scholarship: A. Low (renewal), A. Ng (renewal), Y.R. Tan (renewal) and A. Sobey (renewal). Fitzwilliam College Studentship: H. Kwon (renewal). Stanley Gold PhD Studentship: T. Cochrane, P. Heathcote (renewal). Leathersellers Scholarships: B. Drummond, C. Bodnar, J. Lawrence, A. P. Neto-Bradley (renewal). Awards for Masters studies Fitzwilliam College Masters Studentship: S. Metcalf. Fitzwilliam College Charlton Scholarships: J. Wang, M. Bojko, S. Deka. Fitzwilliam College John Dudding Scholarship: T. Savage. Cambridge UK Masters and Fitzwilliam College Awards: K. Mitchell-Fox, J. Martin. Peter Wilson Estates Gazette Scholarship: G. Hayes, G. Luebkemann. Fitzwilliam College Robert Lethbridge Scholarship: K. Mitchell-Fox. Other Graduate Scholarships Gibson Studentship: T. Horton. Hirst-Player Studentship: R. Walker, T. Wright. Shipley Studentship: T. Janzen.
COLLEGE SENIOR SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2020–2021 S. Ajadi, Y. Andres Jeske, T. Asgarilaleh, H. Bevins, C. Bodnar, W. Buczynski, E. Camarillo Abad, R. Clucas, D. Collins, P. Coppola, E. Danby, E. Daxberger, E. Demir, B. Drummond, S. Edwards, N. Ezra, L. Fahmy, P. Gill, M. Hamouda, P. Heathcote, C. Heffernan, T. Horton, M. Houck, M. Huang, D. Houthwaite, P.S. Ioannou, C.Y. Ip, S.G. Jung, M. Kalyva, K. Kavvadias, D. Kessler, S. Kidwai, R. Kimber, B. Klein, E. Knight, K. Kosmidou, M. Krzyzanska, R. Law, J. Lawrence, S. Lee, D. Liu, R. Liu, Y. Liu, E. Lleshi, A. Low, T. Lunde, H. Mahmood, G. Mavrogiannis, J. McCarthy, H. Mee, C. Mellor, O. Moseley, E. Moutin, A. Ng, S. Ni, C. Okoye, F. Panattoni, J. Pinson, A. Rodriguez-Bazaga, N. Sawhney,
B. Shires, H. Smith, A. Sobey, S. Srivastava, D. Street, Y. Suganuma, K. Suvarna, Y.R. Tan, K. Townsend, X. Wang, L. Wenger, Y. Wu, C. Ye, B. Yildirim, S. Yu, Z. Yu, S. Zhang, X. Zhou, R. Zmigrod. 1912 Senior Scholarships awarded to students who achieved First Class or equivalent A. Allawala (Land Economy); W. Anderson-Samways (HSPS); R. Andrews (Law); H. Balden (History); A. Baston (NST Chemistry); D. Beresford-Wylie (Economics); E. Bertin (NST Zoology); T. Bitterlich (Law); P. Blackshaw (Law); M. Bond [distinction] (Management Studies); H. Bradnock (Geography); E. Brain [distinction] (Geography); G. Breckenridge [distinction] (Geography); J. Campkin (NST Materials Science); T. Carron (MML); D. Chak (Law); F. Day [distinction] (MML); D. Fan (LLM); M. Frey [distinction] (Classics); J. Gamblin [distinction] (Theology); E. Garau (Law); D. Georgiev (Computer Science); T. Gessey-Jones (NST Physics); C. HamdiCherif (NST Materials Science); G. Hayes [distinction] (Geography); B. Haythornthwaite (Clinical Vet); T. Hiram (Land Economy); G. Holmes (MML); V. HopleyJones (HSPS); M. Hugkulstone (NST PDN); M. Islam (NST Pharmacology); K. Kapetanos (NST Pathology); A. Keenan (LLM); I. Leigh (MML); Y. Lim (Land Economy); W. Lockhart (Land Economy); F. Manders (History); R. McNelly (NST Plant Sciences); M. Meju (Medicine); S. Metcalfe [distinction] (Geography); A. Morland (History); M. Nawaz (LLM); R. Nicholas (NST Systems Biology); K. Oei (NST Chemistry); W. Owen (English); E. Paine [distinction] (MML); A. Pavlinek (NST PDN); C. Pearson (NST BBS); A. Preson (NST HPS); L. Reason (History); B. Roberts (NST Zoology); K. Sarmiento (Computer Science); S. Seah (History); I. Smith (English); E. Smyth (PBS); L. Szeto (NST Chemistry); M. von Lany (NST Materials Science); L. Wan (NST Systems Biology); M. Wieczorek (Computer Science); M. Wong (Engineering); W. Xie (NST Pathology); J. Yu (HSPS). Scholarships, awarded to students with First Class or equivalent Elections to scholarships Donald Walker: E. Thursfield (NST Materials Science). Fitzwilliam Society: S. King (Chemical Engineering). S. S. Samra: A. Burns (Mathematics). Re-elections to scholarships Clough: W. Davies, N. McStay, T. Peirce, R. Watts (Mathematics). Wilfred Wilde: S. Peedle (NST Materials
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The Journal Science). Foundation Scholars, who have achieved a First in each Undergraduate-course year W. Anderson-Samways (HSPS); E. Bertin (NST Zoology); F. Day (MML); M. Frey (Classics); T. GesseyJones (NST Physics); M. Islam (NST Pharmacology); Y. Lim (Land Economy); R. McNelly (NST Plant Sciences); K. Oei (NST Chemistry); M. Ord (NST Physics); S. Peedle (NST Materials Science); D. Wong (Engineering); M. Wong (Engineering); W. Xie (NST Pathology).
PRIZES Graduate Tutors’ Prizes for distinction in Masters Degrees
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A. Alderman (Applied Criminology and Police Management), S. Allen (Criminology), R. Aly (Advanced Computer Science), F. Amer (Development Studies), D. Amsnaes (Applied Criminology and Police Management), O. Brakspear (European, Latin American and Comparative Literatures and Cultures), N. Chindasombatcharoen (Economics), S. Dragos (Education), J. Everest (Polar Studies), B. Gapp (Master of Finance), M.R. Haider (Assyriology), O. Hattea (Finance and Economics), T. Howe (Film and Screen Studies), S. Ivanov (Advanced Computer Science), T. Marino (Real Estate Finance), J. Mills (Advanced Subject Teaching) D. Morgan (Advanced Subject Teaching), N.C. Obodoekwe (Advanced Computer Science), J. Pearce (English Studies), I. Scheyd (Film and Screen Studies), R. Sheth (Economics), O. Taylor (Political Thought and Intellectual History), L. Torroba Hennigen (Advanced Computer Science), T. Yndgaard (Applied Criminology and Police Management). Academic Prizes for First Class Results AJ Watson: A. Pavlinek (NST PDN). Audrey Siddall: D. Beresford-Wylie (Economics). A.V. Stachulski: L. Szeto (NST Chemistry). Barbara Humphrey: G. Hayes [distinction] (Geography). Brian Jones: T. Hiram (Land Economy). Burton: Y. Lim, W. Lockhart (Land Economy). Business Fellows: M. Bond [distinction] (Management Studies). Carole Putnam Lowry: D. Georgiev (Computer Science). Cockle: G. Breckenridge [distinction] (Geography). College: A.Keenan, M. Nawaz (LLM); K. Sarmiento (Computer Science). David Pearl: D. Fan (LLM). Dennis Price: T. Carron (MML). Edward Miller: H. Balden (History). Fitzwilliam Engineers’: M. Wong (Engineering IIA (Medic). Gent: M. Meju (Clinical Medicine). Harvey: F. Manders (History). Heather Butcher: E. Smyth (PBS). Houston
Putnam Lowry: T. Bitterlich (Law). Hugh Humphrey: M. Wieczorek (Computer Science). Humphrey: I. Leigh (MML); S. Seah (History). Irving: E. Thursfield (NST Materials Science). Jack Gossage: A. Morland (History). Jean & Arthur Hart: A. Allawala (Land Economy). Johnson-Jary: P. Blackshaw, D. Chak, E. Garau (Law). Kevin Yuen: W. Davies (Mathematics). K.L. Desai: W. Owen (English). Mary Lucking: T. Gessey-Jones (NST Physics). Newton: A. Burns (NST HPS); M. Hugkulstone (NST PDN). O.B. Pask: F. Day [distinction] (MML). Padma Desai: I. Smith (English). Pat Higginbottom: B. Haythornthwaite (Clinical Vet). Paul Cassidy: M. Frey [distinction] (Classics). Peter Wyllie: L. Reason (History). QinetiQ: E. Bertin (NST Zoology); S. King (Chemical Engineering); S. Peedle (NST Materials Science). R.A. Watchman: N. McStay (Mathematics). Rawlins: K. Oei (NST Chemistry). Ray Kelly: G. Holmes (MML). Sir John Stratton: W. Anderson-Samways (HSPS); V. Hopley-Jones (HSPS); R. Nicholas (NST Systems Biology); A. Preston (NST HPS); L. Wan (NST Systems Biology). Skepper: E. Paine [distinction] (MML). Stumbles: R. Watts (Mathematics). Swinburne Senior: B. Roberts (NST Zoology). Thatcher: H. Bradnock (Geography); J. Campkin (NST Materials Science); J. Gamblin [distinction] (Theology, Religion, & Philosophy of Religion); C. Hamdi-Cherif (NST Materials Science); K. Kapetanos (NST Pathology); R. McNelly (NST Plant Sciences); T. Peirce (Mathematics); M. von Lany (NST Materials Science); W. Xie (NST Pathology); J. Yu (HSPS). Trethewey: A. Baston (NST Chemistry); M. Islam (NST Pharmacology). Tom Comfort: E. Brain [distinction] (Geography). Vera Lethbridge: C. Pearson (NST BBS). Wellings: S. Metcalfe [distinction] (Geography). Whitlock: R. Andrews (Law). University and Departmental Prizes Armourers & Brasiers’ Prize and Medal: M. von Lany (NST Materials Science). Cavendish Laboratory Part III Prize: T. Gessey-Jones (NST Physics). George Aldridge Prize: E. Brain; S. Metcalfe (Geography). Microsoft Research Award: T. Gessey-Jones (NST Physics). Teape Prize: J. Gamblin (Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion). William Vaughan Lewis Prize: E. Brain; G. Breckenridge; A. Carter; G. Hayes; S. Metcalfe (Geography). Winifred Georgina Holgate Pollard Memorial Prize: E. Brain (Geography). Music Awards E.D. Davies Open Instrumental Scholarship: L. Crocker. E.D. Davies Music Exhibition: P. Coppola. Swinburne Senior Prize for Music: M. Houck. Avshalom Hertzwolf Saxophone Scholarship: J. Jolley. Yehudi Menuhin Scholarship: G. Bird. Padley Repetiteur Scholarship: P. Riley. Thatcher Music Scholarships: A. Sozanska & T Williamson (Organ Scholarships); A. Birch (Conducting and Musical Leadership Scholarship). E.D. Davies
Choral Scholarship: D. Carter. John Duncan Choral Scholarship: J. Jolley; R. Severy. John Etherton Choral Scholarship: C. McLean. Carolyn and David Keep Choral Scholarship: K. Mulheran; A. Wheatley. Queen Anne’s Choral Scholarships: J. Folley; E. Shaw. In addition, students received support from the E.D. Davies Fund for instrumental or singing lessons, and the Father Brown Chapel Music Fund provided sheet music and individual singing lessons for the Chapel Choir. Other Awards and Prizes Other Prizes Anuradha Bhagwati: J. Peace (MPhil English). Paul Cassidy Progress: R. Krah (Classics). Fitzwilliam Society Stratton: E. Insanally (Economics). John Adams: A. Morland (History). Sir James Holt: F. Manders (History). Bourdeau-Rest: F. Day (MML). Ilsley: J. Gamblin (Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion). William French: A. Baston (NST Chemistry). Gibson: L. Supple (Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion). John & Jenny Duncan: E. Brain (Geography). Fitzwilliam Engineers’ Prize for Progress: H. Allen; C. Attwood; A. Bin Anuar; B. Bristow; M. Burrows; M. Latham; J. Ma; T. Newton; P. Owen; F. Scott; R. Sewell; D. Stylianou; D. Wong (Engineering). Tony Collinssplatt Cup for Music: A. Sozanska (Clinical Medicine). Tony Collinssplatt Cup for Drama: C. McConnaughie (Geography). Other Fitzwilliam Society Awards J.R.W. Alexander Book Awards: D. Fan, J. Griffin, A. Keenan, M. Khan, M. Nawaz. Brewster Prizes (Debating): A. Ng, G. Richmond, T. Andre & S. Watling (Sidney Sussex) (best speakers from the floor). Fitzwilliam Society Milner Walton Awards: E. Beck; A. Birch; B. Goddard. Fitzwilliam Society Research Grants: C. Bodnar; C.W.J. Chan; E. Daxberger; A. Ng; A. Rubio Jimenez; J. Shepherd; L Stephenson; O. Volk; S. Wei; J. Woitischek.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY The following dissertations were listed in the Cambridge University Reporter during the year 2019–2020 as approved for the degree of PhD. A.M.P. Brown: Modelling the relationship between parental behaviour and childhood skill development: empirical evidence from the UK and Canada H.K.A. Chiu: Microfluidic techniques for protein detection and manipulation
H.W. Chiu: Neural word representations for biomedical NLP N.G. Fleet: Mass intellectuality of the neoliberal state: mass higher education, public professionalism and state effects in Chile E.P. Garrison: Graphical pangenomics M. Gritta: Where are you talking about? Advances and challenges of geographic analysis of text with application to disease monitoring W. Guo: Remote sensing characterisation of the foresttundra ecotone S.M.A. Jaulim: Autophagy maintains the homeostatic environment in the male reproductive organs playing a key role in fertility K. Javid: Physical modelling of galaxy clusters and Bayesian inference in astrophysics J. Liu: Low temperature Kerr effect study of magnetic topological insulators and other magnetic structures M.H. Nunes: Leaf and canopy responses to forest degradation and extreme climatic events: a remote sensing perspective S. Onalbaiuly: Democratisation of local government and local governance in Kazakhstan J.A. Rubio-Lara: Interactions between molecules and nanostructures using quartz crystal microbalance D. Runciman: Pastoral care according to the Bishops of England and Wales (c.1170–1228) D.A.B. Shaw: The ‘apocalyptic’ Paul: an analysis and critique with reference to Romans 1–8 J.W. Smith: Measurement of the CKM angle γ and development of a novel, combined GGSZ analysis of B→D(*)h(*) decays at LHCb M.E. Strauss: Bayesian modelling and sampling strategies for ordering and clustering problems with a focus on nextgeneration sequencing data A.R.W. Taylor: Future-proofing the digital world: data centre security and the threats of electromagnetic pulse and space weather Y. Wang: Model-based experimental investigation of hydrogenase-like electrocatalytic inactivation and activation mechanisms
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The Journal
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR
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BACH PROJECT COMPLETED Fellow in Music Francis Knights has finished the last of 21 recitals performing the complete keyboard works of Bach, which has taken three and a half years and involved learning some 300,000 notes. This is the first ever complete series of these works on the clavichord, the most common domestic keyboard instrument of 18th century Germany. The project also generated about a dozen conference papers and articles related to organology, stylistic development and performance practice. Last year Francis finished a 30-concert cycle of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and he is now working on a series of programmes of German keyboard music from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
THE FOUNDATION LECTURE: FROM THE HIMALAYAS TO THE FENS Bhaskar Vira, Fitzwilliam College Fellow, Graduate Tutor and Director of Studies in Geography, gave the 2019 Foundation Lecture ‘From the Himalayas to the Fens: Towards a Political Economy of Environment and Development’ in November. The Professor of Political Economy, Head of the Department of Geography, and Founding Director of the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute shared his thoughts about the difficult choices and trade-offs associated with balancing the needs of humans and nature, and working towards a sustainable future for people and the planet.
GREEN IMPACT AWARD Fitzwilliam College was awarded a 2019-20 Green Impact Gold Colleges Award for demonstrating commitment to reducing our environmental impact. Green Impact is the University of Cambridge’s environmental accreditation scheme. It supports and encourages colleges and departments across the University in reducing their environmental impacts. Hero Chalmers, Fitzwilliam College Fellow Environmental Officer, said: “The work that went into achieving this started long before we began the formal process of working towards the award. Many individuals and departments in College have been embedding more environmentally sustainable practices for years and this award is a splendid acknowledgement of that work.”
TRADEWINDS, SUSAN STOCKWELL
A NEW ROLE FOR NICKY PADFIELD Life Fellow and former Master of Fitzwilliam College Nicky Padfield is the new Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. Nicky said: “My immediate priority is to listen. This is a new role, and before we can develop a defined ’strategy’ on EDI matters we must listen hard to staff and students and evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We need too to work hard to keep communicating our existence, reminding all staff, students, and committees that the Faculty aims to be fully committed to improving our equality and diversity and inclusion culture and practices.”
BLOOMING FLOWERS “The bright yellow of a marigold and the cheerful red of a geranium, the evocative fragrance of a lotus or a saffron-infused paella—there is no end of reasons to love flowers. Ranging through the centuries and across the globe, Kasia Boddy looks at the wealth of floral associations that has been passed down in perfumes, poems, and paintings; in the design of buildings, clothes, and jewelry; in songs, TV shows, and children’s names; and in nearly every religious, social, and political ritual.” (Yale Books) We gave a flavour of Fitz Fellow, Kasia’s work on 1st May: https:// www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/news/may-dayflowers
MIGRANT KNOWLEDGE, EARLY MODERN AND BEYOND Migrant Knowledge, Early Modern and Beyond, took place at Kettle’s Yard and Fitzwilliam College in September 2019. It was convened by Fitzwilliam Fellow Subha Mukherji, as well as Rowan Williams, Natalya Din-Kariuki and Carla Suthren. People, things, ideas and languages have crossed borders since the earliest of times. Such passages have entailed epistemic shifts and encounters, transactions and transformations. A Crossroads of Knowledge initiative, this public event brought together scholars, artists and activists to think about migration and what it does with, and to, knowledge.
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FROM THE CHAPLAIN
It’s almost inconceivable that it was only a year ago that we invited - and packed into Chapel - around twenty visitors from our sister College, St Edmund Hall, for a wonderful joint Choral Evensong, followed by dinner together. That visit was in early February 2020 and so dated BCE (Before COVID Era). Well into the CE, Easter Term 2020 was quite unlike any other term before it, with students who had left for vacation not returning to residence in College and with learning and assessment online. The chaplaincy also went online, with pastoral conversations via video link and a new series of ‘Thought from the Chaplain’ videos uploaded to Youtube, alongside some video interviews by the Chaplain of students making a difference.
With the arrival of Michaelmas Term, it was a joy to be able to welcome freshers and returning students, including at actual inperson gatherings (formally risk assessed and physically distanced). The Chaplain’s start of term drinks party became the hottest ticket going and even the incessant drizzle didn’t put off attendees for this outdoor gathering. At the start of term, services also had to be ticketed because the socially distanced choir left room for just six congregation members. Later in term, these faithful few were completely excluded when tightened restrictions meant we were not allowed a congregation at all. Instead, newly installed recording equipment meant that Sunday services could find a new audience (a dispersed congregation, if you pardon the oxymoron) via the new Chapel YouTube channel.
The Chapel Choir, ably led by the Director of Music, Catherine Groom, and accompanied by our wonderful Organ Scholars, have adjusted superbly and the videos of services online are well worth watching on their account alone. This year has been challenging for all members of Fitzwilliam: students, Fellows, staff and alumni. I’m grateful to all who support me in my role and the aims of the chaplaincy to encourage and care for all members of our College, in good times and bad. Graham Stevenson Chaplain
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The Chaplain has led the way with impressive video editing and a rapid move to online services and reflections. You can watch all of Graham’s videos on YouTube - click on the pictures to get a taste.
The Journal
FROM THE LIBRARIAN
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Here’s a brief résumé of how we maintained library service provision for our residents and for those who needed us from a distance in the difficult year that 2020 turned out to be. Such uncertainty was the first major emotion. On the 19th March I was advising students that we intended to be open throughout the vacation. On the 20th I was advised that we would be staying open, but by 24th, it was definite, we had to close. Due, or rather, thanks to one particular graduate student having personal computer difficulties, it was decided that with appropriate rules and behaviours, our 2 computer suites would be allowed to stay open. They remained so throughout lockdowns after our IT staff had disabled a suitable amount of them so that users had to maintain socially distanced working practices. They were well-used – keeping these rooms open was definitely a good decision that was appreciated by those who have been here all along. Apart from that, all of our services were to be requested, discovered and delivered online. Tracey our
Library Assistant was on furlough, so I lost my companion and sounding board and I worked from home for the first few weeks. At first there was a lot of searching for electronic information, not easily findable by the average student, with varying levels of success. But as many other librarians were also working online, in Cambridge, the UK and beyond, little nuggets of success emerged to keep my spirits up. I learned a fair bit, discovered new resources and was able to guide students to discover their subject resources in Cambridge and beyond. I felt appreciated and I also enjoyed email conversations with students who had escaped home to far-flung places, and was happy to explore and find articles in previously undiscovered resources. It might have been a tricky and emotionally unsettling time, but new discoveries and connections meant it was also a time for learning and the rewards of achievement in spite of the situation! Scan and Deliver, Click and Collect, book recommendations and purchases have all been provided and gradually the return to work meant I have reclaimed my dining room – well almost! Throughout, there has been a great deal of mutual librarian support from colleges, departmental and faculty librarians and from the UL. Very early on the ebooks@ cambridge team issued a form so that we could all recommend ebooks for purchase, and all college librarians continued sharing details of what they were doing, learning and supplying. Lone working at home became quite a companionable place. Regular
encouraging bulletins “from the top” helped with feelings of isolation with the Vice-Chancellor and the University Librarian keeping us all up to date. College Librarians met regularly via Teams and College staff via Zoom – another learning opportunity which provided welcome face to face communications. From the early days, planning for safe re-opening started and the digital library community provided a wealth of information on all aspects. Attending online seminars, I learned how they delivered kerbside services in Wisconsin (wearing lots of PPE) and quarantined returned books in Denmark, but the best was “How to reopen your toilets” with advice from the Manager of the National Arboretum Visitor Centre! It was a long summer of preparation for re-opening and for Michaelmas Term: investigating, planning, re-planning, consultation, further re-planning etc.etc.. Thankfully our large building, beautifully designed, has offered nearly 100 study spaces which comply with social distancing rules and so we have been able to open without a restrictive booking system. Our fantastic housekeeping team have delivered a thorough service to keep us all safe and so we have been able to be open from 9.30 a.m. until 2 a.m. Freshers’ induction to library services sessions had to change from hands-on in a temporary computer training room with up to 16 students for 30 minutes at a time, to brief socially distanced
talks (through a mask and visor) showing how they can use their phones as bespoke search engines to locate books in iDiscover, the University wide resource and library management system. I learned how to make videos of myself passing on information – though there was a lot of trial and error (and time) involved on that one! So although it has been a difficult time, we have kept a service going throughout it, learning safer, better ways of doing things that our users need, and a whole lot more besides. New skills have been acquired, patience has been tried, and plans have come to fruition. Exams have been passed, theses have been submitted, new students have arrived and settled into Fitz. Successes have been celebrated. Now we’ll ALL keep going, learning and developing, growing new skills and relationships and appreciating each other – as we’ll need to, until we all get through this time of restrictions, regulations and (still) uncertainty. So, challenging and tough for everyone but opportunities for change and improvement are always there and if you approach with a positive attitude and a convincing smile, no one will know how hard it might have been. Chris RobertsLewis Librarian
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MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR
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RUGBY TRIUMPH
CUSU DISABILITY OFFICER
HEDGEHOGS
For the first time in 38 years, Fitzwilliam’s men’s rugby union side won the College Division One title, just before the first lockdown began.
Rensa Gaunt (MML 2015) was voted in as CUSU Disabled Students’ Officer and started her new role in summer 2020, after graduating from Fitzwilliam College.
Laura Frost (Veterinary Medicine 2003), a veterinary surgeon at Wood Green, The Animals Charity, returned to Fitzwilliam College to rehome baby hedgehogs she had hand-reared back to health. Laura has looked after 15 hedgehogs at her home in Cambridge.
Fitz pair up with Sidney Sussex in the competition, but make up the majority of the team who were crowned champions for the first time since 1982, after Caius conceded ahead of the final scheduled match. Captain William Lockhart said: “It was a feeling of elation and a bit of relief. We knew it would come down to two games just after Christmas, against Downing and Johns, and it was pretty pleasing to come out of those with wins.”
In her new role, Rensa wants to secure the future of the Disability Resource Centre and University Counselling Service, as well as push for continuous and linkedup curriculum, exam and welfare reform. “I’d also like to increase awareness of mental health conditions as a disability that legally require the University, faculties and colleges to make adjustments,” she adds.
Fitzwilliam College has a growing population of hedgehogs. The gardens provide an ideal habitat for them, with a lot of low-growing shrubs and great biodiversity of insects for them to eat. Steve Kidger, Head Gardener at Fitzwilliam College, has worked hard to establish a hedgehog friendly habitat, including log piles, hog hotels and feeding stations in the gardens. He has also eliminated use of pesticides.
THE ESG POLICY
BLACK AT FITZ
FITZ EVENTS LAUNCH
In November 2019, Fitzwilliam adopted new investment principles prioritising environmental, social and governance behaviour as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability. Protection of the global environment, promotion of human rights and promotion of good business ethics and employment practices are fundamental tenets of the policy, which was developed following a series of consultations involving students, Fellows, alumni members and staff of the College.
Fitz JCR BME Officers, Leona Renard Kouame (HSPS 2019) and Tolu Mustapha (Law 2019), launched Black at Fitz in October 2020, during Black History Month, to highlight the experiences of Black students at Fitzwilliam College.
In October 2019, an exclusive event was held at Fitzwilliam to celebrate the official launch of our conference and events offering – Fitz Events.
Since 2016, the College has not invested directly in high impact fossil fuels, tobacco manufacturers, or weapons manufacturers. In placing ESG principles at the heart of the College’s investment policy, indirect investments in these areas will also be minimised and kept under constant review.
Black at Fitz is a digital archive of interviews with Fitz alumni, and is available on YouTube and Instagram (www.instagram.com/ blackatfitz).
Guests were shown around our wonderful conference and meeting facilities thanks to personal tours from the Events team. Alumnus and Fitzwilliam Fellow surgeon Kourosh Saeb-Parsy undertook a thorough presentation of the range of events that can be offered at the College and his many positive experiences in hosting events at Fitzwilliam over the years.
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TALKS & LECTURES
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POLITICS AND SOCIETY: THE THORNY ISSUES Fitzwilliam hosted its first “Fresh Thinking at Fitz” event in October 2019, featuring Dame Louise Casey and Charles Clarke in discussion with the Master. Dame Louise spoke passionately about issues ranging from ASBOs to the impact of education, as well as her time as the deputy director of Shelter and head of the Rough Sleepers’ Unit. Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke primarily discussed the big issues that politicians find difficult to solve. He explained some of the barriers to those in government, no matter the political persuasion, including dealing with groups who might have vested interests and navigating legal constraints when implementing solutions to problems.
BART VAN ES
ARROL ADAM LECTURE
In November 2019 Bart van Es (English 1991) gave a talk about his 2018 Costa Book of the Year, The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found to the Literary Society. The Cut Out Girl is a work of creative non-fiction that depicts the life of a Jewish girl in hiding during World War II in The Netherlands.
Fellow and multi award-winning plant scientist Professor Giles Oldroyd gave the annual Arrol Adam lecture in July 2020.
Professor van Es is currently Professor of English Literature; Fellow and Senior Tutor at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.
This was our first lecture delivered over Zoom, and Giles spoke on the topic, “How beneficial associations in plants can drive sustainable food production.”
‘THIS HOUSE BELIEVES CANCEL CULTURE HAS GONE TOO FAR...’ On 6 November 2020, the Fitzwilliam College Debating Society held a Zoom debate on the motion ‘This House believes that cancel culture has gone too far’. Hosted by George Richmond, the debate was wide-ranging and thought-provoking. The motion was passed by 12 for with 8 against. You can watch some of the Society’s debates here: https://www.youtube. com/channel/UCxF_lJlRuhoHoWHXmMfyGw
DEVOLUTION: LESSONS FROM COVID
RUNNING ACROSS AMERICA AND ADDICTION
In November 2020, Andy Burnham (English 1988), the Mayor of Greater Manchester, joined the Master via Zoom for an informal talk about devolution, COVID, and how it feels to be the ‘King of the North’.
Talking about his struggles with addiction is an important part of Greg Nance’s latest challenge: to run 3,000 miles across the United States, from New York to Seattle, creating a documentary film to raise awareness of America’s addiction epidemic, and boost mental health support.
You can watch the talk back here: https://youtu.be/93YemOrCwwY
In November 2020, Greg (MPhil Management 2011) shared his story as part of our Fresh Thinking at Fitz series. You can watch the talk back here: https://youtu.be/i55yQxOdtJU
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President Andrew Salkeld Vice President Apriya Millan
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Secretary & Communications Executive Kesavan Sivanesan Treasurer Mayuran Visakan Welfare Executives Beth Brown and Tom Noden Academic Affairs Executive Priya Kaler Target and Access Jack Bailey (Executive), Ayan Addow and Tami Briggs Ents’ Ben Tudor (Executive), Hassan Akhter, Daisy Green, Craig Stewart and Elizabeth Torley Ethical Affairs Executive Alexandra Nikolin Class Act Officer Kirstie Goodchild Women’s and Non-Binary Officer Alex Jarvis Website Officer Daniel Carter Publications Officer Joanna Neve International Officers Stefan Vintila and Dana Skotarenko BME Officers Tolu Mustapha and Leona Kouame LGBT+ Officer Maisie Matthews Charities Officer Hebe Robinson Green Officers Ellie Fox and Tomas Andre Services Officer Etien Jasonson Disabilities and Mental Illness Officer Cerian Craske
FROM THE JCR PRESIDENT The JCR Committee has pulled the Fitz community together through these tough times. Every member of the committee approached every challenge and opportunity with passion, excitement and ambition; they cannot be praised highly enough for all the effort that they have put in this year to help the Fitz community adapt to the new COVID era.
WELFARE Our Welfare Executives, Beth Brown and Tom Noden worked tirelessly throughout the year to ensure that our welfare provision has been vastly improved from previous years, paying dividends once COVID struck. Michaelmas 2019 saw the introduction of some new welfare events including weekly virtual welfare tea and Week Five care packages. The ‘Great Fitzish Bakeoff ’ saw each flat that took part being provided with the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, this was a fun (and delicious!) event. During Lent, the welfare team did library sweeps and weekly drop-ins, the latter of which continued virtually throughout Easter term. A Pen Pal scheme with sister college Teddy Hall was set up in Easter Term. Welfare yoga moved to a virtual event that continued to be enjoyed by many. In addition to virtual welfare yoga, the welfare team ran multiple movie nights throughout the first lockdown. International officers Stefan Vintila and Dana Skotarenko worked hard to run successful socials, including an entertaining cooking night. Alongside this, LGBT+ officer Maisie Matthews arranged a LGBT+ bop. Both events were enjoyed by those who attended. We
look forward to bringing the Good Lad Initiative to Fitz, courtesy of the gratefully received Fitzwilliam Society grant, which we hope will be effective in avoiding a ‘lad culture’ brewing in the Freshers.
CAMPAIGNS The JCR and I are pleased to have a number of successful campaigns to our name. Alongside the Bursar, we worked to keep the rent increase below the maintenance loan increase, and to continue to provide a wider availability of lower-cost rooms. Beth Brown, Tom Noden and I worked through important improvements to the sexual misconduct and harassment procedures. We presented to College structural issues and specific issues in the current procedures, and have been engaging with the Senior Tutor to ensure that these are rewritten to be fit for purpose. This year saw the restarting of the Equality and Diversity group, which is taking a holistic view of all parts of College life and operation. We took a particular interest here in the role of Tutors and in combating racial bias. During Freshers’ Week, BME officers Tolu Mustapha and Leona Kouame, alongside Tami Briggs (JCR and BME Campaign Access Officer), organised the first anti-racism workshops to be led by a professional for all of the incoming Freshers.
TARGET AND ACCESS The hard work of the Target and Access team (Jack Bailey, Ayan Addow and Tami Briggs) is felt by students, and we welcomed one of our most diverse Fresher intakes. They continued the efforts of the previous Target and Access team in working on Inside Uni, a platform of freely available advice and information about Cambridge, designed for Access audiences – we are proud that Fitz’s students are prominent contributors to the website. Fitz participated once again in the CUSU shadowing scheme in Lent.
HEDGEHOGS & ROOMS Hedgehogs have once again become a symbol of Fitz. Overseen by the Ethical Affairs Executive (Alexandra Nikolin), there has been a resurgence in interest in hedgehog rehabilitation. Good use of the gardens has been made throughout the year by all college members, as many more events have been based outside. A successful plant sale was organized at the end of October. Work on bringing together the housing ballot was taxing for Vice-President Apriya Millan. Higher Fresher numbers and the well-needed D, E and F block refurbishment made it a bigger challenge to organise.
ENTS The Ents Officers were creative in coming up with new types of events given the current restrictions. Freshers Week saw the socially distanced ‘Groove on the Grove’, a quiz and a treasure hunt which resulted in Freshers donning their best Great Gatsby costumes and posing around College. Freshers move-in was an experience made much smoother by the induction of around 30 Freshers’ Reps. Indefatigable work from the Ents team (Ben Tudor, Hassan Akhter, Daisy Green, Craig Stewart and Elizabeth Torley) throughout the year has led to some very enjoyable events. Back in Lent, another sellout Fitz Up Look Sharp event was held which is always a highlight of the year for many, and there was a brandnew Mario Kart Tournament which proved to be very competitive and popular. Before the sports season was brought to a premature end, Fitz celebrated success across the wide spectrum that is our sporting prowess. In Lent Term, the men’s rugby team reached the final of Cuppers, which was unfortunately cancelled, with both teams sharing the honours. The enforced postponements of the Cuppers events meant Fitzwilliam’s footballers did not get a chance to win for a fourth straight year, and the cricketers did not get the opportunity to go for five in a row. Nevertheless, Fitz currently holds the men’s rugby union, football and cricket cups. The women’s netball team won the Division One title for the first time in recent memory, the athletics team claimed Cuppers and the mixed hockey team emerged victorious in ‘Supercuppers’ against Oxf*rd’s best college team. Our women’s football team thrashed the team from St Edmund Hall, our sister college from the Cotswolds. On the water, Fitz enjoyed a successful Lent Bumps campaign. In Easter, along with the rest of university life moving online, May Bumps became a virtual campaign with each member of the crew running 800 metres a day (though smashing boats together on the Cam is much more enjoyable). Michaelmas 2020 was a term of much planning and preparation for Fitz’s sports teams, with most sports able to restart in some capacity before Lockdown 2. Freshers, keen to try something new and meet people beyond their corridor, took to the water in novice crews.
FITZEROO! The requirement for some international students to quarantine upon arrival in the country presented a fresh set of challenges at the start of Michaelmas. With around 45 undergraduate students quarantining it was a massive organisational task to ensure that they were fully supported throughout the period. Each student was assigned a virtual supporter who helped to make
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Clockwise from top left: JCR Committee prepare for the arrival of Freshers 2020; Rainbows over Fitz, Natasha Huang; Beth Brown (Welfare Exec) prepares Fitzmas goodie bags for JCR members to collect in Michaelmas 2020.
sure that the prospect of quarantining was a little less daunting and much easier. For Michaelmas, the JCR organised supporters for isolating households who could not source their own. At our peak, we had around 50 supporters tending to almost 100 isolators’ needs: a huge community operation involving the formation of ‘Fitzeroo’ to deliver buttery meals and ‘Fitz Parcel Force’. Particular thanks for this must be levelled at Beth Brown and Tom Noden, whose help in establishing this was crucial, and the supporters who signed up are deserving of our respect and recognition.
I would like to thank all remaining members of the JCR that have not already been mentioned; their efforts over the past year have not gone unappreciated. I give my best wishes to my successor Joshan Parmar and the next JCR Committee: Fitz is full of fantastic people, and it is the greatest privilege to work with them, represent them, and support the thriving community of Fitz. Andrew Salkeld Fitzwilliam JCR President 2019-20
MCR COMMITTEE 2019-20
FROM THE MCR PRESIDENT
President Maurits Houck
A seemingly innocent MCR Karaoke Night on Thursday. Very close MCR elections on Friday. Two metre distance and the Handover Formal cancelled on Saturday. Within just two days everything turned upside down and a gloomy thought settled on us that 2020 may become a very difficult year. From the first day for me as MCR President everything was the unprecedented.
Vice-President Conor Heffernan Secretary Phoebe Heathcote Treasurer Harkeerit Kalsi Academic Officer Neha Moharir Environmental Officer Yair Perry Access Officer Eduardo Camarillo Abad Welfare Officers Valeria Zambianchi and Kethan Suvarna Technical Officer Erik Daxberger Social Secretaries Yaiza Andrés, Sana Kidwai, Jason Van Schijndel and Georgie Ward
Earlier, the year had started full of optimism about the new 20-ies decade. Dressed like the “Great Fitzby”, we celebrated the new decade with a roaring twenties “A night we won’t remember with people we can’t forget” formal and party. Midway through term, we hosted an intercollegiate Auditorium BOP with Trinity, Newnham and Corpus. The musical and creative talents within the MCR were shown off in the traditional Graduate Salon. We had a hugely successful Heritage Night, a potluck with food from all over the world. Little did we know that all this would be a complete taboo a few months later. It was the last weekend of Lent Term that everything changed. The coronavirus pandemic had reached the UK. All students, postgrads usually staying over the Easter break in Fitz, were urged
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The Journal to go home. There was no time for proper goodbyes; the mid-year point later turned out to be the end of their time physically in Cambridge for most one-year Masters students. Some PhD students, some of them veterans who had been at Fitz for 7 years or more including undergrad, had to finish their almost decade in Fitz in silence. It was heartbreaking for many. Plans and policies changed by the day, sudden press conferences with ambiguous government guidance followed by emergency student rep meetings and lengthy emails. The value of the MCR became apparent yet again. As link between COVID guidance and the student body, we all stood in solidarity with each other following the same tough restrictions to “flatten the curve”. The MCR provided mental welfare support and, for those quarantined in the “sick bay” block, quarantine support. We also “adopted” the few JCR students that were left behind. The mission was “Fitz Isolate Together”. Fitzwilliam quickly found the right balance between battling COVID spread and maintaining mental health.
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For those not in Cambridge anymore, with everyone now spread out over the world, it was challenging to stay in touch with the community. Those for whom Cambridge is their home all year around, life literally took place within the four walls of their bedrooms. The MCR was closed for 104 days. With the committee we did the best we could by creating an “Easter Term Not Cancelled” term card. Canada, Australia, and the UK on the same call became a regular thing, as were the weird situations of events online. All brushing your teeth together on a Zoom call, an online Grove platform, cooking competitions not based on tastiness, imposter games, and pub quizzes. Our Fitz Diary - every week a couple of contributions by MCR students, updating the others on their lockdown lives - will be an amazing
memory for later. Online-everything was not easy. Bear in mind that everyone still wrote their thesis, research or alternative (48 hour, which is two all-nighters) exams. As the weather improved over Easter Term, every small relaxation in restrictions (meeting outside in groups of 6!?) was followed by an eruption of creative ideas. Initiatives were set up that were never thought of before. We probably had the first Formal Dinner on the lawn in Cambridge and we organised open air cinemas with a movie projected on the Grove building. Friday Happy Hours on the lawn became a well known concept. The allotments revived, making Fitz almost self-sustainable during the lockdown. At the end of summer we could even organise a distanced “Survivors Formal” in the dining hall again. It was good to see the coffeeshop and buttery staff back after so long and to have this opportunity to say goodbye to the few students that had remained until the end. These were emotional goodbyes: the lockdown really created tight friendships. Time for the new cohort. Their welcome into the MCR went a bit different than normal: a pre-arrival Q&A session over Zoom; upon arrival two weeks of quarantine - the welfare officers had their hands full with a massive logistical operation of support volunteers and welfare packages; a two metre distance half-face to half-face meeting (masks); Wednesday swabbing day; and ultimately the awkwardness of not recognising someone’s face without a mask. All in all, a challenge to form a tight cohort in welcome week. COVID restrictions over welcome week resulted in activities being duplicated and spread out over multiple weeks instead of one week. A large welcome week committee helped to deliver the most intense welcome
week term card: a daily quarantine programme, a photoshopped matriculation photo, three matriculation formals with not entirely exactly the same speeches, nightly walks with drinks stations, PhD new meets old, subject based online meet and greets, almost every household went punting, and mainly countless hot chocolate drinks in groups of 6 underneath the big chapel tree, which also brought us shelter in case of rain. Many cold nights on the lawn followed. Every action needed to be risk assessed, coordinated by the vicepresident. One week we found an optimal COVID restrictions window, which is to date the only time the committee has been physically together: we had our first in person committee meeting and an “Election Formal” with the old and new committees. One of my best memories. A week later we stayed up the whole night in the MCR to watch Trump’s loss (or “victory”!?) in the US elections, in groups of 6. The Fitz Christmas Carols congregation, with every year recurring music and traditions, was a moving moment of togetherness, a real anchor point connecting past and present making us realise how absurd the situation is and how lucky we are with the warm cloak that the Fitz family offers us. A unique Christmas followed, for those stuck “Home Alone” in Cambridge. On Christmas Day we had boardgames, a Christmas Dinner that was cooked on the MCR BBQ and 2 hotplates by our very own “parttime chef ” PhD student, and a movie projected, all in the Dining Hall. New Years Eve was celebrated outside with the London surprise fireworks show projected on the Grove building. Besides the day to day running of the MCR, we also continued work of previous committees on more long
term improvement and development of the MCR. The tech officer and treasurer worked on making the MCR rooms even more homely, also with the help of Fitzwilliam Society funding. The academic officer and graduate office organised a multitude of grad conferences which could be attended online from your bed from anywhere in the world. The crises of 2020 yet again show how valuable an interdisciplinary collegiate community is. With the help of the academic, access and environmental officers we educated each other about Black Lives Matter, journalism, and urgent climate issues. With the secretary’s newly formatted bulletins on our MCR website we hope to ever connect more and more students within the MCR, including students here with their family and part time MSt students in Criminology and Sustainability Leadership. At the moment of writing we have had almost “one year of COVID”. In fact we are now at the most precarious moment of it all. Many things, some even as simple as meeting people in person, have not happened this year. But good things are also born, such as virtually accessible open days, a Zoom live podcast interview series with alumni young and old, more use of the beautiful gardens, closer household friend groups and Microsoft Teams. The good sides of Fitz as a college were unveiled. Our traditionally strong community, as one of the oldest and most social MCRs, the down to earth and people focused character, the family feeling of staff and students, and the flexibility we have as a relatively young college help us to get through this in a way that has not been left unnoticed by the wider Cambridge community. To me and many others, Fitzwilliam became a safe, familiar, and warm home above all. Looking ahead, we should never forget to foster this
From the early Formals of Michaelmas 2019, to the careful adherence to 2-metre socialising...
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and remain cautious for the effects of Brexit on the international character of the MCR and the effects of the dire financial climate on being able to keep graduate housing, so at the core of our community, at a respectable 2020+ quality level. On the other hand, the strong and social MCR community will grow in being a place of widening participation, much needed interdisciplinary academic exchange, and sustainability leadership. For me, my year as MCR President is almost over. Its end exactly coincides with one year of COVID restrictions, and with a bit of optimism we will then have had the worst parts behind us. It is sad to have missed so many traditions and to have not been able to meet people in person. But it is an even bigger honour to have served this community through such historic times with such people. I am moved by all the strength, loyalty, and motivation of everyone around to contribute to a better Fitz. The large support volunteer network from every corner of the MCR community. The MCR members who look after COVID patients in the hospital or help in processing tests overnight. The college staff that always puts students first. All the online college meetings. Bursar Andrew Powell who retired after 11 years, in the midst of it all. The close collaboration with Sue, Suzy, and Alan - they worked so hard for every student. And most dearest to me the committee and its perseverance. Both MCR elections were well contested and with record voter turn-outs. We have become such a nice group, and also great friends. If
we can achieve this all in such times of pressure, what all can’t we achieve in normal times? This year has been sad for all of us, but we can only be very proud of each and everyone. 2020 has formed us. We still have Lent Term to go, but I know I am going to miss my time as president and miss everything we have not been able to do. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and I hope that someday we will make up for this and meet each other all (finally) in person at a reunion formal sitting shoulder to shoulder, with plenty to talk about. We will never forget. Maurits Houck MCR President 2020-2021
SPORTS AND SOCIETIES IT WAS A BITTERSWEET YEAR FOR SPORT AT FITZ WITH STRONG TEAMS ACROSS MULTIPLE SPORTS MANOEUVRING THEMSELVES INTO STRONG POSITIONS BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC BROUGHT THE SPORTING SEASON TO AN EARLY CONCLUSION. The standout teams this year were undoubtedly the Ladies’ Netball Club and the Men’s Rugby Club, who were jointly awarded the prize of Fitz Team of the Year. Both teams had progressed as far as it was possible for them to do so in their Cup competitions before the suspension of the season, alongside also securing their respective Division One titles, in the case of the Rugby club this was for the first time since the 1980s. Fitz Athletics Club were also standout performers of 2020, securing the Athletics Cuppers title for the first time ever, the club captain puts this down to having the highest turnout of any college with a multitude of students competing in any and all events to accumulate points for Fitz.
The Football Club experienced mixed success this year, the Men’s 1st XI continued their unbeaten run in the league, now stretching over two seasons, positioning themselves effectively joint top with Churchill in the Premier League and ready to defend their Cuppers trophy in the final against Queen’s before the suspension of the season. The Ladies Football Club, despite a quarter final Cuppers exit inflicted by the same Pembroke side that ended their run a year earlier, secured promotion to Division One for next season. Both the Men’s 2nd and 3rd XI suffered relatively early Cup exits with the 2nd team agreeing to relegation from Division Two with one game left to play in the season and the 3rds retaining their place in Division Five. It was a positive year for the Titz (Trinity-Fitz) Hockey Club, winning the College hockey league in Michaelmas 2019, before going on to win ‘Supercuppers’- a oneoff match between the winners of the Oxford and Cambridge
College leagues - in emphatic style, triumphing 9-1 over their Oxford counterparts. Other Cup competitions were sadly cancelled due to the pandemic, including Titz’s Cuppers final against Jesus College. The nascent Fitz Basketball team met up an hour a week to train together and often played games in the College basketball league on the weekends. Their Cup run in Lent Term 2020, however, was abruptly interrupted. The story was the same for Fitz’s Lacrosse team whose Cup competition was postponed once for weather and then again for the pandemic after they had secured their promotion into the Second Division. Fitz Boat Club only had the chance to compete in one Bumps event last year but recorded an amazing week which saw the club field four boats and rise six places overall in the Lent Bumps Campaign coming 4th in the Marconi cup. W1 bumped three times to move to the highest position (12th) that W1 has been
Ladies Football Team. Photo: Priya Kaler
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The Journal in Lent Bumps since racing in 8s began. M1 and M2 both ended +1 overall while W2 rowed in Lent Bumps for the first time since 2011 and bumped twice without reply. Fitz’s Ultimate Frisbee team competed in College Leagues in both Lent and Michaelmas and put in a good performance in the indoor Cuppers in Lent. The Mixed Netball team retained its position in the Second Division but missed out on the chance to compete in the Cuppers tournament that was scheduled for Easter Term. And tragically, the Fitz Cricket team were robbed of their chance to extend their four-year run of Cuppers titles that was also scheduled for the Easter Term. FITZ’S VIBRANT SOCIETIES SCENE ALSO FACED DISRUPTION THIS LAST YEAR, THOUGH IN MANY CASES WERE ABLE TO MOVE THEIR EVENTS ONLINE IN WAYS THAT THE SPORTS CLUBS COULD NOT.
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Once again, the Fitzwilliam College Music Society has enjoyed an active and memorable year of music-making. The informal student recitals each Monday evening showcased an eclectic mix of student-led performances in a welcoming and relaxed setting; these recitals brought together students, Fellows and friends for
musical pleasure and engaging conversation. This was alongside the perennially popular Graduate Salons, and Gin & Jazz evenings featuring music from Fitz Swing. Throughout the year, various students performed in a more traditional concert format. Theo Williamson, Pierre Riley, and Rebecca Severy, along with Director of Music Catherine Groom all presented entertaining evenings. During Michaelmas 2019, Fitzwilliam College hosted some exceptional soloists. Percussionist Rosie Bergonzi and saxophonist Joe Steele provided an evening of music devised through improvisation and collaborative composition, inspired by non-Western musical traditions, while pianist Steven Osborne gave an incredible performance of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented plans for the Easter Term from coming to fruition, most notably the cancellation of the annual FCMS Garden Party and unavoidable postponement of the Fitzwilliam Chamber Opera’s production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Activities from Michaelmas 2020 will be coverered in the next Journal, but a sneak preview can be seen on the Fitz Music YouTube channel, here: https://bit.ly/3azIWwf
The Fitz Sirens began the 201920 academic year with recruiting an almost entirely new cohort of singers, meaning they quickly had to get to grips with singing together for May Ball Auditions – none of which took place! In Michaelmas Term they performed at the Fitz Winter Wonderland, as well as Selwyn Snow Ball, and then continued to work on new material as well as some classics for a concert with the Fitz Barbershop: Academic 3, which took place towards the end of Lent Term in the Fitz Auditorium with a lively audience. Although not able to perform the usual set of May Week Events, the Sirens have recruited more members and started rehearsing in Michaelmas 2020, and hope to bring the joys of acapella back to audiences whenever it is safe to do so. The story for Fitz Barbershop is a similar one: five May Ball performances did not go ahead, however they joined the Fitz Sirens in the aforementioned Aca-demic 3, performing a set of ten Barbershop classics with three new additions to their repertoire. They also expertly dealt with the last-minute dropping out of their countertenor to put on a great performance at the JCR’s Fitz Winter Wonderland in Michaelmas.
Fitz Firsts Concert. Photo: Cat Groom
Physically-distant Chapel Choir. Photo: Cat Groom
Fitz Theatre hosted their Christmas sketch show ‘All the Jingle Ladies’ in Michaelmas and in Lent planned a Musical Theatre Gala Night that was later cancelled and a production of Medea that went ahead successfully. Plans for Easter included a “Fitz of Laughter” comedy evening and a May Week Shakespeare production though unfortunately both had to be shelved. The Christian Union continued its weekly meetings last year, spending time studying, praying, eating and playing games together. These moved on to Zoom for Easter Term. They ran their usual text-atoastie events in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms but had to adapt this to a text-a-postie (postcard) in Easter Term. They also took part in the university-wide CICCU events week on the theme of ‘Life: Is there meaning in the mess?’ in February. The Easter Term hill college CU rounders events had to be cancelled, but hopefully Fitz can assert its rounders dominance once again this year. The Debating Society continued its fortnightly debates covering a wide variety of topics such as the Abolition of the Monarchy and ‘Cancel Culture’ and welcoming guest speakers including Andrew Adonis and Tony Booth of Extinction Rebellion. These debates
continued online in the face of the pandemic and interest has remained high. Fitzwilliam College Medical and Veterinary Society had a strong run of events this past academic year. In Michaelmas, they held 2 exciting talks discussing “The intersection between palliative care and general practice” and “The role of the East Anglian Air Ambulance and life as a HEMS doctor”. They also organised 3 mini-talks by Fitz postgraduates discussing their research, alongside the Natural Sciences Society. A pizza night was put on in the first week of Freshers, followed by the famous FCMVS curry, and then the Christmas party to cap off a tiring term. Two talks were held in Lent; one about “Outbreak surveillance and response systems” and one about “A life in veterinary oncology”. There was also a joint Medsoc’s social with other hill colleges, as well as another termly curry night. Near the end of term, the annual dinner was held, welcoming guest speaker Dr Richard Shephard, eminent forensic pathologist and best-selling author of “Unnatural Causes”. Unfortunately, Easter Term events had to be cancelled as term moved online. However, MedSoc hosted weekly online quizzes in the Lent holidays which then ran on until mid-August- an almost unbroken run of 17 quizzes!
2019-20 represented a bit of a rejuvenation for the Natural Sciences Society. They held pizza nights, multiple talks on subjects ranging from one on seals in the Antarctic (joint with MedSoc) to the creation of new types of OLED emitters. The first NatSci Society Dinner in several years was also held. Obviously more of the same had been hoped for in the end of Lent Term 2020 and into Easter, however these plans were rudely interrupted by the worldwide pandemic. There are many other clubs and societies at Fitz and this report was only made thanks to the contributions of the captains and presidents of the groups above though they don’t represent the whole range of clubs at the College that make the community what it is such as the newly reconstituted ArtSoc and the college Badminton team. I’d like to thank all society presidents and team captains for their huge efforts to continue whatever activities we could throughout what has been an incredibly tough year and I hope that all the incoming society heads can continue their fantastic contributions. Compiled by Ted While
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THE BREWSTER DEBATE HELD ON 28TH FEBRUARY 2020
“THIS HOUSE BELIEVES THAT DEMOCRACY IS FAILING”
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CHAPEL CHOIR
The Choir continues to flourish in both quality and number, and this year we welcomed Theo Williamson as Junior Organ Scholar along with another strong tranche of singers. We remain intensely grateful to the Chaplain, the Reverend Graham Stevenson, for his unstinting support of the Choir’s activities.
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Senior Organ Scholar Anna Sozańska’s earthy, powerful setting of the College Grace drew the ear at the Reunion and Matriculation Dinners. Weekly Sung Evening Prayer on Sunday evenings has been, as usual, supplemented by special services linked to the liturgical year and to College events, as well as by termly choral Compline and Taizé services which broaden the flavours of worship offered in the Chapel very pleasingly. The Choir’s repertoire continues to broaden and to diversify. Kerry Andrew’s haunting Before the ending of the day has become a particular favourite of the choir, and the challenge posed by Roxana Panufnik’s Deus est caritas, with its demanding moto perpetuo organ accompaniment, was surmounted by all involved with flair and panache. We have been immensely fortunate to have a new evening service written for and dedicated to ‘Catherine Groom and the Choir of Fitzwilliam College’ this year by Ivor Novello Award nominee Bernard Hughes. The
setting is distinctive and subversive, and we’re thrilled to add it to our repertoire. In October the Choral Scholars joined violist and harpsichord colleagues of Music Fellow Francis Knights for a concert of contemporary composition for early instruments entitled Dances, dirges and devotions, performing two Tallis motets exquisitely. Individual members of the choir excelled themselves in two FCMS recitals of solo arias and duets presented by members of the choir and accompanied by the Organ and Répétiteur Scholars. In November, the Choir joined the Chapel Choir of Emmanuel College and the Orpheus Sinfonia for a performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at Hampstead Parish Church as part of Hampstead Arts Festival, with soloists Aiden Coburn and Jessica Dandy. The usual festive round of Advent Carol Service, Christmas concert and local carol-singing in aid of Wintercomfort was added to this year by a Christmas concert for the Master’s Circle of Benefactors, instigated by the Development Office and enjoyed immensely by the Choir. Repertoire included Thomas Hewitt Jones’s luminously lovely setting of What child is this? In February, we joined the Chapel Choirs of St. Catharine’s, Corpus Christi and Girton Colleges for
a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 at West Road Concert Hall, with the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. The date of the concert fell on the day after Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, and the rendition of the Ode to Joy was an emotive experience for many in the hall, which was packed to capacity and blue and yellow throughout. In fact, February was a busy month, also involving joint Evensongs with the Chapel Choirs of Peterhouse and of our Oxford sister College St. Edmund Hall, both here at Fitz. The May 2020 iteration of Fitzwilliam Chamber Opera in Mozart’s Così fan tutte (for which the Choir will, as usual provide the chorus and some of the principals), the planned July 2020 tour to Rome, and a CD recording produced in collaboration with the extraordinary Fitz Gardening team and based on the theme of the changing light and seasons brought into the Chapel by the vast plane tree outside our great glass window, are all, alas, postponed, but emphatically not abandoned. We look forward to all of those good things, and more, in due course. Catherine Groom Director of Music
UPDATES FROM MEMBERS Sarah Lamaison (2016) won a French Young Talents L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science prize, for her PhD work Engineering high-performance electrocatalytic devices for the conversion of CO2 to chemical fuels. This work was performed between Professor Marc Fontecave’s Lab at Collège de France – Paris Sciences Lettres, Sorbonne Université, CNRS (UMR 8229), France – and the Jaramillo Lab, Stanford University, USA. Shamma Musthapha (1991) was appointed Chair of CORMSIS Business Advisory Board [The Centre of Operational Research, Management Science and Information Systems spans Mathematical Sciences and Southampton Business School at the University of Southampton] in September 2020. Sham joined Boeing in 2011 and is responsible for Systems Engineering. Boeing support CORMSIS programmes directly with scholarships, prizes and case studies. Sham has been a member of the CORMSIS BAB since 2017 and takes over as chair for a two year period. Rob Perrons (2001) was named as a Fulbright Scholar for 2020. He will be working at the University of Delaware as well as the World Bank and US Department of State in Washington, DC. His topic: The world’s transition to green energy will require significant amounts of so-called ‘technology minerals’ - including metals like lithium and cobalt, which are commonly found in rechargeable batteries, or the tellurium that is used to make solar cells - but the mining community is not currently on track to satisfy anywhere near the anticipated demand for many of these feedstock materials. As a Fulbright Scholar, Rob will develop an integrative framework for the policy- and businessrelated aspects of applying blockchain technology to make supply networks for technology minerals ‘smart,’ thereby helping to provide these inputs for green energy technologies. Rob is Associate Professor of Technology Management and Strategy at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Professor Adam Scaife (1988) was awarded the 2020 Edward Appleton Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics for his pioneering work on computer simulation and long-range prediction of the atmosphere. Deepak Venkateshvaran (2010) was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship for 2020. Deepak works on electrically controlled polymer mechanics,
completed his PhD at Fitzwilliam and was subsequently a Bye-Fellow. He was elected to a Fellowship at Selwyn, where he now is DoS in Physics.
2020 NEW YEAR’S HONOURS LIST Humphrey Burton OBE (1951) was awarded a Knight Bachelor for services to classical music, the arts and media. Francis Habgood QPM (2003) was awarded a Knight Bachelor for services to policing. Adrian Gault (1977) was awarded an OBE for services to the environment and tackling climate change. Godfrey Kelly CMG (1948) was awarded a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG) for services to business and sports. Sharon White (1985) was awarded a DBE for public service.
2020 BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST Ian Marcus (1977) was awarded an OBE for services to the real estate industry and the wider economy.
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND PARTNERSHIPS Matt Appleton (2007) married Laura Rouse (Newnham 2007) on 18 May 2019 at Hall Place & Gardens. Dan Martin (2007) acted as best man and other Fitz guests were Lydia Gregory, Laura Sparks née Johnson, Charmaine Reason and Sam Waudby (all 2007). Jan Beitner (2012) and Galina Alova-Beitner (2012) welcomed their first child, Albert George Beitner on 17 April 2020.
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FROM THE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 2019-20 has been a peculiar year for alumni relations. After the full calendar of 2018/19, when we celebrated both the end of the Campaign and the 150 years of the institution’s foundation, Michaelmas 2019 marked a return to ‘business as usual’, with the Reunion Weekend, the Careers Fair and a number of subject dinners. In November 2019, Deputy Development Director, Donna Thomas and Development Officer, Millie Papworth caught up with local alumni when they attended the University’s Global Cambridge event in Birmingham. At the end of the month, Nina Caplan (1992) was guest speaker at the annual Modern & Medieval Languages Dinner. She talked about her book The Wandering Vine: Wine, the Romans and Me with Director of Studies, Dr John Leigh. On 12 December, Development Officer Carol Lamb joined over 70 alumni and friends at the Varsity Rugby at Twickenham. It was a good day for Cambridge with both teams winning their matches. In early January, I travelled to Singapore with the Master, on her first visit to meet our alumni community there. In a quiet moment between meetings, I remember catching an update on a local news channel, saw my first pictures of the Wuhan lockdown, and was intrigued by the conviction of the newscaster that this threat might escalate. They had, of course, seen this before with SARS, and were quite right to be worried...
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As February shifted into March, the cancellations of events began. We looked nervously at the calendar, trying to balance sensible precaution with a desire not to overreact, but of course, in the end, it was clear that all of our remaining events must be cancelled or postponed. We know how much our alumni look forward to catching up with their friends and contemporaries and, sadly, it doesn’t look like we will be able to hold any in-person events for quite some time.
Left-Right: Baroness Morgan puts her surgery skills into practice during a simulation at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore; Baroness Morgan and the Development Director meet for drinks with Fitz alumni at the Cricket Club in Singapore in January 2020; the Telephone Campaign takes place in September 2020 under strict physical-distancing and other COVID measures.
Hopefully, as the vaccination programme expands and restrictions start to ease, we can think about restoring our programme in the warmer months. But there have also been opportunities within the cancellations: since Michaelmas 2020, we have held weekly talks, bringing together our academics, our students and our alumni. The academic life of the College has broadened out, and I’m delighted that alumni from around the globe have taken the opportunity to join in. And just as we look forward to the day when we will be able to gather once more in person for a casual drink and a catch-up, we will also keep the best of the new things we’ve learned this year. Much has changed in the Development Office in the last 18 months - not least the departure of three excellent colleagues (Donna Thomas Watson, Millie Papworth and Matt McGeehan - all to promotions, so we cannot be sad!) - and in December 2020 I myself changed role to become Director of Communications & Engagement. This is a new role in the College, designed to build upon the important communication lessons learnt this year, and to enrich our community conversations - from outreach through to alumni. This is a good strategic decision for our alumni relations, and I am excited about the plethora of new ways we may be able to involve alumni in the life of the College. As I write, we are recruiting a new Development Director and, while there is much to do after a difficult year for all of us, they should proceed with confidence and ambition, on the shoulders of a strong and supportive alumni community. Nicola Jones
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IN MEMORIAM
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I begin this year’s ‘In Memoriam’ with a note of two members of the College Assistant Staff, who will be known to a number of Fitzwilliam alumni: Mr John Eisold, a Porter for many years and eventually Head Porter, and a University Constable, who died on 20 October 2019; and Mrs Audrey Cann, Hall Supervisor for a number of years, who died on 27 September 2020 at the age of 88. We have lost three Life Fellows, and fifty-six members of the College. As always I am grateful to those family members and colleagues who have contributed material to make it possible to compile the obituaries I have written. This will be the last contribution I shall make under this heading for the Journal. Although the task always makes the closing weeks of the year hectic, it has provided me with a unique insight into the membership of the College over nearly a quarter of a century. I am only saddened by the realisation that we often only know about the range of achievements of our members when it is no longer possible to congratulate them in person. David Thompson
LIFE FELLOWS PROFESSOR JOHN MORTON COLES, FBA, FSA (1955) John Coles was born on 25 March 1930 and was educated at the University of Toronto. In 1955 he came to Fitzwilliam to read for the Diploma in Prehistoric Archaeology, which he gained in 1957. After three years as a Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at Edinburgh, during which time he secured a PhD, he was appointed an Assistant Lecturer in the Cambridge Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1960, and Lecturer in 1965. He became a Fellow at Fitzwilliam in the same year. His subsequent career in the University was rapid, being appointed Reader in 1976 and Professor in 1980, retiring in 1986, when he became a Life Fellow. He was also Director of Studies for the Prince of Wales, when Charles was reading Archaeology and Anthropology, since Trinity did not have a Fellow in the subject. John was awarded an ScD in 1978, and became a Fellow of the British Academy in the same year; he had been a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries from 1963, and served as Vice-President, 1982-86. Author of several standard texts in field archaeology, he specialised in wetlands, especially the Somerset Levels, which was one reason why in retirement he moved to Devon.
For this fifteen-year project he was awarded ‘the British Archaeological Awards’ Country Life Award for the best project by a professional or mixed professional/voluntary team or unit’ in 1988. On the award in 1995 of the British Academy Grahame Clark Medal, he described it as ‘bronze, large and heavy – not to be worn, more like a door stop’. In 1998 he endowed a Travel Bursary at Fitzwilliam for either an undergraduate or graduate student, who needed support in travelling abroad during his or her course. He died on 14 October 2020.
DR GUY GIBSON POOLEY Guy Pooley was born in Bedford in 1944, but the family moved to Nottingham ten years later where he did his secondary education, prior to winning a scholarship to Peterhouse in 1964. His introduction to Cambridge was the winter of 1962-63, with its biting winds and frozen Lent Term. Having secured a double first in Natural Sciences, Guy went on to do research in astrophysics under Sir Martin Ryle. From 1966 he published over 250 research papers, and developed a network of international collaborations (including the USA, Poland, South Korea). For several decades he was central to the operation of the radio telescopes at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory at Lord’s Bridge. Guy became a Fellow of Fitzwilliam in 1973, retiring in
2011 and a Life Fellow thereafter. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease soon afterwards. He worried about his wife, Christine, who went into a hospice late in 2019. (We reported her death in last year’s Journal.) At the same time Guy moved into Etheldreda House care home. The changes were mitigated by continuing pride in his three grandchildren, but he had to dispose of all his modelling equipment (and the models he had made over the years). He enjoyed teaching, and was good at it; he regularly received letters of gratitude from former pupils, who had often climbed further up the academic ladder than he ever did himself. But he retained his sense of humour throughout the last year. A life-long supporter of Oxfam, he had always lived by the 1960s motto, ‘Live simply, that others may simply live’. He died on 7 October 2020.
DR KENNETH CHARLES ARTHUR SMITH (1949) Ken Smith was born in Birmingham on 20 March 1928, and was educated at Coventry Junior Technical Secondary School and Coventry Technical College, where he gained his ONC and HNC, while testing RollsRoyce Merlin engine electrical components for Spitfires. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1949, having nearly been rejected, to read Electrical Engineering; in this he
demonstrated the perseverance which was to carry him through Cambridge. He rowed in his first year, but was advised to give it up to concentrate on his academic work, which he did. After graduating in 1952, he did research in electron microscopy in the Department of Engineering, receiving his PhD in 1957. After post-graduate work in the Department of Engineering until 1958, when he spent two years at the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada in Montreal, again in electron microscopy. Returning to Cambridge, he spent two years as a Senior Assistant in Research at the Department of Physics before becoming a University Lecturer in Engineering in 1965. Ken was elected to a Fellowship at Fitzwilliam in March 1966. In 1971 Dr V.E. Coslett and Ken were jointly awarded the Duddell Medal and Prize ‘in recognition of their outstanding achievement in designing and constructing the Cavendish 750 kV electron microscope. The microscope proved to be a great success and stimulated the great interest in high voltage electron microscopy in this country.’ The Cavendish microscope also formed the basis of the design of the 1 MeV electron microscopes later manufactured by AEI. The success of this venture owed much to the pioneering work of Drs Coslett and Smith. More controversially, a letter from Ken to the Master in 1974 led to the
first Governing Body discussion, since the drafting of the statutes, of admitting women to Fitzwilliam, but it came to nothing. In 1980 Ken was made a Reader, and in 1983 an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society. In 1986 he began to suffer from back trouble, which eventually led to his taking early retirement in 1988; however, he was elected to a Life Fellowship. In 1993 Ken received the Distinguished Scientist Award for the Physical Sciences from the Microscopy Society of America. As his back continued to make very slow progress, despite further surgery, Ken began to think about the future; and in view of his long-standing interest in Music he decided, with Ronald Smith (no relation), to endow an Alkan prize, later converted into a scholarship, to perpetuate the memory of the piano music of Charles-Valentin Alkan (181388), a French-Jewish pianist, contemporary of Chopin and Liszt with a similar reputation as a virtuoso pianist. This was effected at the turn of the millennium, with a dazzling inaugural concert in the auditorium. Unfortunately Ken’s health suffered increasingly frequent reversals. He died on 15 March 2020. Truly a long life marked by courage and determination.
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MEMBERS THE REVD DR JOHN HUW ANWYL (1951)
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Huw Anwyl was born on 23 December 1929 in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, and was educated at Bala Grammar School, did war service in the RAF in South Africa, and completed his secondary school education with eighteen months at Coleg Clwd, Rhyl. He came to Fitzwilliam as a student of Cheshunt College in 1951 to read English and Theology; and passed the three Examinations in Christian Theology for the BA degree in 1955, proceeding to the MA degree in 1958. His first ministry was at Warminster Congregational Church, but in 1963 he moved to the United States to work under the auspices of Church World Service in New York. This led to ministries in Chicago, Hollywood and Riverside, during which he studied for a DMin at San Francisco Theological Seminary, before moving to the Shepherd of the Hills Church in Laguna Niguel in 1992, where he ended his ministry. Believing strongly in an inclusive Church, he travelled widely until his last years. He died on 8 January 2019.
PETER KENNETH CHARLES AUSTWICK (1948) Peter Austwick was born on 29 December 1926 at Kew, Surrey, and was educated at Varndean Secondary School for Boys, Brighton, and Brighton Technical College. He came to Fitzwilliam to do a Postgraduate Training Course in Mycology not leading to a degree, which he completed in 1949. He subsequently emigrated to New Zealand, and died on 13 February 2019.
ROBERT ARTHUR BASSFORD (1978) Robert Bassford was born on 26 November 1959 in Bradford, and was educated at Pudsey Crawshaw School in Leeds. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1978 to read Modern Languages, graduating in 1982. He had always wanted to teach English as a Foreign Language, and began in Finland. By the 1990s he had moved to Greece. He died on 2 September 2019.
OLIVER DUNSTAN BENNETT (1962) Oliver Bennett was born on 12 June 1943 in Duffield, Derbyshire, and was educated at the City of London Freemen’s School, Ashstead Park, Surrey and Warwick School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1962 to read Geography, graduating in 1965. He was active in Fitz Theatre and was also Deputy Editor of Varsity. After doing an MA in Urban, Regional and Transport Planning at Liverpool and another in Economics at London, he eventually became Director of Tourism Services at Deloitte & Touche, running the department virtually single-handed. While there he acted as a consultant for many tourism projects, particularly in developing countries. This took him to many parts of the world for shorter or longer periods. He was always anxious that tourism should benefit the local people in constructive ways, and not simply be providing cheap markets for Western countries. He was largely responsible for opening up Nepal for Western tourism on a DFIDfunded project which introduced the word ‘ecotourism’ from academia to local government, such that it became a model for many other countries. As a consultant he never really retired, but on 11 March he told his friends that he was being tested for COVID-19, one of the first members of the
College to do so. He died in St George’s Hospital, London on 26 March 2020, and was lovingly remembered by many friends as the ‘consummate consultant’.
PAUL HARTLEY BRIGGS (1962) Paul Briggs was born on 23 September 1943 in Prestwich, Manchester, and was educated at Pocklington School, York. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1962 to read Law. He was Captain of the Fitzwilliam 1st XV and of the LX Club, and also loved golf. Although not a Blue, he was elected a member of the Hawks’ Club. After graduating he went into business and eventually became Managing Director of the carpet company, John Hugh McKay, travelling the world looking for new designs. He was even-handed, kind, and considerate, often laughing, full of fun, even slightly quirky. He had a never-ending fund of ideas, not all carried through to a conclusion, but he was not easily put off. He did not suffer fools gladly and had a tinge of obstinacy when he felt he was right, as he often was. His final years were something of a struggle, though he never complained and never forgot his family (wife, two children and four grandchildren) and friends. He died on 23 March 2020 of complications arising from motor neurone disease.
DAVID EUSTACE BROWN (1958) David Brown was born on 19 February 1939, in Charlton, East London, and was educated at the Roan School, Greenwich, after turning down a place at Dulwich College because he did not think that the College’s boater would go down well on his workingclass housing estate. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1958 to read French and Spanish, followed by a PGCE. David was an inspirational teacher, working first at Brentwood School, then at Westminster School, where he made an immediate impression
- particularly in his Spanish lessons - and was appointed Housemaster of Liddell’s boarding house, skilfully managing the sometimes erratic behaviour of 80 or so privileged adolescents. From 1985 to 1992, he was Head of St John’s School, Leatherhead - modernizing by recruiting girls into the Sixth Form, setting up a boarding house for girls and hiring female teachers. He was well-known for wearing his authority with a smile. In 1993 David became director of the Linbury Trust, a charitable trust of Lord and Lady Sainsbury, working on projects at the Royal Opera House and Ballet Rambert. As a humane and seasoned teacher, David was concerned about young people with few advantages. So his special contribution was to develop, through the Trust, ways of mentoring young people at risk and rehabilitating young offenders. He arranged pioneering schemes for the resettlement of offenders under 18, leaving custody at the young offenders’ institutions at Feltham and Portland. Literacy was another of David’s interests: he worked on the first substantial research into the incidence of dyslexia among homeless people and the way it affected their health; he also helped set up a remarkable parent and volunteer literacy scheme for children in their early years, Springboard for Children, now known as The Children’s Literacy Charity. In retirement, David switched from distributing money to raising it for many local charities. He fended off cancer gracefully for a decade, enjoying his three children and four grandchildren. He died on 16 July 2020 - at home with his wife Tess, whom he had met while studying for his PGCE.
DR DOUGLAS QUENTIN BUTLER (1958) Douglas Butler was born on 1 August 1940 in Wokingham, Berkshire, and was educated at the Oratory School, Woodcote, Reading. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1958 to read Natural Sciences, but later changed to Agriculture, graduating in 1961. He subsequently taught at the Oratory School from 1962 to 1967, and then settled in the Republic of Ireland, teaching at Rockwell College, in Cashel, County Tipperary. He died on 25 September 2015.
LESLIE CONSTANTINE CHAPAS (1949) Leslie Chapas was born on 2 December 1928 in Manchester, and was educated at St Gregory’s Central School and the Xaverian College, Manchester, and Manchester University, where he graduated with a BSc. A life member of the computer society, he was involved at the beginning of computers when studying at Manchester: although he did not know Alan Turing, he was there at the same time. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1949 to read for the Diploma in Mathematical Statistics, which he secured in 1951. He applied his knowledge to biometrics and worked in Nigeria on palm oil research Later he returned to the UK and worked in Grassland Research for some years before being head-hunted by the Centro International de Agricultura Tropical to work in Colombia. He installed computers there in 1980 into what were known as early desk top computers in those days. His life was long and interesting, and he was fortunate to have loved his life’s work thanks to his time at university and the opportunities it gave him. He died on 24 November 2019, and is survived by his wife and married daughter.
JOHN GRENVILLE DEAN (1953) Grenville Dean was born on 19 August 1933 in Bradford, Yorkshire, and was educated at Mill Hill School. After doing National Service in the Middle East, he came to Fitzwilliam in 1953 to read Law, graduating in 1956. He enjoyed his supervisions, particularly with Dr Turner, and spent most of his time in the Squire Law Library reading the Law Reports, which were particularly useful since most of his Cambridge course was spent on Roman Law, which is largely irrelevant for the practising lawyer in England. Grenville was also the founder of the Mornie Onions in 1956, named after his first girlfriend, Maureen, whose baby sister could not pronounce her name and called her ‘Mornie Onion’, which Grenville loved! After qualifying as a solicitor, he went into business, joined Smiths Group, where he became Head of Legal Department and Company Secretary. He established Merivale Moore Ltd, a London property company in 1970 with large investment interests, and turned the company private in July 2003. His other business, West Norfolk Tomatoes Ltd, became the largest supplier of tomatoes in the country. He died on 29 October 2019.
DR JOHN WILLIAM TAYLOR DICKERSON (1955) John Dickerson was born on 2 August 1925 in Lincoln, and was educated at the City School, Lincoln, the County Technical College, Guildford, and Regent Street Polytechnic, where he obtained a London BSc. He joined the Medical Research Council (University of Cambridge) Unit for Experimental Medicine in 1952, where he worked with Professor Robert McCance and Dr Elsie Widdowson, Founder Members of the Nutrition Society. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1955 as a research student for a PhD in Experimental
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The Journal Medicine, was approved for the PhD degree in 1959, and graduated in January 1960. He moved to the Institute of Child Heath in London in 1965. In 1967, John became a Reader in Human Nutrition at the University of Surrey and subsequently Professor of Human Nutrition. The Chair in Nutrition was a joint appointment with the then South West Thames Regional Health Authority, and this gave opportunity for involvement with clinical nutrition. Following his retirement from the University of Surrey in 1988, he was appointed an Emeritus Professor.
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John’s research interests included body composition, growth and development; drug-nutrient interactions; and nutrition in the clinical management of disease with special reference to the elderly and patients with cancer. He was seen as a highly significant member of the nutritional science community, and was an Honorary Fellow of the Nutrition Society. In 2002 the University of Westminster awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in recognition of his services to nutrition. He died on 14 April 2020, his wife having died in 2000.
DR PETER ARTHUR ECKSTEIN (1948) Peter Eckstein was born on 11 January 1928 in Düsseldorf and was educated privately in Ankara, Turkey, then at the American College in Istanbul and the Leys School, Cambridge. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1948 to read Medicine, passed his BA, MB and BChir (Clinical Medicine) in 1951, and undertook his clinical studies at the Middlesex Hospital. While at college he was a member of the Boat Club and the Music Society. Having qualified he returned to Cambridge and practised as a GP until retirement. In 2017 he had a severe stroke, and died on 10
November 2019.
THE REVD PREBENDARY PETER DAVID ELVY (1962) Peter Elvy was born on 9 November 1938 in Whitstable, and was educated at King’s School, Canterbury and Queen Mary College, London. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1962 as an ordinand at Ridley Hall to read Theology, graduating in 1964. After ordination he was a curate in Croydon, including the large new housing estate at New Addington (1966-68), during which time he also acted as a Butlin’s chaplain at Skegness and Clacton. This was followed by appointment as Youth Chaplain of Chelmsford diocese (1971-80). He became vicar of Great Burstead and canon of Chelmsford Cathedral in 1980. Throughout this time he was also building a reputation as a creative journalist in radio and television, and was active in commercial radio and television from its early days. He wrote several articles and books on religious broadcasting, and was awarded a PhD as a result of a project funded by the Jerusalem Trust for research into aspects of religious broadcasting in Eastern Europe by the University of Edinburgh, and published by their Centre for Theology and Public Issues. In the 1980s he was religious programmes producer for Essex Radio, as well as being media consultant to the Jerusalem Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, and a director of Jerusalem Productions Ltd. As the trust’s representative he was involved in more than twenty major television co-productions including ‘Son of God’, ‘Moses’, ‘St Paul’ and ‘The Virgin Mary’ for BBC1. For seventeen years he was chairman of the Jerusalem Radio Awards, which attracts some 200 BBC and internet entries each year. In 1992 he moved to Chelsea Old Church, where his immediate task was to rebuild Petyt Hall at a cost of £6 million.
He spent fourteen years at Chelsea before retiring in 2006, to a rousing send-off from the parish. Although retired from parish work, Peter remained (by decision of the Bishop of London) a full Prebendary of St. Paul’s Cathedral and also continued to be a canon of the Diocese of Ughelli, Nigeria. He died on 25 August 2019.
MAHMOUD IHSAN ESSAID (1957) Mahmoud Essaid was born on 25 December 1933 in Jaffa, Palestine, and was educated at St George’s School, Jerusalem and Victoria College, Alexandria, Egypt. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1957 to read Economics, but changed to Law after Part I. Although he worked hard, and showed great determination, in the end he had to leave Cambridge without a degree. He always had very happy memories of his time at Fitzwilliam. Undoubtedly his result was affected by his disturbed childhood resulting from the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. He went to the United States seeking a better life for his family (wife Rana, and four sons) and found it, finally settling in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where he became a successful businessman; and most of his wider family followed. In his middle age he was a member of the Columbia University Seminar on the Middle East, where he was remembered for his kind intelligence. Over the last twenty years or so Mahmoud could be found almost every day riding his bicycle around Tod’s Point, and he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Greenwich Point Conservancy. He died at home on 7 April 2020.
DR SIMON HOWARD FELL (1978) (With grateful thanks to Jo Fell) Simon Fell was born on 13 January
1959 in Batley, West Yorkshire, and was educated at Batley Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1978 to read English, graduating in 1981. Simon had learned double bass at Batley, and Huddersfield Polytechnic before coming to Fitzwilliam, and naturally his interests in jazz and improvised music continued while he was an undergraduate. In 1982 he married Jo, and for several years he juggled a busy career in commercial music with teaching double bass in schools and colleges around East Anglia. At the same time he was both composing and playing improvised and experimental music around the UK and at festivals overseas. He quickly formed his own record label, Bruce’s Fingers (1983), in order to promote the music about which he was so passionate, and to have full control over the whole creative process, from recording to artwork. He quickly gained a reputation for mentoring talented young musicians, and for bringing together unlikely groupings from many genres in a series of large-scale works which were commissioned by, among others, the BBC and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. After moving to France for a quieter life in 2005, Simon continued to play with musicians in the UK that he had known for many years, but with the financial crash of 2008, the rise in fuel prices and the drop in corporate entertainment and private live music events, it became less viable. Instead he turned his attention to finding like-minded musicians locally, and introduced several new collaborators to his established network of players. In 2014 Simon had the opportunity to return to academia, with a post to write a PhD at Huddersfield University, where he subjected improvised music to the scrutiny of his rigorous research. The result was a highly acclaimed thesis, ‘A more attractive way of “getting things
done” – freedom, collaboration and compositional paradox in British improvised and experimental music, 1965-75’. This work left many unanswered questions, and sadly he died before being able to take up the planned postdoctoral research post at Huddersfield. He died after a short illness on 28 June 2020.
THE REVD JOHN SIMS FRANCIS (1952) John Francis was born on 16 February 1925 in Swansea, and was educated at Gowerton County Grammar School, Swansea and St David’s College, Lampeter (with an interlude for war service in the RAF, 1943-46). He came to Fitzwilliam in 1952 to read Theology, graduating in 1954. As he had been ordained before coming to Fitzwilliam and had served an initial curacy in Swansea, his next post was at St Andrew’s, Chesterton, while he was reading for his BA, followed by two longer ones in Wales: in Swansea 1954-58, and then as Vicar of Newbridge-on-Wye and Llanfihangel Brynpabuan, 1958-65. He returned to Cambridgeshire as Rector of Willingham, 1965-82, for the last four years of which he was Rural Dean of North Stowe. From 1982 he was Vicar of Buckden, retiring to live at Bourne in 1990. He died in November 2019.
MICHAEL ABBOTT GAUNT (1968) Mike Gaunt was born in 1948 and educated at Kingswood School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1968 to read law. Already a well-travelled man, he had an engaging charm and considerable sporting and musical abilities. He played hockey and cricket for the college, was a member of the Chapel Community, sang in a variety of choirs, was a member of the CU Gilbert &
Sullivan Society, and – if you could persuade him – he could entertain you as a classical pianist. He continued these interests after leaving college. Preferring life in a historic market town to a metropolis, he moved to Morpeth in Northumberland. He joined the Morpeth hockey club and Gosforth Gilbert & Sullivan Society where he met Jean, a teacher whom he married in 1975. He trained as a solicitor and joined a Morpeth general legal practice where he soon became a partner and stayed for 44 years until his retirement in 2018. He became further rooted in the community via his membership of Rotary Club and participation in the local Methodist Church, where he was the organist. He was respected in the community and, as a lawyer, noted for his wisdom honesty and care for clients. His and Jean had three daughters, 2 of whom studied at Cambridge. They continued to travel widely, taking rail journeys across Europe, Africa and India. He died on 23 July 2020 in Hannover, where he was being treated for cancer.
ANTHONY DILWYN GICK (1964) Tony Gick was born on 22 July 1945 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, and was educated at St Dunstan’s College, Catford. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1964 to read Law, graduating in 1967. He was Secretary of the College Law Society and had interests in the Union, the Film Society and vintage cars. He found recreation in sailing and concert music. On graduating he took a job as Administrative Assistant at a hospital in York, progressing in due course to become Chief Executive of Tameside & Glossop Health Authority (1985-93), then of South Lancashire (1993-2000). He was appointed as a NonExecutive Director to the NHS
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The Journal Pensions Agency Special Health Authority UK in 2004. During the reorganisation of the NHS, Shifting the Balance of Power, he worked on the development of the Strategic Health Authority for Cumbria and Lancashire and carried out consultancy work in the NHS. He was latterly Vice-Chair of the Chorley & South Ribble Clinical Commissioning Group. He died in June 2020, and a private funeral was held on 23 June.
GEORGE BERIC GRAHAM SMITH (1949)
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Beric Graham-Smith was born on 7 July 1929 in Lincoln, and was educated at Blundell’s School, Tiverton. He did National Service with the Royal Engineers, 1947-49. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1949 to read Architecture, graduating in 1955. While at Fitzwilliam he was a member of the Boat Club. Soon after graduation he married Elizabeth, who survives him. They were drawn together by their love of music: he sang in many choirs from schooldays to the Ottawa Choral Society. After initially working for London County Council, they emigrated to Canada, where he became an architect and planner, co-ordinating projects all over Canada in a 45 year-career. He was also active in the Cambridge Society of Ottawa. He died on 15 October 2019.
DR PATRICK EDWARD GRATTAN-BELLEW (1965) (with assistance from Dr Chris Rogers) Paddy Grattan-Bellew was born on 26 September 1934 in Goresbridge, County Kilkenny, Ireland, and was educated at University College, Dublin and McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1965 to do research in the atomic structure of minerals, and in particular to learn the
techniques of x-ray crystallography, which was not available in Ireland at that time. After securing his PhD in 1969, he emigrated to Canada to work at the University of Toronto. He spent some time in diamond exploration in Africa, which led eventually to work in northern Ontario, which in turn led indirectly to the discovery of a diamond mine in the James Bay lowlands in 2005 further north than he had investigated in 1970. He joined the National Research Council of Canada’s Minerals Research Laboratory in 1971. A chance conversation in 1973 led to his interest in alkali-aggregate reactions, and he and Chris Rogers from the Ontario Highways Department struck up a friendship, Paddy more scientific and Chris more practical.
any scientist – curiosity – was not something easily communicated; but for those with eyes to see, Paddy was a superb guide, and a good innovator in new techniques, often very simple ones. He was an example to all in his willingness to share new ideas, and treated new researchers with respect and sound advice.
When the Canadian Standards Association set up a new committee on alkali reactions, as part of the cement committee in 1981, both men were included, and were initially viewed with suspicion by the cement companies, who feared anything detrimental said about concrete, especially harmful reactions caused by a component of cement. As it was realised that their expertise was needed, gradually they were accepted. For 25 years they worked together on developing new test methods on alkaliaggregate reaction in concrete. Paddy organised an international conference in 1986 on the subject, and edited the proceedings in the pre-digital age. The last conference he attended was in Austin, Texas in 2012, by which time he had become an acknowledged international expert on problems of concrete durability, and represented Canada on the conference committee for many years.
Greg was born on 29 May 1923 in Karachi, and educated at a prep school in Eastbourne, from which he won a scholarship to Malvern College, Worcestershire. He completed school in 1941 and, having seen the bombed remains of Coventry, immediately signed up to the Army. After Officer Training in the Royal Engineers, he was sent to Cambridge for grounding in First Year Engineering, which required him to matriculate from Selwyn in 1941. In November 1942 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and attached to the Indian Army Bombay Sappers & Miners, Kirkee, near Poona. In September 1943, he was posted to 411 Royal Bombay Sappers & Miners Parachute Squadron at Campbellpur in the North West Frontier territory, and then to Diniapur in Burma. In Litan he blew up trees to impede the Japanese advance and destroyed the British Brigade HQ to prevent the capture of documents and useful equipment. When Japanese soldiers infiltrated his camp at night and bayoneted sleeping soldiers, Greg only escaped because he was out of sight under a bush.
As a scientist he was exemplary in the keeping of records and notebooks, and a dependable guide for other researchers. He could always be relied on to do the right thing. The essential quality for
Although a non-smoker he developed lung cancer in 2013, but with the aid of chemotherapy he survived until 8 March 2020, leaving a widow.
GREGORY MARCAR WILLIAM GREGORY (1947) (with assistance from Richard Gregory)
In December 1944, Greg joined the counterattack in the advance towards Kohima behind 9th East African Brigade. The work of Greg and his men enabled a Dakota air-bridge of vital supplies, pushing the Japanese army all the way through Irrawaddy to Rangoon. Greg returned to the UK in February 1946 and married Ursula Bromley during his Christmas leave. In May 1947, he was awarded a Regular Commission and came to Fitzwilliam to finish his degree, graduating in summer 1949. Afterwards, he was posted to Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, during the Malaysian emergency, before returning to the UK in 1952. During 1952 to 1955, he was Adjutant of 108 Welsh Field Engineer Regiment and from 1955 to 1957, he was on the Technical Staff Officer Course at Shrivenham. His final posting in the regular army was as a Major Instructor at the Royal Armoured School of Tank Technology, Bovingdon, Dorset. He wrote technical manuals specializing in engineering drawing, metallurgy, armour plate and nuclear warfare. He retired from the army in July 1959 but remained in the Civil Defence where he was involved in the building of nuclear bunkers. Greg became a lecturer at Rugby College of Engineering Technology where he taught thermodynamics and stress analysis. His extracurricular work included writing a stress analysis design program for an Elliot 803B computer, to improve mining equipment and design input for English Electric on diesel engines and steam turbines for power stations, the railways and the Navy. Through Civil Defence, he also held a provisional wartime job at the underground regional seat of government at Kinver Edge. On the amalgamation of Rugby College and others to form Coventry Polytechnic, Greg became a Principal Lecturer and
administered timetabling. He kept his hand in by teaching Jaguar trainees in the evenings. When he retired at the end of August 1988, he was offered an honorary doctorate of Coventry University but declined, disillusioned by what he regarded as dwindling standards. Greg spent the first years of his retirement at Frinton-on-Sea, refurbishing a dilapidated house and becoming a keen vegetable gardener. His three children and six grandchildren became regular holiday visitors. He remained physically active, played bridge and enjoyed beer well into his nineties. When his health deteriorated, he and Ursula, his wife, moved to a bungalow in Dedham, Essex. At the age of 94, he went blind and entered a local care home, Mistley Manor, where he died on Wednesday 26 August 2020 aged 97.
FRANK HALL (1953) Frank Hall was born on 8 November 1936 in Chesterfield, and was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1953 to read Modern Languages, graduating in 1956. While at Fitzwilliam he rowed for the first Boat, and subsequently became a member of the Billygoats. Frank went into teaching and, after completing a PGCE, obtained a post at Barnsley & District Holgate Grammar School. His final post was at Farmor’s School, Fairford, Gloucestershire. He died suddenly on 28 December 2019, leaving his wife, three children and three grandchildren.
DR MICHAEL HAROLD HANDFORD (1963) Mike Handford was born on 20 May 1945 in Sevenoaks, Kent, and was educated at Tonbridge School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1963 to read Medicine. He graduated in 1966, and gained his Final MB
and BChir in 1970 after clinical training at St Thomas’s Hospital, London. While at Fitzwilliam he was a member of the Boat Club, and became a Billygoat. His wider interests were in theatre and arts, as well as travel and outdoor pursuits generally. Mike went into General Practice in Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, and was a much-loved doctor for many years. He was described as a ‘community man’, for example, he chaired the Committee to restore the Lychgate of Ramsbury Parish Church, completed by July 2015. He retired in 2004, and died on 29 May 2020.
MICHAEL ION HASTY (1968) Mike Hasty was born on 2 October 1949 in Blackpool, and was educated at Arnold School, Blackpool. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1968 to read Geography, graduating in 1971. He played football for the College 1st XI and was also a member of the 1st Badminton team. He took a regular part in college affairs. After graduation and a PGCE he became a schoolmaster: he taught Geography at Bradfield School, West Riding, and then at Eckington School, Derbyshire from its founding to his retirement as Deputy Headteacher in 2004. He also worked as a volunteer counsellor for ChildLine for over 20 years, was presented with the Patron’s Award at Buckingham Palace in 2011; and went into schools for the NSPCC Schools Service to talk to children about speaking out and staying safe. A keen gardener, Mike regularly opened his garden for charity, raising funds for the NSPCC and subsequently for the National Garden Scheme. Mike was also a keen sportsman, running several London marathons and Karrimor fell races, and playing for cricket teams in the Yorkshire League. He was a member of Renishaw Golf Club and loved walking in
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The Journal Derbyshire and the Lake District. He travelled widely internationally. Michael Hasty died suddenly at his home in Derbyshire on 15 April 2020 aged 70. His funeral took place on 5 May, but, due to Coronavirus restrictions, attendance was by invitation only.
THE REVD THOMAS BERNARD FELIX HINEY, MC, CF (1968) Tom Hiney was born on 12 December 1935, and was educated at Ratcliffe College and Sandhurst. He became an officer in the regular army, and in 1968 was admitted to Fitzwilliam as a member of Ridley Hall to read for the Certificate in Theology. After serving a curacy at St Augustine’s, Edgbaston, Birmingham 1969-71, he returned to the Army as a Chaplain to the Forces, serving in various parts of Europe, before retiring in 2000. He died in January 2020.
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THE REVD MICHAEL BEDO HOBBS (1955) Michael was born on 9 March 1930 at Farnham, Surrey. He was educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire and did National Service in the Intelligence Corps in Austria before working in Spain and London. He found his purpose when he gave his life to Christ at the Billy Graham Crusade at Harringay in 1954. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1955 to read for the Certificate in Theology, and was one of the ‘Cambridge Seventy’ who committed themselves to serve overseas. He then went to Clifton Theological College, Bristol, to train for ordination in the Church of England (1958-60). He married Elly, who was Danish,
in 1960, having met the previous summer at the Criccieth beach mission. After a curacy at St Jude’s, Southsea (1960-63), they went to work with the South American Missionary Society in Paraguay (1963-65), and then Argentina (1965-67), returning to the UK for their children’s health. He became Vicar of Potters Green, Coventry (1968-75), District Secretary for the British and Foreign Bible Society (1975-82), and finally Rector of Plaxtol, near Sevenoaks (1982-96). When Michael retired, he and Elly moved to Semley, near Shaftesbury. His commitment to telling people about Jesus through explaining the Bible never waned, and he sought to be a witness to God’s love till the end. He did chaplaincies in the Netherlands, Spain and Israel, and helped in his local church until he turned 81. He died after two years’ deteriorating health at Henford House, Warminster on 18 March 2020, and was buried in Plaxtol on 1 April at a small family funeral. He leaves behind Elly, three of his five children and seven grandchildren.
ADAM RONALD HOGG (1998) Ron Hogg was born on 1 October 1951, and came to Fitzwilliam in 1998 to read for the Diploma in Applied Criminology and Police Management, which he secured in March 1999. He joined Northumbria Police in 1978 before transferring to Northamptonshire as a constable in 1981. In August 1992 he returned to Northumbria as a Superintendent, and in February 1996 he was promoted to Chief Superintendent. He was appointed to Assistant Chief Constable with Durham Police in 1998, and assumed the national role for policing football and targeting soccer hooligans. This included policing the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. In 2003 he became Deputy Chief Constable
of Cleveland Police; and he retired in May 2008. In retirement he became Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner. He was awarded the CBE in the 2020 New Year Honours List for charitable and political services, but died before the announcement was made. After a short battle with motor neurone disease he died peacefully on 17 December 2019. The chief executive of the Commission, Steve White, said that in his 30 years of policing, he had never known someone so universally liked and respected as Ron was, by officers, staff, politicians and officials. ‘He will be greatly missed.’ Chief Constable Jo Farrell, said, ‘Durham Constabulary and the people of County Durham have lost a great colleague and friend. Ron was a radical thinker, an inspiring leader and a lifelong public servant who was not afraid to tackle head-on some of the most difficult issues facing society.’
DR JONATHAN GORDON HOOKER (1968) Jonathan Hooker was born on 7 February 1949 in Ludlow, Shropshire, and was educated at Marlborough College. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1968 to read Medical Sciences, graduating BA in 1971, BChir in 1974 and MB in 1975. His clinical studies were at the Middlesex Hospital, London. While at Cambridge he was a member of the Boat Club and the Choir. He became a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with St Richard’s Hospital Trust, Chichester in 1988 and then with University College Hospital, retiring to Chichester ten years later. He died on 3 November 2019, leaving a wife, Gillian.
PROFESSOR RICHARD FRANK HOSKING (1957) Richard Hosking was born on 31 March 1933 in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia, and was educated at the Universities of Sydney (BA)
and Melbourne (MA). He came to Fitzwilliam in 1957 to read Oriental Studies as an Affiliated Student. In his third year he was awarded a Goodenday Fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After graduating he successfully applied in 1961 for an Assistant Keepership of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books at the British Museum. In 1973 he was appointed Professor of English at Hiroshima Shudo University in Japan, where he published a Dictionary of Japanese Food, as well as other books and articles. On retirement in 1998 he was made Emeritus Professor and returned to England, living in Chelsea. He began to develop health problems, but continued to enjoy reading and baroque music. Sadly he was unable to attend the Golden Matriculation because of a heart attack. He died on 19 October 2019.
THE REVD DAVID JOHN HUDSON (1964) (with assistance from the Methodist Conference Office) David Hudson was born on 17 March 1943 in Derby, and was educated at Derby School and the University of Leeds. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1964 as a member of Wesley House to read for the Methodist ministry, graduating in Theology in 1966. He served his probation in the Bradford Trinity circuit, and then spent four months in the Selly Oak Colleges before going to serve as Chaplain to Schools and Colleges in Cape Coast under the Ghana Conference, during which time he was also Candidates Secretary. After his first furlough he served in Stoke-on-Trent South, Whitchurch, Shropshire, Reading and Silchester, Gordano Valley, and Crewe circuits. He cared about the World Church and the Ecumenical Movement, encouraging people to see that they could live and be connected on a ‘wide map’. David retired in
2008, and as a supernumerary he continued to conduct worship, enjoying reading and preparing for preaching; and also found time for U3A, and more reading – The Guardian, biography, poetry, travel and sport. David shared an interest in birdwatching with his wife, Jean, and they began coach trips around the UK. He was a lifelong supporter of Derby County FC, and followed Derbyshire Cricket Club. He enjoyed his retirement in Oswestry, staying very active and engaged with the church, the local community, and friends and family in the UK and the wider world. David died on 8 December 2019, leaving a wife, two sons and a grand-daughter.
PATRICK DENNIS JOHN JOHNSON (1953) Patrick Johnson was born on 9 May 1935 in Coventry, and was educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1953 to read Geography, graduating in 1956. He regularly played in the Fitzwilliam 1st XI soccer team; was a member of the Boat Club, and played cricket and tennis for Fitzwilliam. After doing a PGCE he did National Service in the RAF, spending the latter part of that time on Christmas Island. His first teaching post was at Wellingborough Grammar School, and then he went into educational administration, eventually becoming Senior Deputy Director of Education for Nottinghamshire He died in early 2020.
JOHN JULIAN DANIEL LITCHFIELD (1966) Julian Litchfield was born on 26 December 1946 in Ashcott, Bridgwater, Somerset, and was educated at Elmhurst Grammar School, Street, Somerset and the Oxford College of Technology. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1966 to read Economics, graduating in
1969. He rowed for the Boat Club during his time in college, and went into the Somerset County Council Social Services Department. The Department subsequently nominated him for a place at Bristol Polytechnic to take a Diploma in Applied Social Studies in 1977-78. He visited the college several times for Reunion Dinners, and always retained happy memories of his time at Fitzwilliam. He retired in 2011 and died in April 2020, leaving a wife, Judy, and four children.
THE REVD PROFESSOR JOHN SAMUEL MBITI (1960) John Mbiti was born on 30 November 1931 in Kitui, Kenya, and was educated at Makerere College, Kampala, and Barrington College, RI, USA. After a year as William Paton Lecturer at the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, 1959-60, he came to Fitzwilliam in 1960 as a member of Westminster College on an International Missionary Council Scholarship to do research in Theology, and successfully completed his PhD in 1963, was ordained in the Church of England and spent a year as a curate in the diocese of St Albans. He returned to Uganda in 1964 to teach at Makerere College, where he remained until 1974. In a revised version of his PhD thesis, African Religions and Philosophy (1969) Mbiti challenged the then standard view that African religion was essentially demonic, and argued that it had a discernible philosophical basis that was not unlike that of Western religion. He said that he had been pressed to write it, because when his students asked where they could read anything about African religion along the lines he described, the answer was ‘Nowhere’. The book was groundbreaking and transformed the study of the subject, even though it was criticised later for suggesting the parallels were too close. But his book was based on massive
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The Journal field-work; and the study of religion in Africa, and particularly Christianity in Africa, would never be the same again. In 1974 he was appointed Principal of the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. Mbiti left Bossey in 1980, and became Professor of Theology at the University of Bern (1983-2003). In retirement he was parish minister in Bergdorf for 15 years. During this time he translated the Bible into Kikamba, his native Kenyan dialect, which was published in 2014. He was given the Archbishop’s Award for Peace and Justice by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 2016. He died on 5 October 2019, receiving tributes from the President of Kenya and the Archbishop of Canterbury. John Mbiti was without doubt one of the most distinguished theologians to be a member of Fitzwilliam.
DOUGLAS ALEXANDER MCMURTRIE (1954) 80
Douglas MacMurtrie was born on 5 June 1933 in Highgate, London, and he was educated at William Ellis School. He came to Fitzwilliam, after doing military service in the Army, 1952-54 to read Geography in 1954. While at Fitzwilliam he rowed in the Second Boat, and graduated in 1956. He went into teaching and secured a post as Assistant Geography Master at Borehamwood Grammar School, Hertfordshire. He changed his name to ‘McMurtrie’ in 2002, and died in September 2020.
STEWART OSWALD MITCHELL (1954) Stewart Mitchell was born on 23 March 1925 at Foxholes, St Austell, Cornwall, and was educated at Camden High School and the Cambridgeshire Technical College and School of Art. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1954 to read English as a supernumerary student (i.e.
in his spare time while continuing his day job). Stewart nevertheless found time to become involved in FitzTheatre and the Marlowe Society, having produced plays for the Technical College for several years. He graduated in 1957, and secured a post at the Residential Staff College of the North Western Gas Board in Manchester. In 1960 he moved to London as Manager of Staff Sales Training and Services at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) Company. He moved to Bull Holmes (Management) Ltd in 1984. Moving to the south coast after retiring in 1990, he died in Eastbourne in May 2020.
TIMOTHY ALEXANDER MORGAN (1990) Tim Morgan was born on 15 September 1971 in London and was educated at Winchester College. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1990 to read Social & Political Sciences, though he quickly changed to Modern & Medieval Languages (Spanish and Portuguese). After spending his year abroad in Brazil and graduating in 1994 with a double first, he joined Barings Bank, which posted him to São Paulo where he survived the bank’s collapse and acquisition by ING Bank in 1995. A decade at Goldman Sachs followed, fuelled by Tim’s knowledge and understanding of Brazil. He left in 2008 to found Buick Capital Partners, which became Northern Lights Alternative Advisors in 2014. However, his diagnosis with a terminal illness at the age of 43 gave him a reason to shunt all these achievements to one side and immerse himself fully in what really mattered to him: his family and his friendships. Tim was a devoted son and an adoring brother to Nini who also studied at Fitzwilliam (1992). He met his wife Hilary on election night in 1997. They shared a great deal but particularly a love of music, which later had a
magical influence on life with their children Molly and William. Tim managed to perform with his band Crisis well after illness had taken its toll. He also loved sailing and, to the surprise of all who knew him, became a passionate and proficient footballer, thanks in no small part to William’s love of the game. The truth is that Tim’s intelligence and innate talents enabled him to succeed at anything to which he turned his mind. He also had a deep fascination for people. His friends remember him as warm, kind, energetic, loyal and an astonishingly good listener. He died on 7 November 2019 aged 48.
THE REVD DR NORMAN EDGAR NAGEL (1957) Norman Nagel was born on 30 September 1925 in Kuling, Kiangsi, China where his parents were Lutheran missionaries, He was educated at Concordia College, Adelaide, the University of Adelaide, and Concordia Seminary, Adelaide, from which he transferred to Concordia Seminary, St Louis, USA, followed in succession by Kings College, London, and the University of Erlangen. He came to Cambridge in 1957 to undertake research on the relationship between Christology and the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper in Luther. He graduated in 1962. He was principally responsible for the establishment of Westfield House as a Lutheran House of Study in Cambridge, while he was pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church, and became its first Preceptor. From Cambridge he went to be Professor of Theology and Dean of Chapel at Valparaiso University, Indiana; and in 1983 he moved to St Louis, Kentucky, as Professor of Systematic Theology, from which post he retired in 2006. He published an English translation of Werner Elert’s Eucharist and Church Fellowship in 1966, and later translated a collection of essays by Herman Sasse; he also
published two volumes of sermons and numerous articles. Two Festschriften were published in his honour, in 1990 and 2015. He died on 8 October 2019, leaving a wife, three sons and their families.
THE REVD PETER HENRY NEWELL (1952) Peter Newell was born on 11 July 1927 at Epping, and was educated at Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet. He came to Fitzwilliam as a member of Cheshunt College in 1952 to read Theology. He graduated in 1955, having been a member of the Boat Club while an undergraduate. After completing ordination training, he became minister of Stockwell Green Congregational Church in London. In 1961 he became Chaplain to the British Sailors’ Society and in 1977 he moved to Upminster United Reformed Church, where he remained until retirement in 1992. In retirement he moved to Bristol, where he died on 5 July 2020.
THOMAS PHILIP NICHOLAS (1960) (with appreciation to Mary Nicholas) Phil Nicholas was born on 28 January 1942 in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, and was educated at Amman Valley Grammar School. In 1960 he won a state scholarship to Fitzwilliam and read Mathematics in his first year, before changing to Civil Engineering. Because of his prowess in tennis at college level and table tennis at university level he was given a room in Fitzwilliam Street, where Charles Darwin had lodged. Tourists often took photographs of him through his window, which greatly amused him. As well as singing in the choir at Fitzwilliam, he sang in the choir of the local parish church. Choral Evensong at King’s was a highlight when his fiancée, Mary, visited
him. Throughout his life music was very dear to him whether playing the guitar, singing in operas, or listening to male voice choirs at rousing internationals. Rugby was a passion with him, especially if Wales won! In 1963 Philip graduated and then worked for three years at an engineering firm in Cardiff. He designed a reservoir amongst other things. During that time he felt increasingly drawn to social work, and that led to two further academic courses at Swansea and Cardiff Universities. After a year at a rehabilitation school for juvenile offenders, Philip entered the Probation Service, a career he enjoyed immensely for most of his working life. An eminent colleague of the time was Mark Drakeford, currently First Minister of the Welsh Assembly. In 1972 he was elected Chair of the National Association of Probation Officers for Wales and was the youngest senior probation officer in Wales at that time. The role of Probation Officer carried a degree of kudos in the community at large, as they worked in close collaboration with the criminal court and family court services, involving as these did close contact with judges and magistrates on a regular basis. Philip loved the close contact with clients the job then entailed. Later the switch to computer-based emphasis was one he regretted, and he retired from the service in 1997. Immediately he left Probation he was asked to lead the Family Mediation Service in Cardiff, and this he did until he retired aged 73. A highlight of this time was when as Chairman of the Committee he welcomed Baroness Brenda Hale to an evening celebrating the service’s contribution. He found her a charming and unassuming guest. For a further three years he was a counsellor at a counselling service conducted on Christian
lines called Cardiff Concern. It is currently known as Concern Cymru, a name Philip suggested. It offers advice on all kinds of issues, to both adults and children, on a voluntary basis, as and when clients can afford to pay. Many GPs referred their patients to the Service. Despite a legacy left by a founder member, greater funding is now needed to keep it effective as the demands made upon it have increased recently. Philip’s skills lay often in helping people to reconcile. One colleague writes: ‘he almost demanded – in the loveliest way – to reconcile’. Throughout his life, Philip was a committed church member and also treasurer at two churches. He was the father of four, grandfather of eight, and great-grandfather of two. He and his wife Mary travelled the world extensively and only omitted Antarctica in their travels. They were schoolchildren together and were married for fifty-four years. He died on 6 April 2020.
JEREMY KEVIN GARETH LANE NICHOLS (1962) Jeremy Nichols was born on 20 May 1943 at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, and was educated at Lancing College. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1962 to read English (having turned down offers from five London Medical Schools to read Medicine, after deciding that he was not good enough at Biology A-level to continue). He was an active member of Fitzwilliam as a soccer player, a member of the Dramatic Society and as an athlete for which he gained a half-Blue in his second year. He also played cricket. He spent a profitable year at the University of Perugia between Parts I and II of the Tripos, and graduated in 1966. He obtained a temporary post at Rugby School, before moving to Eton in 1967. As a strong Christian he ran Eton’s branch of Amnesty International, and was known as a stickler for
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form and accurate pronunciation, whilst following the pattern laid down in F.R. Leavis’s Great Tradition. In 1981 he took over a House that needed attention and surprised everyone by the speed with which he turned it round by his combination of verve, wit, clear sense of right and wrong and a belief that the boys mattered more than the rules. These qualities were clearly needed when he arrived at Stowe as headmaster in 1989. The family atmosphere cultivated by himself and his wife dealt with one aspect of school life, whilst his 1924 green racing Bentley, which he had had since an undergraduate, conveyed the other side of his personality. He certainly spent himself while at Stowe, perhaps illustrated by development of cardiac problems in his later years, culminating in a heart attack on the day the family were due to move out from the Headmaster’s House. They retired to Cornwall, where they immediately busied themselves in the local community. His wife, Annie, died of cancer in 2009, bringing on a ‘deep gloom’, relieved by meeting Katherine, whom he married in 2013. He had another heart attack in 2019, and died of heart failure on 8 August 2020.
PROFESSOR THOMAS GORDON NORTHCOTE (1955) Thomas Northcote was born on 16 December 1928 in Mission City, British Columbia, Canada, and was educated at the University of British Columbia (BA and MA). After his BA in British Columbia, he worked on the BC lake survey, which confirmed his interest in fisheries and fresh water ecology. He completed his MA in 1952, and joined the research section of the BC Fish and Wildlife Branch, situated on the UBC campus. After meeting and marrying his wife, Heather, in the Zoology Department, he enrolled on the PhD programme, and in 1955 he took a year’s leave of absence
on a UBC scholarship to attend Cambridge for a year’s study on fish behaviour with Sir James Gray. He came to Fitzwilliam for this time, and afterwards returned to complete his PhD in 1958 in the Fish and Wildlife Branch and the Zoology Department, where he was a faculty member, introducing a 4th year course in limnology (fresh water ecology), which he taught annually until retiring in 1992. In the 1960s he developed an interest in inland waters, attending symposia in the Americas, Europe and Japan: in 1972 he ceased to be a director in the Fish and Wildlife Research division, and became a full-time faculty member at UBC, dividing his time between Zoology, the newly established Westwater Research Institute and the Faculty of Forestry. With various colleagues he completed a multi-disciplinary study of the Lower Fraser River Valley and estuary, noting the impact of human development on the Salmonid fishery. This led to another lifetime commitment – teaching a course on forestry/ fisheries interaction. After his retirement he and his wife moved to Summerland, BC, where he continued to study the ecology of several lakes in the Okanagan Valley, including Mahoney Lake, whose preservation as an ecological reserve he had secured in 1972. He published more research articles (more than 275 in all) and received many national and international awards, culminating in the Habitat Conservation Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lt Governor of BC in 2004. Tom died peacefully in the presence of his wife and three sons on 24 April 2017.
JOHN NOEL PILLING (1954) Noel Pilling was born on 18 April 1936 in Reedley, Burnley, Lancashire, and was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1954
to read Mechanical Sciences, but transferred to the Engineering Studies Course after his first year. As an undergraduate he was a member of the Boat Club and the Billygoats – he took part in the Over-60s row at the 2014 Reunion Weekend. He graduated in 1957. We have no information as to his subsequent career, but he married and had two daughters, the elder of whom was a student at Fitzwilliam, His wife died suddenly in 2015, and he moved to live with his younger daughter on the Isle of Skye, where he died on 3 May 2020.
PROFESSOR ALEXANDER POULOVASSILIS (1959) Alexander Poulovassilis was born on 15 December 1928 in Tripolis, Greece, and was educated at the Agricultural University of Athens. Poulovassilis was a distinguished Soil Physicist who did his undergraduate degree at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA). He came to Fitzwilliam in 1959 to do research on soil physics in the Department of Agriculture under Dr Ernest Childs, His PhD research was on hydrostatics and hydrodynamics in porous media and he was awarded it in 1962. After five years in Greece as a research scientist and Lecturer at AUA, he returned to the Soil Physics Unit in 1967 to collaborate again with Dr Childs and other colleagues, gaining promotion to the grade of Principal Scientific Officer. He continued to research the statics and dynamics of water in porous media and his duties included the supervision of several PhD students of the University. During 1972-73 he also served as Advisor of the International Atomic Energy Agency at the Agricultural Research Institute of Cyprus. In 1977 he was appointed Professor of Agricultural Hydraulics at the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), and during 1982-91 he served three successive terms as
Principal of the AUA. In 1985 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the International Center of Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA). He was a Fellow of the Agricultural Academy of Greece, and its President during 2010-12. He remained an active Emeritus Professor at the AUA into his 90s, continuing to conduct original research and to publish scientific articles. Professor Poulovassilis’ work is reported in over 80 articles many of which have been cited extensively by other researchers. He supervised 12 PhD theses and led 15 research projects funded by the EU and Greek government addressing agricultural and environmental issues, including in the municipality of Asini where he was made an Honorary Citizen in 2003 and which is his final resting place. He died on 28 January 2020 and is survived by his wife Spyridoula, and his children Alexandra and Apostolos.
GERARD BENJAMIN RAWLINGS (1960) Ben Rawlings was born on 17 May 1940 in Tokyo, Japan, and was educated at Oundle School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1960 to read Mechanical Sciences. While in Cambridge he was a member of the Boat Club. Unfortunately he failed the Preliminary Examination at the end of his first year, and went down without a degree. Nevertheless he was able to develop a career as a computer programmer and management consultant. He died on 11 May 2020, leaving a wife and married daughter.
PROFESSOR BARRIE GORDON ROBERT REYNOLDS (1951) Barrie Reynolds was born on 8 July 1932 in Lewisham, London, and was educated at Archbishop Tenison’s Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1951 to read Anthropology and Archaeology,
graduating in 1954. Initially his professional career was in museums. Beginning with a post as Keeper of Ethnography at the Livingstone Museum in Zambia, he undertook an MSc at Cambridge while on leave, focusing on anthropology in Zambia, and gained the MSc in 1962. He returned to Zambia as Director of the Livingstone Museum, and did further work in order to gain a DPhil at Linacre College, Oxford (1967). He then spent a year in Canada with the Vancouver Museum as Chief Curator, followed by a year with the National Museums of Canada as Chief Ethnologist. In 1975 he moved to the James Cook University, Queensland, Australia as the Foundation Professor of Material Culture. He retired to the Blue Mountains, 100 km west of Sydney, in 1997 where he began to write up his backlog of research material, including a biography of an early anthropologist, Walter Edmund Roth. He died on 3 November 2019, leaving a wife and married daughter.
DR GEOFFREY ROBSON (1956) Geoff Robson was born on 23 November 1932 in Gatesheadon-Tyne, and was educated at Gateshead Grammar School, Darlington Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth, and University College, Durham. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1956 as a member of Wesley House to read Theology, graduating in 1958 with first class honours. He went into the Newbury circuit on probation and was ordained in 1960. Whilst serving in West Hartlepool he was a member of the Education Committee (he had been an Education Officer in the RAF on National Service) and did some unpaid teaching in a primary school in Throckley, just outside Newcastle. He was asked to join the staff of a Teacher Training College for mature students and was given
a full-time post in History and Religious Studies, resigning from the Methodist ministry in 1984. It was a lively and innovative college, which was closed to merge with the local Polytechnic. He and one or two colleagues resigned and went to Westhill College, Birmingham, where he also did a PhD with Professor Hugh McLeod (later published as Dark Satanic Mills? in 2002). At Westhill he became deputy director of a resource and in-service training centre for teachers covering much of the Midlands. In 1979 he was invited to join HM Inspectorate of Schools, in which he served with some splendid colleagues. When the Inspectorate was abolished in 1992, he was Staff Inspector for Religious Education and Ethnic Diversity. He secured an initial contract with the National Curriculum Council, and after that was also abolished he did various jobs including publishing books for school pupils based on ethnographic research into the upbringing of children in different faith communities. He then worked with the Education Team at Derby Cathedral, trying out bright ideas with school pupils. He was asked to be Exhibitions Officer and ran a small art gallery in the basement of the Cathedral Centre, and remained on the team into his 80s. He had a heart operation in 2016, and died on 29 March 2020.
DR JOHN RAYMOND SHAW (1964) Ray Shaw was born in Chester on 15 April 1942, and was educated at the Helsby County Grammar School for boys and University College of Swansea. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1964 to read for the Diploma in Agricultural Economics, which he obtained in 1965. He stayed on to do research, for which he was awarded an MSc in 1969. During his time at Fitzwilliam he played regularly for the college soccer team. He took a post in the Department
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The Journal of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nottingham, but most of the rest of his career was spent travelling and working abroad, making it difficult to stay in touch. After retirement in 2007 contact was resumed. He died in September 2019.
KEITH JOHN PENISTONE SLATER (1964)
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Keith Slater was born on 4 December 1944 in Leeds, and was educated at Roundhay School, Leeds, and Hymers College, Hull. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1964 to read Mathematics, but changed to Economics after Part I. He was a regular player for the College at Rugby in his first year, and gained a Blue for Rugby Union in 1964. After graduating in 1967 he became a Management Trainee with Yorkshire Imperial Metals, where he worked until 1974, moving subsequently to Burton Group until 1986. He went to Lonrho Textiles in 1988, before becoming Director and owner of Caprese Ltd (19992020), and a non-executive director of Ngage Business Solutions (200007), the Thames Valley Chamber (2000-03) and Oxfordshire Economic Partnerships (2006-07). He never really retired, but set up an annual gift to cover the cost of the Sports Personality of the Year award, and also presented a new cup for the best Fitz sports team of the year in 2016. He died on 30 July 2020, leaving a wife, two sons and four grandchildren.
JOHN CHARLES SMALL (1969) John Small was born on 25 September 1949 in Nairobi, Kenya, and was educated as a boarder at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1969 to read Geography, graduating in 1972. He joined Ford as a trainee in their financial analysis section, and qualified as a Management
Accountant. In 1977 he went to Papua New Guinea on a Commonwealth Development Corporation oil-palm project before returning to the UK for the birth of his first son. In 1982 he joined another CDC project, a sugar company in Western Kenya, and then relocated to Nairobi because of lack of suitable schooling. He worked for an international company for fifteen years, the last seven of which were as CEO. This led him to the local board of the Eastern Africa Association, established in 1964 to represent the interests of foreign investors in the region. Returning to the UK in 1999 he was offered the position of CEO of the EAA, which he occupied for 20 years. He made it into an effective bridge between investors, local officials, UK diplomatic missions and international bodies such as the World Bank and the IMF. Effectively he filled the gap left by the cuts in government funding for export promotion trips: he gathered groups of British businesspeople on tours inland, with gruelling itineraries, always conducted with unfailing courtesy, attention to logistics and an evident love and respect for the people of Africa, whether government ministers or waiters and doormen. His last investment mission in February 2020 was to Djibouti on the Red Sea, a gateway port for Ethiopia and other landlocked territories. He always believed that private sector investment, rather than Aid, was the most sustainable route out of poverty for African countries. He was a Brexit campaigner, a low handicap golfer and former captain of the Karen Country Club in Nairobi, and Secretary of the Oxford and Cambridge Club in Kenya. He died on 14 July 2020, leaving a wife and three sons.
ALAN MERVYN STARLING (1955) Alan Starling was born on 3 July 1936 in Cromer, and was educated at the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1955 to read Natural Sciences, graduating in 1958. As an undergraduate he played badminton for Fitzwilliam, but was taken ill with rheumatic fever at the end of his second year. He recovered to take a PGCE in 1960, and spent the remainder of his career in teaching, eventually becoming Deputy Head of Seaford Head School in East Sussex. He retired to the Cambridge area and died on 25 April 2020, leaving a wife and one married son.
JOHN STIRLING (1952) John Stirling was born on 4 February 1934 in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Scarborough Boys’ High School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1952 to read Natural Sciences. At Fitzwilliam John played hockey and rugby and was a member of MethSoc, where he conducted the choir. He graduated in 1955, and taught science at Shuttleworth Agricultural College for a short while, before returning to Yorkshire and teaching at Northallerton Grammar School. He was appointed Head of Mathematics at Yorebridge Grammar School, Askrigg and later at The Wensleydale School, Leyburn. He settled in the Yorkshire Dales with his wife and family and took early retirement from teaching in 1987 to start a small woodturning business. He enjoyed a long and active retirement, continuing his involvement in village life and pursuing his many interests and hobbies. He died on 1 June 2020, leaving a wife and three married children, with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
JOHN WILLIAM SYMONDS (1951) John Symonds was born on 15 August 1930 in Over, Cambridgeshire and was educated at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1951 to read History, graduating in 1954. After securing a PGCE he went into teaching initially in Haywards Heath, and then for eight years in Malaya and Ghana. In 1965 he became a Lecturer in War Studies at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and six years later was appointed Head of History at Churchers College, Petersfield, where he remained until retiring in 1991. He remained active in the Historical Association, the Western Front Society (Portsmouth branch) and the Winchester Militaria Society. He also wrote an autobiography and an unpublished account of the Fitzwilliam war dead in the First and Second World Wars as well as other local histories. He died on 16 February 2020, leaving a wife and two married children.
MICHAEL DAVID THOMAS (1971) Mike Thomas was born on 20 March 1953 at Point-a-Pierre, Trinidad, where his father was an oilfield engineer, and after the family moved to Wales he was educated at Pembroke Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1971 to read Natural Sciences, graduating in 1974 in geology. As an undergraduate he was a member of the Boat Club. He then worked in petroleum exploration and development until he retired. Initially he worked for Texaco in Tulsa and Houston, USA. Returning to London in 1976, he went on North Sea exploration rigs. On leaving Texaco in 1977, and following a year with AGIP UK, he joined Clyde Petroleum, moving to Ledbury, Herefordshire
in 1978 – the home base for his subsequent career. Working initially as an exploration/development geologist, he became Chief Geologist, introducing up-to-date computer technology. Five years in the Netherlands followed where he worked in development geology, and later as an Asset Manager in joint ventures. During this period he obtained a Certificate in Management with the UK Open University. When Clyde Petroleum was taken over by Gulf Petroleum he returned to the UK as Business Co-ordinator, and was involved in successful exploration in Yemen. Following the sale of Clyde Petroleum’s UK assets in 1998, he briefly consulted, and then joined Paladin Resources in London as Asset Manager for Romania and Tanzania. He was also involved in UK exploration and was Technical Manager for Paladin’s takeover of BP’s Montrose and Arbroath Fields in 2002. After Paladin’s takeover by Talisman in late 2005 he worked for Dominion Petroleum as Chief Operating Officer, mainly in London. He managed exploration programmes in Tanzania and Uganda, including drilling the first exploration well in the Lake Edward basin of Uganda. In early 2011 he joined Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd in London as operations manager for their Falklands exploration programme, drilling the first two wells in the East Falklands basin in 2012. Falklands’ exploration expanded with the acquisition of Desire Petroleum’s North Falklands’ interests. He left to consult parttime for Wyvern Energy Ltd until late 2017. He fully retired in March 2018 following a diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Mike was a Fellow of the Geological Society and a Chartered Geologist. Whilst on the Petroleum Group Committee he was a co-editor for the UK Oil and Gas Fields 25 Years Commemorative Volume, and convened a follow-up conference. He co-authored a number of papers
on exploration in Tanzania and Uganda while with Dominion Petroleum. He was chairman of Ledbury Round Table in 1991-92. He married Margaret in 1975, and they had two married children. His interests included Roman archaeology, travel, hill-walking, kayaking and rowing. Following the 2011 College Reunion he became interested in Reunion rowing, and was co-organiser with Brian Smith for 2016 to 2018. He died on 17 August 2020 of motor neurone disease.
DAVID PETER WALKER (1970) David Walker was born on 3 August 1952 at Weedon, Aylesbury, and was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1970 to read Economics and Political Science, graduating in 1973. As an undergraduate he was a member of the Marshall Society and the Political Economy Club. Subsequently he did a PhD in Management at Bradford University, and ended his career as Managing Director of the Credit Suisse group in London. He died on 5 August 2020.
KENNETH JOHN WALKER (1950) Ken Walker was born on 14 April 1930 in Guildford, Surrey, and was educated at Erith County Grammar School, Bexley. He came to Fitzwilliam in 1950 to read Geography, graduating in 1953. While at Fitzwilliam he was a member of the Bridge club and also the Rugby club. He became an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, and spent most of his career in Belgium, where in 1976 he became Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Couronne. He was a part-time Company Director/ Consultant and Deputy Chairman, Provincial Group. In retirement he
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DR GERALD LEON ZEITLIN (1951)
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Gerald Zeitlin was born on 7 March 1931 in London, and was educated at William Ellis School. He had hoped to enrol at the London Hospital, like his father, but was thwarted by the restrictions on the number of Jewish students; so he took a year to qualify for Cambridge matriculation and came to Fitzwilliam to read Medicine in 1951. After graduating in 1954 he went to Oxford to undertake clinical studies, eventually gaining his BChir in 1957 and MB in 1958. At Oxford he was exposed to the burgeoning field of anaesthesia, which became his speciality. He married a young Irish-Jewish violinist, Aideen in 1960. The family emigrated with their children to the USA in 1965. Between private appointments at Lynn, Mass. & Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass, he held academic appointments at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He served a term as President of the Massachusetts Society of Anaesthesiologists, and published several papers on the history of anaesthesia. Gerald enjoyed family life bringing up his three children, Louise, Jonathan and Richard, coaching soccer and spending summers in Cape Cod. In retirement he published a memoir of his professional life, Laughing and Crying about Anaesthesia: a Memoir of Risk and Safety, which is also a history of the subject from its beginnings to the present day. He died on 26 April 2020 at University Hospitals, St John Medical Centre, Westlake, Ohio, leaving his three married children and their families. His wife died in 2014.
THE FITZWILLIAM SOCIETY FITZWILLIAM SOCIETY COMMITTEE 2020-21 President
Judith Bunting
Vice-Presidents Geoff Harrison (1955) Professor Brian Johnson FRS (ex officio) Professor Robert Lethbridge (ex officio) The Reverend Professor David Thompson John Adams (1958) Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE (1971) Professor Nicola Padfield QC (ex officio) Dr John Cleaver Dame Sarah Asplin DBE (1979) Baroness Sally Morgan (Master) (ex officio) Zoë Shaw (1979) Secretary
Peter Howard (1970)
Treasurer
Robin Bell (1965)
Editor of the Journal & Development Director
Dr Nicola Jones (ex officio)
Bursar
Rod Cantrill (ex officio)
Senior Tutor
Dr Paul Chirico (ex officio)
Elected Members Retiring 2021 Peter Bates (1959) Rachael Webb (1979) Susannah Odell (2011) Retiring 2022 Professor Glen Norcliffe (1962) Andrew Garden (1981) Judith Bunting (1979) Retiring 2023 James Harrington (2008) Matt Bennison (2008) Dr Helen Bettinson (1982) JCR Presidents
Andrew Salkeld (2018) [President 2019-20] Ellie Brain (2017) [President 2018-19]
MCR Presidents
Maurits Houck (2018) [President 2020-21] Aisha Sobey (2017) [President 2019-20]
Given the unusual turn of 2019-20, the Fitzwilliam Society asked Judith Bunting to continue her Presidency until September 2021.
The Fitzwilliam Society was established in 1924. Most of the specific aims for which the Society was established (for example, to keep records of members, publish the Journal and to arrange reunions) have been delegated to the Development Office at the College. The Committee therefore reviewed the role of the Society a few years ago, to ensure that it is useful and productive for members, and to strengthen the links between alumni and students. The Careers Fair and the programme of grants for student activities (see below) resulted from this review The Objectives and Rules of the Society New Objectives and Rules for the Society were adopted at the AGM on 24th September 2011. The objectives of the Society are now particularly focussed on social and business networking and career support, as well as assisting in the development of the College. Support for Student Activities For the last six years, the Society has been making small grants to assist a variety of student activities. Projects supported by grants made in the last 2 years include: • • • •
New TV and sound system for the MCR Heated propagator, compost bin and irrigation timer and kit for the Allotment Society Black History Month celebration Billy Day time capsule and celebration to mark 150 years of Fitz
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The 2019 Annual Careers Fair. Photo: JRAC. The 2020 Fair took place entirely online via Zoom.
All members of the College are automatically members of the Fitzwilliam Society. The Society exists to keep the members of Fitzwilliam College in contact with each other and with the College, to provide social, business and career networking and support, and to further the interests of Fitzwilliam College. To achieve these objectives, the Fitzwilliam Society works with the College to: • publish the Fitzwilliam Journal • fund awards, scholarships, prizes and debates • provide funds to support other student activities • organise the annual Careers Fair • organise events in the UK and overseas More information can be found at www.fitz.cam.ac.uk The Society operates through a Committee and we are always delighted to welcome new members. All members of the Society are eligible to stand for election to the Committee - please contact the Secretary through the Development Office if you are interested in doing so.
The Journal
FITZWILLIAM SOCIETY AGM MINUTES Held via Zoom, hosted from Fitzwilliam College, at 5.30pm on Saturday 26th September 2020 In the absence of the President, the chair was taken by Peter Howard (Secretary) for the first 7 agenda items, and by Baroness Sally Morgan (Master) for items 8 and 9. Others present included Peter Bates, Robin Bell (Treasurer), Ian Bratt, Rodney Burton, Rod Cantrill (Bursar-Elect), Dr Paul Chirico (Senior Tutor), Dr John Cleaver (Journal Editor), Dan George, Paul Gibson, David Glass, Maurits Houck, Dr Nicola Jones (Development Director), Michael Lee, Ted Parton, Andrew Powell (Bursar), Jeremy Prescott, Chris Salt, Zoë Shaw, Nigel Stapleton, Neil Walker, Doug Webb and Rachael Webb 1. Apologies for absence Apologies were received from Professor Nicola Padfield, Professor Brian Johnson, Professor Robert Lethbridge, Geoff Harrison, Judith Bunting (President) and Dame Sarah Asplin. 2. Secretary’s Report The report by the Secretary, which had been provided before the meeting, was accepted.
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3. Treasurer’s Report and Accounts The report by the Treasurer and the accounts, both of which had been provided before the meeting, were accepted. Dr Jones expressed thanks to the Independent Examiner who had checked and approved the accounts. 4. Report on the Fitzwilliam Society Trust Fund A report by the Senior Tutor had been provided before the meeting. Dr Chirico said that the awards reward students for hard work and also help fund some interesting projects.There are some gaps this year; not all the usual scholarships were awarded, because assessment arrangements in Cambridge had been changed due to the pandemic, and generally only final year students were classed. Also, fewer Milner Walton awards had been made as some of the activities which they fund could not take place this summer. Dr Jones mentioned the discussion in the recent committee meeting about the Society’s separate programme of grants for student activities, and the need to give students particular support in the forthcoming academic year. There could be some interesting opportunities. These will be explored in conjunction with the JCR and the MCR, and thought will be given to the support that students will need in the Michaelmas term; there is much concern about the risk of students feeling isolated due to being confined to their rooms for long periods. She mentioned a suggestion by the Master to consider holding online cookery classes.
5. Election of President and other Officers Judith Bunting (proposed by Dr Jones. seconded by Peter Bates) was re-elected President for 2020-21. The Master, Baroness Sally Morgan, (proposed by Robin Bell. seconded by Peter Bates) was elected President for 2021-22. Peter Bates proposed that Peter Howard and Robin Bell be re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer. The proposal was seconded by Zoë Shaw and Rachael Webb, and both were re-elected. Dr Jones asked that thanks to both for their work be recorded. The Secretary reported that Dr John Cleaver had decided to step down from the position of Journal Editor at the end of the month. He expressed thanks, on behalf of the Society, for the magnificent job that John had done for the last 16 years, and proposed that Dr Nicola Jones be elected to succeed him. The proposal was seconded by Rachel Webb and Zoë Shaw, and Dr Jones was elected to serve as the new Journal Editor. 6. Election of Committee Members Rachael Webb proposed that Matthew Bennison, James Harrington and Dr Helen Bettinson each be re-elected for a further 3 years. The proposal was seconded by Dr Jones, and all three were re-elected. 7. Election of Independent Examiner Roger Smith FCA (proposed by Peter Howard and seconded by Robin Bell) was re-elected as the Independent Examiner. 8. Open Discussion - the Society and its relationship with students, past, present and future The Master took the chair. She mentioned that the recent committee meeting had agreed that the Society should aim for more involvement of students and alumni across the generations, and invited Maurits Houck, the MCR President, to comment on how students view the Society. His feedback was positive; he personally regards a termly subscription of £8 as worth paying, although the Society should review and perhaps revise how the money is spent. He praised the Grants scheme which helps enrich College life. He would like to see more effort to maintain contact with former students for at least 5 years after they leave, and to see more international students join the committee. Zoë Shaw suggested the Society could benefit from some input from alumni with marketing experience, as its current approach to raising its profile seems rather amateurish, and having a professional on the committee would help. She agreed with Maurits Houck that involvement of a greater range of alumni cohorts would benefit the Society and make it more dynamic. She is particularly keen to identify alumni with the skills and willingness to put on regional events.
Dr Jones said that there had been discussions with other colleges about their approaches to alumni relations and events. Some colleges leave everything to their development offices, and some have only recently recruited professional development staff. Emmanuel operates in a similar manner to Fitzwilliam, but has more capacity and runs a wide range of regional events. She would like to see more small scale events, perhaps arranged by alumni but with administrative support from the College. She referred to Maurits Houck’s point about contact between the College and recent graduates, and mentioned a recent initiative, a young alumni themed careers event held in a pub with support from Zoë Shaw. About 30 older alumni had acted as mentors, and several groups of students were invited about three years after graduating. It was a success and she thought that the idea could be developed further. The Master said that Girton used alumni who had graduated within the last decade to run careers events, and Fitzwilliam could do something similar in the forthcoming academic year using Zoom. For example, students who are interested in a civil service career might be invited to question and answer sessions with some fairly recent alumni who work in the civil service and might be asked to give an hour of their time. This would help the students and also result in more engagement with the alumni. Rachael Webb mentioned efforts to do something similar a few years ago using LinkedIn, enabling recent graduates to contact alumni for careers advice. Dr Jones thought it had worked quite well. A reasonable number of students had signed up to this when they graduated, and there was also a fairly good response from alumni who are currently working. But it had not always been easy to move this to the next stage and actually make conversations happen, although it has not been possible to monitor this. Perhaps some professional help is needed here. The Bursar emphasized that the Society is a network; he said that, when he was at London Business School, no class was allowed to leave without one member of it signing up as a class representative. This sort of institutionalized approach might be easier than seeking out alumni who are interested, and doubtless some people each year would be interested in taking part. The Master suggested that a start be made now, aiming to secure one person from those graduating this year and also one from last year. Advice from someone who has recently been through the job application process will be more valuable than advice from someone who did this many years ago. Peter Bates commented that graduates now seemed much keener to keep in touch with the College than had been the case when he graduated from Fitzwilliam House 58 years ago. He had had little contact with the College until one of his daughters turned 16, after which
he had attended the Reunion every year. Dr Jones mentioned that the annual telephone campaign is in its first week, so many alumni will shortly receive a call. It might sound cheeky to talk to them about their work but from conversations this morning it is clear that contact from the College really means something to them at the moment, when many are feeling very unsettled. Showing interest in what they are doing is very reassuring to some of the recent graduates. The Senior Tutor said that undergraduates have events to help them remain connected to the College after graduating. The MA dinner attracts a large proportion of each year group to return 3 or 4 years after graduating, thus helping to re-establish connections. But there is no equivalent for graduates and thought should be given to doing something about this. There had been some ad hoc reunions and this could be developed. Maurits Houck agreed. Being invited back for the first time only after 10 years leaves a long gap. There is now an opportunity to use Zoom to keep in touch with the whole range of alumni. There was a recent event where the MCR President of 10 years back was invited to return and that went down very well. He would like to do something similar involving earlier generations, including alumni who had attended Fitzwilliam House. The Master summarized the main points which came out of the discussion: • Networks are powerful, and there are several different but overlapping networks. • Functions of the Society are social and support. No need to be pessimistic about the forthcoming year. Opportunities to do more rather than less - using Zoom is easier than trying to persuade people to return physically. • She likes Maurits’ idea of looking at the full range of our alumni and identifying those who would like to talk to current graduate students. • A simple careers advice process using Zoom more effectively should be explored, and she will discuss this with Judith Bunting. • More reunion events for graduates. • Learning from other colleges about planning regional activities, etc. 9. Any other business Dr Jones said the Careers Fair will almost certainly go ahead this year, albeit remotely. But this does not have to be a single event only. Smaller events could take place throughout the year, perhaps even fortnightly, as well as the large annual event. This can be discussed with the Strategy group. Andrew Powell, the Bursar, said this was his last meeting and thanked the Society for having him over the last few
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The Journal years. He had enjoyed working with other committee members and helping to move the Society’s work forward. He wished the Society, and his successor Rod Cantrill, all the best for the future. The Master expressed very fulsome thanks to Andrew. The meeting closed at 6.22 pm Minutes prepared by Peter Howard, Secretary, and approved and signed by the Master, Baroness Sally Morgan Copies of the Treasurer’s and Secretary’s Annual Reports can be viewed here: https://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/alumni/ get-involved/fitzwilliam-society
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T HE F IT ZWIL L IA M SOCIET Y INCOME & EXPENDIT UR E A CCOUNT - y ea r en d ed 31 Ju ly 2020 N otes
2020
2019
I n come Subscriptions Donations received
1 2
14,536.00 827.00 15,363.00
14,928.00 857.00 15,785.00
E xpen di tu re London Dinner-Society guests Fitzwilliam Journal - share of costs Careers Fair refreshments and CF booklets Magazines for JMA Student café Grants to MCR and JCR
3 4 5 6 7
11,863.00 445.91 627.99 1,455.00 14,391.90 £971.10
255.00 10,526.00 83.99 2,117.50 12,982.49 £2,802.51
8
40,043.67
39,072.57
N et As s ets
£40,043.67
£39,072.57
Repres en ted by : Accumulated fund at 1 August 2019 Surplus for the year 2019-20
39,072.57 971.10
36,270.06 2,802.51
Accumulated fund at 31 July 2020
£40,043.67
£39,072.57
Su rpl u s for th e y ea r
BA L A NCE SHEET - a t 31 Ju ly 2020 As s ets Loan to Fitzwilliam College
N O TE S TO TH E AC C O U N TS: 1. The subscriptions shown above are those received in the period from members currently at the College. Subscription levels were reviewed in 2014-15, with all students (JCR and MCR) now paying on an equivalent basis. 2. Donations received from members of the Society towards costs of printing the Journal and the Careers brochure. 3. The London Dinner was cancelled due to Covid-19, and no costs were incurred. 4. The Society and the College now share the cost of printing/distributing the Fitzwilliam Journal to those members of the College who are members of the Society. The College's current contribution of 57% (2019: 55%) will continue to rise. In 2020 the Society's contribution of £11,863 was 43% of the total cost (45% last year). The delayed funding formula review is now due before the end of July 2021 following digitisation of the Journal. 5. The Careers' Fair refreshment costs were funded by the Society for the first time (£446) 6. For a range of titles in the Student Café. 7. The Society made five grants (total £1,455) to the MCR and JCR, deferring two others into 2020-21 8. The Society's assets are on loan interest-free to Fitzwilliam College, to the benefit of the Society's Trust fund at the College. The fund supports the College by awarding scholarships and prizes, funding research awards and the Milner Walton Music & Drama Awards, and an annual library grant.
R obin G Bell, Hon or a r y T r ea s u r er
26 August 2020
H O N O RARY I N D E P E N D E N T E X AMI N E R' S RE P O RT I have examined the Income & Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 July 2020 and the Balance Sheet at that date together with the records and vouchers of the Society, and confirm them to be in accordance therewith.
R og er N Smith , In d ep en d en t Exa min er
27 August 2020
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