Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Contents Welcome from the President
Page 3
SECTION ONE: THE COLLEGE YEAR Bursar’s report
Page 4
Domestic Bursar’s report
Page 5
Senior Tutor’s report
Page 6
Admissions Director’s report
Page 7
Development Director’s report
Page 8
Librarian’s report
Page 9
Our garden and the garden party
Page 10
Staff news
Page 12
SECTION TWO: THE STUDENT YEAR News from our students
Page 14
Graduate Research Day
Page 19
General Admission 2016
Page 20
July Graduation 2016
Page 22
SECTION THREE: SPECIAL EVENTS Where are the Women?
Page 24
Visiting speakers
Page 26
The Fiction Prize
Page 28
SECTION FOUR: SPORTS AND LEISURE Rowing report
Page 30
Other sports
Page 32
Our choirs
Page 34
SECTION FIVE: NEWS FROM OUR FELLOWS New Honorary Fellows
Page 36
New Fellows and Research Fellows
Page 37
Resident and Research Fellows
Page 38
SECTION SIX: NEWS FROM OUR ALUMNAE News from Alumnae
Page 44
IN MEMORIAM: Dame Anne Warburton
Page 46
Mrs Ursula Lyons
Page 48
Mrs Mary Dezille
Page 50
Ms Sylvia Howard
Page 50
Ms Jean Beard
Page 50
SECTION SEVEN: DONORS
Annual Review 2015/16 Editor: Kate Coghlan Photographs: Martin Bond, Kate Coghlan, Gemma Maitland and Chris Reeve Design: Cameron 01284 725292 | Print: Ciconi Ltd
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ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge CB3 0BU | 01223 768426 www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk | development@lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk Twitter @LucyCavColl | Facebook @LucyCavCollege
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Welcome to a new chapter Jackie Ashley, 8th President of Lucy Cavendish College WELCOME TO A NEW CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF LUCY CAVENDISH COLLEGE, AND A REDESIGNED ANNUAL REVIEW TO REFLECT OUR CHANGES. I was lucky enough to join the College as President last year, when events to mark the 50th anniversary were in full swing. There was much to celebrate, and we enjoyed looking back to see how far we have come. I am personally grateful to everyone in College who has made me feel so welcome and helped me to overcome the culture shock of moving from Westminster politics to Cambridge. We have had a hugely exciting year, with a major conference on ‘Where are the Women?’ featuring 20 top-name women speakers, and features on Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ and BBC 1’s ‘The One Show’. All of this has helped boost the profile of Lucy Cavendish, not only in Cambridge but in the wider world. Feedback from students and alumnae has been fantastic. I have welcomed three new Honorary Fellows to the College; the writer Ali Smith, who gave us a wonderful evening of readings from her works; Lucy Cavendish alumna Professor Jane Clarke FRS, Senior Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry and the legendary tennis player Martina Navratilova. Martina spent a day with us, joining the CUWBC boat for a spin on the river before talking to us about her life, her tennis and her politics. She had a film crew in tow and her induction at Lucy Cavendish made a splendid end to a documentary about her life, which was shown on BBC 2 just ahead of Wimbledon fortnight. Our students have achieved great academic success this year, with 12 Firsts and 50 Upper Seconds. We have moved up three places in the Tompkins table, thanks to our Tutorial Team, Directors of Studies and of course, the hard work of the students themselves. Lucy Cavendish has also excelled in sport this year, with the Boat Club winning the Michell Cup for the best overall performance on the river. The many bumps achieved were celebrated at the annual bumps party at Red House Lane Meadow. The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize has gone from strength to strength, with a record 484 entries this year and a stellar judging panel including Dame Margaret Drabble, Professor Steven Connor and Allison Pearson. The prize was won by Clare Askew for her novel Three Rivers. We are already planning next year’s Prize when judges will include Gwyn Williams, Controller BBC Radio 4 and the novelists Linda Grant and Sophie Hannah. We sadly said some goodbyes to Fellows who have contributed hugely to the College over the years: Dr Astrid Gall has gone to take up a position at Imperial College, Dr Emily Tomlinson has left us to join Christ’s College, and Dr Fiona Walter and Ms Sue Brindley both felt their time as Fellows of Lucy Cavendish had come to a natural end. We are delighted to welcome Dr Isabel Clare, Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen, Dr Annette Mahon, Dr Karen Ottewell, Dr Helen Roche and Ms Sarah Westwood to the Fellowship. We now start our second half-century as a College - watch out for New Beginnings, but rest assured that Lucy Cavendish will always retain its unique warm, inclusive and inspiring atmosphere.
ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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THE COLLEGE YEAR
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Laying financial foundations for the future Report by Bursar, Lesley Thompson I REALLY ENJOY MEETING STUDENTS DURING THE YEAR AT FORMAL HALL AND OTHER EVENTS AND AM FREQUENTLY ASKED, “WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE BURSAR DO?”
I really enjoy meeting students during the year at Formal Hall and other events and am frequently asked, “What exactly does the Bursar do?” I explain that my remit includes Finance, Estates, IT, Human Resources, Health & Safety, Pensions and Insurance, primarily at a strategic level. Overall, the sense that I try to convey is that our overriding aim is to move the College forward, providing the very best that we can for our students, Fellows and the wider College community. Securing the College’s financial sustainability is critical to this so that we can continue to provide the right support for all for years to come. Whilst we always seek to grow income and manage costs with appropriate value for money, we also have to invest further in our services and facilities – to keep up with legislation and best practice but also to meet the expectations of our current and future students. IT is one such area where expectations and requirements are constantly rising and on which the whole College community is fundamentally reliant; the right infrastructure and systems should also allow the College to be more productive, offering better services at lower cost. As it is such an important area we have established a collaborative group with three neighbouring colleges so that we can work together and this year have invested further in our IT team, recruiting a new 50% Director (shared with Fitzwilliam College) and an experienced IT Officer. This extra expertise and capacity is already having an impact in the quality of service provided and further improvements are planned.
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Returning to the College’s finances, I am, as ever, preoccupied with the struggle of managing today whilst putting in place the foundations for tomorrow.
Returning to the College’s finances, I am, as ever, preoccupied with the struggle of managing today whilst putting in place the foundations for tomorrow. It is never easy to explain the detailed finances of the College - other than to say that our endowment (and hence investment return) is considerably smaller than all but one of the other colleges in Cambridge - but this year presents a particular challenge as new regulations have been introduced which fundamentally change the way that the College is required to present its accounts. I would like to thank our wonderful Finance Manager, Kate Bash, who managed the considerable work associated with this transition with her usual efficiency and good grace. One impact of the introduction of the new accounting regulations was that the College had the option to revalue its assets; we commissioned a professional valuation of our land and buildings which has significantly strengthened our Balance Sheet. Nevertheless, on an annual basis the College is still operating at a deficit as we struggle to generate sufficient income to meet all our costs. We therefore remain so grateful to all who so generously support the College – every donation makes a real difference. If you would like to know more about the College finances I am always happy to answer questions and the accounts including the Trustees Annual Report are available on the College website: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/about-us/freedom-ofinformation/reports-accounts/
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
New servery, new rooms and more guests than ever Report by Domestic Bursar, Christine Houghton SUMMER 2015 BROUGHT 3 MONTHS OF CONFERENCES, EVENTS AND SUMMER SCHOOLS AS WELL AS 2 MAJOR REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS.
The first was preparing Marshall House for our new President Jackie before the start of term and the second was one I am particularly proud of – installing a new servery unit in Warburton Hall. In true ‘Lucy Cav’ style we didn’t want to lose out on a lucrative conference, so we scheduled the building work and stripping out on week 1, hosted the conference on week 2 then finished building work and decoration on week 3. Even the installers were amazed! The new servery allows us to broaden our menu, display food more attractively and extend our opening hours to include breakfast and snacks on weekday mornings. The bean-to-cup coffee machine has proved particularly popular. These developments take us a step closer to the long term ambition to provide a café style menu, which we hope will increase numbers and frequency of visitors. The most popular meals are Formals Halls, theme suppers, Saturday brunch and Sunday lunch and the catering team continues to provide a great selection of interesting and tasty dishes with an emphasis on healthy, local and sustainable ingredients. Since the opening of the Histon Road accommodation in 2014, it has continued to be a popular asset with many students applying to return for a second year running in the room ballot. The garden (pictured above) was designed by Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd and Dr Jane Renfrew, and is now developing beautifully under the care of Head Gardener, Vince Lucas. Additional accommodation for the College this year included 3 graduate houses bordering our site, which we rented from St John’s. This brought our room count up to 225 singles and 11 apartments.
We host celebratory and business events across the year, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can help to plan yours. One of the achievements of my assistant Katie McNally was helping to launch a new conferencing website, now live here: www.lucycavendishconferences.co.uk Her next task is to produce a conferencing brochure which we will use to market to new clients to help increase business, particularly in the quiet months of October to April when we can host non-residential training days and events. We host celebratory and business events across the year, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can help to plan yours. By the end of June 2016 we had exceeded our conference income budget, and it was very satisfying for the whole team to see this income stream enable us to provide better facilities to our students and College members. It was a busy and productive year and my thanks go to Katie, catering, housekeeping, IT, the gardeners and the Bursary for this support. The thanks and praise we receive from guests is a testament to everyone’s hard work.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Fostering our College community Report by Senior Tutor, Dr Leigh Stoeber “I AM PART OF ALL THAT I HAVE MET” -ALFRED IN ULYSSES, WRITTEN BY LORD TENNYSON (1809-1892) It may be unorthodox to begin my short section of our Annual Review by telling you that I spent more than a few hours pondering about what to write. My memories are simply too numerous, manyhued and multi-faceted to recount in the allotted few hundred words. However, as I reflected, one over-arching theme stood out the fostering of our collegiate community. In my thinking about community, I have been influenced over the years by both educational research and my own life experiences firstly as the daughter of an influential educator, and most recently, as a supervisor, mentor and tutor of students within higher education. With respect to the former, Professor Richard J Light, in his book entitled Making the Most of College, devoted more than a decade to researching the student experience whilst at Harvard University. He reported that "learning outside of classes, especially in residential settings and extracurricular activities" was vital to an excellent student experience. In fact, when he asked students to think of a moment in their academic careers which had had a profound impact on them, 80% chose an event or situation which did not occur in the classroom. Professor’s Light’s findings did, and do, resonate with me - where better could such experiences take place than within a collegiate community of scholars such as ours? I have been fortunate enough to serve Lucy Cavendish College for a full academic year, and in this time, I have tried to foster the development and engagement of our college community in a variety of ways, including: • The welcoming of new societies and providing modest seed funds. I have been delighted that in 2015/16, our students came together for: • the formation of a talented University Challenge team, • the creation of a society dedicated to the STEM subjects (the Lucy BrainSTEMMs), • a reinvigoration of the student newspaper, The Cavendish Chronicle, and, • the creation of the Children's Literature Society. (In fact, as I write this, the Children's Literature Society is holding its inaugural conference, having secured a prestigious keynote speaker, and with three Heads of Department from three different universities in attendance!) • The introduction of ‘Take-A-Break’ sessions in Easter Term to support and encourage students coping with revision pressures.
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These sessions were designed to emphasise that we are 'all in this together' and sessions included ice creams, massages, loveable canines and informative speakers. • The successful solicitation of funds from the University’s Office of Post-Doctoral Affairs to recruit and integrate new College Research (post-doctoral) Associates to our community.
I am from [another country], and the University system is rather different there. So I will never forget the first meeting with Tutors, when Leigh said, ‘This is your community.’ I had never heard that before, never felt the need to be part of a community before, and all of a sudden there I was, and I felt included, and welcome to be whoever I wanted to be. There is someone for everyone here and I am so grateful for the friends I met and for the activities I took part in. Anonymous (from our Student Survey 2016) There have been many other reasons to feel incredibly proud of our community in 2015/16. Firstly, our students attained exceptional results in Tripos, with 80% achieving a First or a 2.i. These results were (by a substantial margin) the best in our history, and I am incredibly proud of our talented and hard-working students, as well as the many Fellows and Staff who have supported them indefatigably. In 2015/16, we also saw a reinvigorated Students’ Union, with stand-out levels of participation. Our athletes were incredible in a variety of sports including rugby, lacrosse, volleyball, ice hockey and of course rowing; our Boat Club was awarded the prestigious Michell Cup in recognition of their outstanding performance during the academic year. We also welcomed some excellent new tutors to our tutorial team; Dr Annette Mahon as Assistant Senior Tutor (Graduates), Dr Karen Ottewell (Graduates), Dr Helen Roche (Undergraduates) and Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen (Undergraduates). You can read more about them in the Fellows’ News Section of this publication. In late April 2016, I was incredibly moved when the outgoing Students’ Union executive officers thanked me for my contributions to community and presented me with the prize-winning photograph taken by Ellen Gage (from the 2016 Art and Photography competition, on the theme of Community) to adorn my office in 2016-2017. It is already hung in pride of place as I look forward to welcoming students to our next academic year!
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
A Year of Academic Success Report by Admissions Director, Dr Emily Tomlinson THE 2016 ADMISSIONS ROUND PRESENTED US WITH AN UNEXPECTEDLY WIDE RANGE OF NEW CHALLENGES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND NEW SPURS TO CREATIVITY.
The UK Higher Education landscape remains a difficult one for older students to navigate, with fewer and fewer state schools and colleges able to offer academic provision to over-19s, and more and more prospective undergraduates obliged to self-study for A-levels and even Access Diplomas. We see increasing numbers of older women who choose to study part-time, or close to home. All four mature colleges experienced a drop in applications this year, as did the all-women’s colleges, collectively. It is also a landscape in which subject choices are, increasingly, governed by financial concerns for the future, with applicants veering towards Law, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and other programmes carrying professional accreditation. Human, Social and Political Sciences Tripos is one subject that still defies this trend, with applicants from around the world, as well as a menu of options ranging from Assyriology to Ethics. An area that continues to grow is international exchange and recruitment. Our applications held up this year, thanks to a healthy dose of interest from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, where our relaxed, inclusive profile has particular appeal. We have been fortunate to benefit from collaboration with the student-run notfor-profit organization, Project Access, which recruits Danish and Swedish graduates and undergraduates to mentor their compatriots through the application process for Oxbridge and the Ivy League. The University has subsidised recruitment trips to Denmark and Bulgaria, and although it is unclear whether Bulgarian students will continue to consider the UK a realistic option in a post-Brexit world, early indications from the Nordic countries are more promising. There is also a real will across Cambridge, to explore the possibility of a Foundation or “bridging” programme for talented students who have been unable to access the educational preparation they need to thrive in the first year of Tripos. We are at the forefront of this exploration, and it is my hope that such a programme could soon be made available to prospective undergraduates in the Arts and Social Sciences, offering them the chance to sample subjects they might not otherwise consider - and, equally importantly, the
chance to engage in formal language-learning, an area particularly hard hit by changes to FE sector funding, but which is critical to success in many Cambridge courses. Outreach activity is evolving to reflect the need to transcend national boundaries in student recruitment, together with the need to cooperate more closely with our neighbours in Cambridge. Whilst Isobel Cohen (2012) continued to visit FE Colleges across London and the South East in her capacity as Outreach Ambassador for the four mature colleges, this spring, I toured Cyprus with my counterpart at Trinity, and will also have visited Norway and Denmark by the time the Annual Review comes to press. Another exciting development has been the arrival of Orockanyo Nsoatabe, the new Outreach Ambassador for the four mature colleges, who is based at Lucy Cavendish. With Orock’s help, Gaby Jones and I have been able to progress a number of partnership outreach initiatives, including partnering with Harris Manchester College, Oxford on combined events for over 21s in London and Manchester, with the Law Faculty on “taster” days for Access Diploma students, with Trinity College on a teaching tour of the South Coast, and with the charity Open Book on a Cambridge residential course for ex-offenders. We also continue to offer help and advice via the social media platform, ‘The Student Room’, where our thread for older students has attracted some 110,000 visitors to date. Our Student Union Representatives and Online Ambassadors spread the word about Lucy Cavendish in myriad ways, from blogging on the College website, through to ‘Camtweeting’ and posting on the Chinese internet encyclopaedia. Even Gaby Jones, our Admissions Officer, is in on the act, ensuring that our Offerholders' Facebook Group runs smoothly and our Applicant Helpdesk stays up-to-date. Gaby also works hard to ensure that we get the basics right, and the on-going success of our Open Days and bimonthly Admissions Clinics is testament to her efforts together with those of the many students who volunteer to meet and greet prospective applicants, interviewees and offer-holders. To all of them, I am extremely grateful. Most excitingly, the strategies for shoring up the quality of our offer-holders (which have been documented in previous Annual Reviews) are now visibly coming to fruition. Our overall percentage of Firsts and 2.1s has soared since 2013, and the 2015 Lucy Cavendish First Years were among the strongest in the entire University.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Your support helps us to punch above our weight Report by Development Director, Ms Sarah Westwood AS A NEWCOMER TO LUCY CAVENDISH, I’VE FOUND IT IMMENSELY INSPIRING TO SEE HOW MUCH OUR SMALL BUT VERY SPECIAL COLLEGE CAN ACHIEVE IN A YEAR. OUR REAL WORK IS PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR MATURE WOMEN, BUT OUR PIONEERING MISSION SPURS US TO LEAD NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DEBATES ABOUT WOMEN’S ROLES IN TODAY’S WORLD.
In support of that ambition the Development Office team have happily played their part in the conference Where are the Women?, the Fiction Prize and the immensely popular series of Thursday evening talks, many of which are reported separately in this publication. Our ability to punch above our weight in all areas of our activity is greatly aided by the community of alumnae and friends who support the College in so many ways. This community includes
the Alumnae Association Committee, who have attended every graduation this year to congratulate our students and encourage them to keep in touch, friends such as Caroline Stenner and Ray Smith, who lent us their lovely garden on the banks of the Cam for our donors’ party, and our donors themselves, who demonstrate their belief in Lucy Cavendish and what it aims to achieve in the most direct way. This year 243 individuals and organisations made gifts to Lucy Cavendish, and their names are listed at the end of the Annual Review. In a context where the financial challenges for our students are increasingly grave, the generosity of all our donors has never been more needed or more valued. Whatever its size, every gift helps us to improve what we do and gives us the confidence to seek to do more.
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ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
The impact of giving is perhaps best demonstrated by one of many donor stories. Professor Margaret Grieco and her husband Professor Ravi Kanbur donated £60,000 to fund the Malati Kanbur Studentship in Stroke and the Elderly. The gift is in honour of Ravi’s mother Malati, who was the only member of her family unable to gain a PhD because of her family commitments, and is intended to help a woman build an academic career. We are delighted that Karen Thomas, a researcher in the care of stroke sufferers in the community, will join Lucy Cavendish in January,
supported by Margaret and Ravi’s gift. We look forward to welcoming Karen and to the contribution she will make to research in this field. As the College embarks on its second half-century, we want to get to know our alumnae and friends better, and to widen the community of support for our students. We will be launching a new Newsletter in 2017 that will tell our alumnae more about what’s happening at Lucy, and our students will be telephoning some of our alumnae to ask for their support. We hope very much that you will welcome this increased contact, and be willing to help us continue to help women over 21 fulfil their potential at Cambridge.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Love your Library Report by Librarian, Céline Carty
THE LIBRARY IS A REAL HUB OF THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY, SO TO CELEBRATE THIS FACT THIS YEAR SAW OUR FIRST EVER ‘LOVE YOUR LIBRARY’ EVENT. IN A WEEK THAT STARTED WITH NATIONAL LIBRARIES’ DAY AND ENDED WITH VALENTINE’S DAY, WE AIMED TO DEMONSTRATE HOW ALL MEMBERS OF COLLEGE CAN GET THE MOST FROM THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
We wanted to attract people who did not normally come to the Library to visit us, so created a giant display in the foyer windows with a list of our ‘5 Reasons to Love Your Library’: space, people, services, resources and extras. Activities were organised throughout the Library building, from the formal – helpdesks,
leaflets and tours – to the more informal and fun, including creating bookmarks or book blind dates with novels from our Scribbling Women collection. We invited people to write “love or break-up letters” to the Library on our Feedback Wall. We also reached out
online, with daily posts on the College blog and with book spine poetry and library selfie (“shelfie”) competitions on Twitter. At our regular Library Elevenses, our usual biscuits were replaced with a spectacular Love Your Library cake which certainly drew an appreciative crowd! Feedback from students, staff and Fellows was very positive, emphasising the role the Library plays in the academic and social community here in College. We feel it helped to promote how many different ways students can benefit from their College Library (did you know, for example, that we offer handheld whiteboards and disposable ear plugs to help with revision?). We were delighted to see that borrowing numbers have risen this year and are so pleased that many more students made recommendations for book purchases to help ensure that the Library is providing what they need to succeed in their studies. To see more detail of what happened in Love Your Library week, see the posts on the College website blog: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/news-blog/blog/author/17
Our website wins a Gold Award from The Digital Awards THE LUCY CAVENDISH WEBSITE WON A GOLD AWARD FOR BEST WEBSITE FOR A SCHOOL, EDUCATION OR CHARITY. www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk The Awards highlight the online achievements of businesses, educational institutes and charities from across Cambridgeshire. They reward innovation and progressive thinking and promote the use of digital media as a means to achieve results. Our website was created by Cambridgebased web designers Chameleon Studios, and is updated regularly with news and events from around the College. Senior Porter John Morley collects the Gold Award (right).
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
A peaceful space‌ Rather than writing a report this year, Head Gardener Vince Lucas has agreed to let the students do the talking. These quotes are taken from the annual student survey, and show how the gardens make a vital contribution to the quality of life at Lucy Cavendish.
The gardens are lovely and relaxing and I love all the spring flowers blooming all over the place. The flowers planted behind the curved bench at the Porters’ Lodge entrance are particularly lovely and well maintained.
I like the fact that we can just walk or lie on the grass. I love the flowers in every season of the year.
I like the garden for its beauty and for offering a peaceful space.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
‌and a place for a Garden Party
As many of our readers will know, once a year our gardens become a lot less peaceful. The Garden Party has been a favourite fixture in the College diary since the 1970s. This year, this sunshine brought out hundreds of guests of all ages. Queens, princesses and superheroes cantered across the lawns competing for a fancy dress prize, and everyone enjoyed live entertainment from the Cambridge University Steel Pan Society. Guests tucked into strawberries and cream, and sipped Lucy Cavendish Cava on the lawn while others tried garden games and face painting. The Alumnae Association once again ran a competition to guess the weight of a cake, kindly donated by the Head of the Communications Sub-Committee for our Alumnae Association, Ms Judith Roberts (Association President from September 2016). One of the most popular College events of the year, the Garden Party attracts alumnae, staff, Fellows and their families. If you come along to only one event next year, we recommend that you save the date of Friday 16 June 2017 in your diary.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
STAFF NEWS Every year, students tell us how much they appreciate the warm and supportive environment provided by our staff. The people that make the College a ‘home from home’ are a very important part of students’ experience of University. We have welcomed some new faces to the team in the last year, and have bid farewell to others.
arrivals •
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Julia Moore joined in September 2015 as Development and Events Co-ordinator. Julia had worked with us previously and has a wealth of development experience.
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Patricia Barria, Kinga Ducsai, Aimee King, Vanessa Djurdjevac and Telmo Neiva joined in Michaelmas strengthening the Housekeeping team. Erica Smith started as Sous Chef in October. Most recently Erica worked as Head Chef in a pub but has previous College experience gained at Newnham. Helen Kirkby, Executive Assistant, joined the College in October bringing a wealth of experience with her from her previous role at Anglia Ruskin University.
ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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Together with Fitzwilliam College, we appointed a new IT Director, Susan Park to support the increasing IT demands. Susan works with us for 50% of her time and has recently strengthened her team with a new IT Officer Andrew Cleland, who has previously worked at Peterhouse and an IT Technician, Haris Rahimic. Elaine Hendrie has joined the Bursary as Student Finance Accountant for Undergraduates. She will be working very closely with Cathy de Allende who has responsibility for Student Finance for Graduates.
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Alumna Kate McCombe has joined the team permanently as Hall Manager after previous experience of working with us on a temporary basis in the past. Kate Coghlan started here in June as Communications and Marketing Manager, bringing with her experience gained in similar roles in the wine trade and the charity sector. Tom Dawson joins us for a year as Development & Events Co-ordinator to cover the maternity leave of Julia Moore. He has previously worked in a similar role at St Edmunds College.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
DEPARTURES • • • • • • • •
Rob Lewis, our permanent IT Support Technician left in July 2015 to join the Faculty of Human, Social and Political Sciences. Katie Godfrey, Development and Events Co-ordinator returned to University to complete her Masters qualification. Jeanette Ariano, Communications and Marketing Manager left for a new role at the Stephen Perse Foundation. Graham Reader, Hall Manager retired and moved to the coast. Yasmin Fouani-Eckstein completed her Business Administration Apprenticeship.
CHANGES • • •
Deborah Curran-Millar was promoted to Domestic Manager and was joined by Sally Harding as Deputy Domestic Manager. Grazyna Szaniawska spent the last year as Hall Assistant and Till Operator, playing a pivotal role in our new breakfast service, and has now been promoted to Deputy Hall Manager. Julia Moore is on maternity leave following the birth of her son Nathan and Julia is enjoying her time with him. We look forward to welcoming her back next year.
Domestic Manager, Tara Rice and Housekeeping Assistants Marie MacBean, Gail Stafford and Mollie Douglas left the College. Dr Emily Tomlinson left as Admission Director to take a similar role at Christ’s College. Lorna Randall left the catering team to join her family’s business. ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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THE STUDENT YEAR
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
News from our Students Come what May Ball By Maddy Surman, Students’ Union Vice President (Human, Social and Political Sciences Tripos, 2015) Amongst the Colleges of Cambridge, Lucy Cavendish and Hughes Hall stand out in their friendship. Lucy and Hughes only admit students over the age of 21, yet their students like to think of themselves not as 'mature', but just well-rehearsed in the art of having fun. Already coupled in sports such as rowing, this year, Hughes and Lucy took their relationship to the next level by bringing the students of Cambridge a joint June Ball called ‘Come what May: Paradise Lost’. Our food tent served paella and pulled pork buns, and the cocktail stand was especially popular. Entertainments include a silent disco, a ferris wheel, sisha, a photo booth, a casino and fresh flower head bands. The night was a sell-out success and Varsity magazine described us as “a brilliant May Week couple”.
More active than ever A report on our Students’ Union by President Julie Damborg (Human, Social and Political Sciences Tripos, 2015) Our Students’ Union was more active than ever this year, with greater participation in the elections and higher attendance at events than expected - we even ran out of Pimms at our May tea party because the turnout was so good! Other highlights included the relaunch of our student newspaper, the Cavendish Chronicle and the launch of a new Students’ Union website to provide advice, information and reflections for current and prospective Lucy students (visit it here: https://lccsu.soc.srcf.net). It has been a year of good ideas, and people getting involved to make them happen. Our Union is special because it welcomes both Undergraduates and Graduates and provides a place for them to connect and feel a common identity. We’re excited about plans to refurbish the Common Room because the new-look bar and lounge area will encourage even more students along (we’re stocking up on Pimms already…).
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Tianqi Dong awarded prize at the International Conference Graduate engineering student Tianqi Dong (2014) collected the prestigious best student paper award at the International Congress of Application of Lasers and Electo-Optics (ICALEO). Tianqi attended ICALEO 2015 following receipt of financial support from the College to cover her travel costs. Her paper: Evaluating Femtosecond Laser Ablation of Graphene on SiO2/Si Substrate overcame strong competition to collect the award for best student paper. Now in its 33rd year, ICALEO is a conference where researchers and end-users meet to review the state-of-the-art in laser materials processing, laser microprocessing, and nanomanufacturing as well as predict where the future will lead.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Relaunching The Cavendish Chronicle By Editor-in-Chief Mara Gonzalez-Souto (International Relations and Politics, 2015). When we decided to relaunch the student newspaper, The Cavendish Chronicle, I attended the first meeting to volunteer as a writer. However, I was quickly drawn in further and took on the responsibility of Editor-in-Chief.
The finished result exemplifies the breadth and depth of the talent present at Lucy Cavendish.
I didn’t know how much work the relaunch would involve, but it was an exciting challenge and I learnt a lot about journalism and leadership skills. It also helped me get to know the College staff better, which made the year more enjoyable. This venture has helped me refine my writing and critical thinking skills, both of which will be incredibly useful for when I go to law school.
Submissions on every subject possible flew in from students, ranging from local news and opinion pieces to scientific innovations and international politics, all mixed in with examples of poetry, fiction and humour. Producing three finished publications over the year was a huge achievement for the whole team, and I hope that other students continue to develop and grow the newspaper in the future.
Digging at Must Farm Quarry By Yun Chiang (Human, Social and Political Sciences Tripos, 2014) This year I was lucky enough to gain real work experience with the Cambridge Archaeology Department at an excavation project at Must Farm. This is a Late Bronze Age settlement sitting underneath 21st century brickwork in a working quarry near Peterborough. Must Farm is unique since it is not only buried in a waterlogged environment, but it was also burnt. From the charred timbers and other existing evidence, Must Farm’s current working theory is that the roundhouses were brought down by a fire and then collapsed into the river. The fire event led to the carbonization of timbers, which transformed them from an organic to inorganic form. There is a limited amount of oxygen in a waterlogged environment, which is an extra bonus to the preservation. The highlight of my digging was the discovery of a vertebrate. Judging from the robustness and size of the bone, it is possible that it is a cow’s spine. Personally this was my dream come true. I hadn’t excavated bones before, but I had always wanted to dig up a skeleton.
Charlotte Fiehn published on George Eliot Charlotte Fiehn (English, 2015) started her undergraduate degree with the huge achievement of being published in two leading, peer-reviewed journals. Her first article, The Dichotomy of Cultural Perspective in George Eliot’s ‘Daniel Deronda’ appeared in East-West Cultural Passage, produced by C. Peter Magrath Research Center for Cross-Cultural Studies. A second article, entitled: George Eliot - Perception, Performance, and Community Spirit in George Eliot’s ‘Amos Barton’ was published in the Global Journal of English Language and Literature. ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Annalisa Occhipinti given award by Sir David Cox
Cherish Watton interviewed on BBC’s ‘Heir Hunters’
Annalisa Occhipinti (PhD Computer Science, 2013)
Cherish Watton (History Tripos, 2014) participated in
was awarded the Doctoral Research Award for her
an interview for a feature on the Women’s Land
PhD project by Sir David Cox in May 2016.
Army for BBC’s programme Heir Hunters.
She was also awarded the Best Research Project in Computing and Engineering by the Italian Embassy in London. Starting from her research project, she developed a handbook of six tutorials for primary and secondary schools. She used this to engage and inspire young students in the study of STEM subjects by showing them one of the most interesting applications of Mathematics and Computer Science in real life. She also organised a special session on ’Using Mathematical Biology to inspire young generations’ at the European Conference of Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ECMTB, 2016) to present the results of her teaching experiences and to investigate new ways of engaging young students through Computational Biology. Finally, she gained the status of Advanced Skill Tutor for having taught at all different key stages for more than one term during her PhD studies.
The team tracked down Eileen Joan Berry, a Land Girl who worked in Warwickshire during the Second World War. As part of the team’s research into her family, Cherish discussed the type of work women undertook and how Eileen’s work on the land was a complete change from her pre-war occupation as an invoice clerk. Another huge achievement this year was winning the Cambridge Historical Prize for outstanding performance in the Themes and Sources Long Essay in Part I of the Tripos. She also spoke at two conferences; the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2015 at the University of Exeter and a Post-Graduate Conference in Cambridge on Belonging and Transgression. Visitors to our website may have read her regular blogs on student life, and we hope that she continues to find time for them in the future.
Margaret Wilson implements new rehabilitative programmes for prisoners
The pastoral care, financial support, and wonderful physical environment combined to provide the kind of atmosphere so vital to academic achievement. There was
Margaret Wilson (PhD Criminology, 2006) worked on an EU research project called ECOR (European Communities of Restoration). This was the implementation and evaluation of a variety of innovative, rehabilitative programmes for prisoners and ex-prisoners. The project ended in March 2016 with the successful implementation of programmes in four countries (Bulgaria, Latvia, Hungary, and Germany). It was a very short project that entailed intense data collection and write-up during this academic year.
peace, encouragement, friendship, and such an exciting
Gita Khalili Moghaddam interviewed by Research Horizon
Jodie Molloy writes and directs new play about abortion
Gita Khalili Moghaddam (Biotechnology, 2012) was interviewed by the Cambridge University magazine Research Horizon about her research into using smartphones and smart holograms to monitor and manage diabetes in India. There are 68 million people living with diabetes in India, the majority with type 2 diabetes (it is twice as common in India than in the UK).
The 2016 winner of The Florence Staniforth Prize for Excellence in Creative Writing, Jodie Molloy (MSt Creative Writing, 2014) has written and directed a play called The Voice in My Head which comprises 5 monologues about abortion. The play had its premiere at Auckland’s Basement Theatre in summer 2016 and will come to Cambridge soon.
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social mix; not to mention the clubs and societies that provided opportunities that are hard to find elsewhere. These thirteen years’ extended study have been a real roller-coaster but having Lucy as a constant reference point has made it possible. Thank you from the emergent butterfly.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Halimatou Hima Moussa Dioula elected President of CU African Society ’ Halimatou Hima Moussa Dioula (PhD Developmental Studies, 2015) was elected President of the Cambridge Union African Society and chaired its third annual Africa Together conference in June 2016. This full-day conference saw the participation of over 300 students, young professionals and university officials who engaged in constructive discourse on the most salient issues shaping the African continent, its present and future. Speakers included the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an award-winning investigative journalist, and Somalia’s first woman presidential candidate.
Halimatou speaks at the conference (left)
Being part of this conference was a defining moment of my first-year in Cambridge – it was a unique platform, one that allowed for valuable connections and served as a space to elevate Africa’s presence in Cambridge and beyond
Judith Weber published in Nature Methods Journal Graduate student Judith Weber (Medical Science, 2015) published an article about research into contrast agents for molecular photoacoustic imaging in the journal Nature Methods. Photoacoustic imaging is an emerging non-invasive imaging modality that combines the high contrast of optical imaging with the high temporal and spatial resolution of ultrasound. Photoacoustic imaging represents an important technology for the future of clinical molecular imaging, and the research aims to speed up the improvement and discovery of probes for photoacoustic imaging to facilitate further clinical applications.
Dr Maryanne Mariyaselvam awarded National Patient Safety Award Dr Maryanne Mariyaselvam (Doctor of Medicine, 2015) was awarded the 2nd prize and was highly commended in the National Patient Safety Awards 2016.She also spoke at the NHS Confederation Conference in June 2016 on celebrating success and championing great work in healthcare.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Jen Aggleton and Jessica Lim launch Children’s Literature Society
College Prizes The Simms Prize for best results in Education: Violeta Chonn Ching Isobel Cockerell Kate Bertram Prizes for First Class Results in non-Tripos exams: Marianne Brooker – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in English Studies Zixin Huang – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in Materials Science & Metallurgy Theresa Jakuszeit – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in Scientific Computing Lucia Linares – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in International Relations & Politics Ragini Medhi – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in Biological Science (Genetics) Ester Salgarella – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in Classics Yijing Yang – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in Economics
Graduate friends Jen Aggleton (PhD Education, 2015) and Jessica Lim (PhD
The Alumnae Association Prize for Graduate Excellence: Otilia Stretcu – Pass with Distinction in Advanced Computer Science
Rashmi Gunaratne – Pass with Special Merit in 3 papers in 3rd year Veterinary Medicine (Clinical) Sophie Libkind – Pass with Distinction in Master of Advanced Study in Mathematics Florence Slater – Pass with Distinction in 2nd year Veterinary Medicine (Clinical) Cherish Watton – 1st in Prelim to Part I History
The Alumnae Association Prize for Contribution to the Arts: Alice Carlill
The Annabelle Dixon Prize for the student who has made the most of her time at Lucy Cavendish: Teresa Knudsen Gillian Miswardi
The Emmeline Pankhurst Prize for Contribution to College Life: Elinor George Francesca Rodger
English, 2015) have launched a new Children’s Literature Society and are planning its inaugural conference. The society aims to enjoy and explore the rich and diverse world of children’s literature and will run events that combine a creative and critical response to children’s literature (including a themed supper and formal hall). It hopes to raise money to build a children’s literature collection in the Lucy Cavendish library. Jen Aggleton has also taken on the roles of Head of Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominating Committee 2016 and Leader of Education Faculty Children’s Book Group. She has spoken at ‘The International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts’ in Orlando, Florida (with the assistance of a travel grant from the College) and at a conference called Locating Fantastika at the University of Lancaster. She has also published an article called What is the use of a book without pictures? in the journal Children’s Literature in Education. Individual achievements for Jessica Lim include being awarded a Bursary by The British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) to attend its Postgraduate and Early-Career Conference in Barcelona in summer 2016.
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The Margaret Spufford Memorial Prize: Emily Glider – Pass with Distinction in MPhil in Medieval & Renaissance Literature Madeleine Jörgensen Prize for First Class Results in Tripos: Rebecca Daniels – 1st in Part II Land Economy Adela Ryle – 1st in Part I Human, Social & Political Sciences
Marie Lawrence Prize(s) for First Class Results in Tripos: Anisa Lulo – 1st in Part IIA Economics Wan Fong Woo – 1st in Part IIB Politics, Psychology & Sociology
The Berti Sapir Medical Prize for the student with the best results in Clinical Stage Three (Final year): Clare Freer Nicola Jecks Lucy Strong
Kate Bertram Prizes for First Class Results in non-Tripos exams: Briar Charmley – 1st in LLM Examination Nina Fuller-Shavel – Pass with Distinction in Final MB Examination Part I
The Myson College Exhibition for Personal Achievement: Sarah-Sophia Harfleet Lauren Magilton
Dame Veronica Sutherland College Prizes for Sporting Blues: Felicia Anderson – Full Blue in Athletics (Triple Jump) Agata Kurczynska – Half Blue in Volleyball Anna Lappala – Half Blue in kickboxing Florence Slater – Half Blue in Mixed Lacrosse
Gyll Moore Prize for a Student Gaining a First Class Degree: Tianyou Qiu – 1st with Distinction in Part IIB Politics, Psychology & Sociology
The Florence Staniforth Prize for Excellence in Creative Writing: Isobell Cockerell Jodie Molloy
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Graduates present their research Report by Assistant Senior Tutor (Graduates), Dr Annette Mahon
Sarah Morgan Monica Gates
Laura Bouvet Lisa-Elen Meyering
Denise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio’s
Ga-Young So Katharina Brecht
Firstly Jen Aggleton from the Faculty of Education asked ‘What is the use of a book without pictures?’ and explained how she is researching children’s experiences of reading illustrated novels in order to build theory which could inform educational practice by involving the children themselves as co-researchers.
Carron Blom
Jen Aggleton Wei-Ying Chou
AS WELL AS GIVING THE WIDER COLLEGE COMMUNITY A CHANCE TO HEAR ABOUT THE EXCITING WORK BEING DONE BY LUCY CAVENDISH STUDENTS, GRADUATE RESEARCH DAY OFFERS A CHANCE FOR SPEAKERS TO HONE THEIR TALKS FOR UPCOMING CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS, PRACTISE PRESENTING TO A NON-SPECIALIST AUDIENCE, TAKE QUESTIONS ON THEIR RESEARCH AND RECEIVE FEEDBACK.
investigating how it is possible to use design to cultivate happiness in long-term care facilities and therefore improve the quality of dementia care.
Ga-Young So then spoke on the importance of discussing gender equality at the national level, critiquing the World Economic Forum’s annual publication, the Global Gender Gap Report and concluded with the importance of understanding and accounting for contextcentre as a way to reach gender equality.
Western Scrub-jays take into account what others can see and hear when protecting their hidden caches from potential pilferers. However, the experimental work of Katharina Brecht (Psychology) showed scrub-jays did not reliably prefer to observe biological motion, a particularly interesting result as it is thought that ability to detect biological motion may be an important prerequisite for Theory of Mind-like abilities.
Yellow rust is one of the most detrimental fungal pathogens of wheat, and Laura Bouvet of The National Institute of Agricultural Botany, is working with a multiparental wheat population to investigate novel sources of resistance against yellow rust, for incorporation in breeding programmes as a way of ‘Fighting cereal killers with genetics’.
Bronze Age rock art motifs are a feature of the parish of Askum (Sweden) and Lisa-Elen Meyering (Archaeology) detailed how her analysis of elements such as motif frequency, combination, terrain, rock type, and rock sloping direction demonstrate that the orientation of rock art panels is directed towards major events in the annual celestial calendar.
Denise Dalbosco Dell’Aglio’s study is the first to show that Heliconius butterflies use leaf shape as a cue for feeding and oviposition and can learn shape preference for both flowers and leaves of their own host plant, the passion flower.
How factors such as organisational structure and business practice affect engineering decision-making and long-term infrastructure outcomes was the theme of Carron Blom’s (Engineering) talk, given the strategic importance of infrastructure and that whilst often seen as performing well, it tends to do so against only limited terms of reference and short-term objectives.
Sarah Morgan of the Department of Physics explained how from food chains to social networks, complex networks are ubiquitous. A powerful way to learn about networks is by studying their building blocks and by combining these subgraphs with a concept from engineering, known as Pareto optimality, which allows us to study fMRI brain networks and identify differences between coma patients and healthy volunteers.
Fittingly for the last talk of the day Monica Gates (Experimental Psychology) spoke on ‘Predicting what’s next – how we learn patterns from a messy (probabilistic) world’ and explained how, by observing the statistical regularities between items, we improve at navigating our changing and uncertain environments.
With ageing populations, how to care for those with dementia is an important issue and Wei-Ying Chou of the Faculty of Engineering is ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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General Admission 2016 FELLOWS, FAMILIES, STAFF AND STUDENTS GATHERED ON SATURDAY 25 JUNE 2016 TO CELEBRATE THE PRESENTATION OF OUR GRADUANDS FOR THEIR DEGREES BY PRAELECTOR, DR KAREN OTTEWELL. The sun shone brightly for a lunch party in Warburton Hall and guests enjoyed salmon followed by strawberries and cream. The graduands posed for photographs on the lawn and then enjoyed a warm send-off before proceeding to Senate House. It was a wonderful day and we offer our warmest congratulations.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
List of Graduates (Pictured left to right) Top: Emma Brindley, Aleksandra Sazypowska, Jing Zhao 2nd row: Jingting Jiang, Dana Usher, Xuelin Yeong, Charlotte Airey, Florence Slater, Emma Rogers-Smith, Alice Hyde, Gabriella Bird, Annkristin Schulz 3rd row: Talitha Veith, Romily Mcnulty, Nicole Ng Yuen, Ateka Tarajia, Anna-Archontia Florou, Ivana Daskalova, Natcha Phaiboonpalayoi, Heather Dorrell, Olivia Anderson, Sylvie Barlow 4th row: Seo Lee, Rebecca Foy, Anisa Lulo, Louise Green, Dr Karen Ottewell, Jackie Ashley, Dr Jackie Brearley, Dr Leigh Stoeber, Om Budha Magar, Emma Rigby, Sayomi Ariyawansa ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Graduation 16 July 2016 Dr Annette Mahon, Assistant Senior Tutor (Graduates) OUR JULY GRADUATION WAS ONE OF COLLEGE’S BIGGEST TO DATE WITH 45 GRADUANDS PRESENTED IN PERSON, ALMOST ALL TAKING POSTGRADUATE DEGREES OF MPHIL, MST, MA OR PHD, JOINED BY TWO OF OUR GRADUANDS RECEIVING THEIR BACHELOR OF MEDICINE DEGREE. To have such a large number of students presented shows how much the College has grown in recent years, particularly in terms of the numbers of graduate students. More than 19 countries were represented including the UK, China, USA, Canada, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy and Bulgaria and our students had studied more than 25 different subjects - ranging from development studies, real estate finance, history, creative writing, classics, Latin American studies. On the day the sun shone, allowing everyone to enjoy lunch and drinks in the gardens. The President offered her congratulations to all, in a speech which touched the day as a culmination of the hard work and dedication of many years and recognised the huge amount of support the students had received from their families and friends over the course of their studies. Then, under the direction of our Praelector, Dr Karen Ottewell, everyone lined up on Straithaird lawn for a rehearsal, before our procession was clapped out of College and on to the Senate House ceremony with the Senior Porters leading the way. The smiles of our graduates and seeing the pride of their families and friends in their achievements means attending graduation is always a pleasure. We offer our newest alumnae our warmest congratulations and best wishes for ongoing and future success.
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List of graduates Abramova Yana Ahn Jiyoon Almojil Dareen Ballard Madeline Barraclough Jane Basil Tala Blejean Claire Brummerloh Berit Cheng Wenqing Chuangdumrougsom suk Vichada Cohen Isobel Cox Samantha
Dearnaley Sarah Dorval Isabel Edwards Megan Forbes Macphail Imogen Gossen Christiane Hamann Katharina Hamilton Monica Hanke Veronica Huang Zongyan Huseynova Gunel Lee Bomin Li Siyi
Li Mengning Louvier Fanny Maharaj Amba Malik Ermeena Malloy Meaghan Maltin Alice Masood Maryam Mookherjee Yamini Ng Roxanne Patel Ketaki Robinson Elicia Salvini Lauretta Schwoerer Lilian
Shepperson Laura Stewart Heather Stojkovski Isabella Strtak Jennifer Thatcher Lannah Thornton Isabel Tsyben Anastasia Wan Yi Waterhouse Alison Zhao Ziyan Zhou Xinnan
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
SPECIAL EVENTS
Where are the women? Cambridge Union the world’s oldest student debating society rang with laughter, discussion and applause as leading women from politics, the voluntary sector, the media and business shared perspectives on gender equality, in a debate hosted by Lucy Cavendish College.
Young girls need feminism today, more than ever before. Polly Toynbee Society is misogynistic, a result of an historical overhang of a once useful dynamic that no longer applies. Dr Sue Black Only 8% of executive positions in FTSE 350 companies are held by women. Maria Miller MP There are 30 million women in the UK. I'm sure we can find 325 brilliant ones for parliament. Sophie Walker
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C
haired by our President Jackie Ashley, the debate asked: Where are the women? After decades of feminism, women remain under-represented in executive roles and STEM careers; the gender pay gap refuses to budge and caring responsibilities still fall disproportionately on female shoulders. With these issues in mind, Polly Toynbee concluded that:“Young girls need feminism today, more than ever before.” Emerging challenges were highlighted, including the rise of online trolling and sexism. Women using social media to voice their opinion are often exposed to this new form of oppression. The failure to tackle this abuse by our existing legal system was strikingly apparent.
The debate was filmed by the BBC and Harriet Harman’s views on gender in politics were aired on Radio 4’s The World at One. A significant amount of national press coverage followed the event – reinforcing Lucy Cavendish’s role as a leading champion of gender equality. Many of our students joined the debate, including Gemma Maitland who left feeling cautiously optimistic for the future: “Changing these inequalities certainly won’t be an easy task, nor will it happen quickly, but if the discourse of feminism is kept alive – through events such as this – perhaps things can continue to change for the better.”
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Here are the women... The debate brought together the following women to share their experiences: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Journalist Dr Sue Black, Tech Evangelist and Social Entrepreneur Caroline Criado-Perez, Journalist and Campaigner
Suzanne Evans, UKIP MP
Maria Miller, Conservative MP
Harriet Harman, Labour MP
Sara Nathan, Public Appointments Assessor
Jane Hawking, Writer Ayesha Hazarika, Comedian and former Political Adviser Heléna Herklots, CEO of Carers UK
Amanda Platell, Journalist Hannah Rothschild, Writer and Filmmaker Polly Toynbee, Journalist
Anne-Marie Imafidon, Founder of Stemettes
Sophie Walker, Women’s Equality Party Leader
Martha Kearney, BBC Presenter
Where are the women? was kindly sponsored by The Rothschild Foundation, Astra Zeneca and BBC Worldwide. The event celebrated the shared 50th anniversaries of Lucy Cavendish College, the BBC’s The World at One and Carers UK. ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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Broadening horizons THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, LEADERS IN SCIENCE, POLITICS, THE ARTS AND ACADEMIA HAVE VISITED US TO MEET WITH AND TALK TO OUR STUDENTS. THEY HAVE PROVIDED INSPIRING AND THOUGHTPROVOKING INSIGHTS INTO LIFE BEYOND UNIVERSITY.
Thursday Talks • Liberty, women and rights – Shami Chakrabarti CBE • Being a barrister: trial, triumphs and truths – Jane McNeill QC • Realising the potential of women leaders – Baroness Tessa Jowell DBE • The rise of the female diplomat – Helen McCarthy, Dame Veronica Sutherland DBE and Jean Harrod • On not giving a talk! – Ali Smith CBE • Twists and turns: How proteins fold, and how I came to my research career – Professor Jane Clarke FRS From liberty and law, to leadership, literature and cuttingedge science – our Thursday Talks and Anna Bidder Research Evenings have kept audiences entertained and engaged from start to finish. Highlights included Shami Chakrabarti’s impressive dedication to the cause of civil liberties and Baroness Tessa Jowell’s call for more women to pursue leadership roles. For our aspiring lawyers, Jane McNeill’s personal insight into the demanding career of a barrister was invaluable. Those with scientific ambitions particularly enjoyed Professor Jane Clarke’s talk on research into protein folding – which is key to understanding diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.
• The age of opportunity – Professor Lynne Berry OBE • Public patient involvement in medical research – Jackie Ashley, Margaret Johnson, Dr Kath Maguire and Dr Fiona Walter
Anna Bidder Research Evenings • Out of Africa – experiences working with Ebola and HIV – Dr Jane Greatorex • Difficult heritage? Exploring German history and culture in the 21st century – Dr Helen Roche and Dr Yvonne Zivkovic • Development of blood tests for the diagnosis of mental disorders – Professor Sabine Bahn and Dr Sureyya Ozcan
It was fascinating to hear about the Looking to the future, Professor Lynne Berry shared ideas on life-long social action as a solution to the growing challenges of an ageing population, whilst Dr Jane Greatorex considered the future of global health in her fascinating talk on the UK’s role in developing sustainable laboratory services and healthcare infrastructures in Africa.
challenges Baroness Tessa Jowell overcame in the realm of politics and her personal recommendations for improving women’s leadership skills. Cherish Watton, History, 2014
Speed mentoring Medical students enjoyed ‘speed mentoring’ with medics from a range of specialisms in an innovative careers event. The event was chaired by alumna Dr Marcia Schofield (Medicine, 1992) who is currently Deputy Chair of the BMA Medical Academic Staff Committee and Chair of the Council of Medical Academic Representatives. Students were able to explore the pros and cons of different career options with highly-experienced professionals, who were delighted to share their extensive knowledge.
Keep an eye on our website for details of forthcoming events with visiting speakers.
www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/events/ ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
The Fiction Prize I will always be grateful to the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, as it was really the first step on the road to everything else great that has happened since. Laura Marshall, Shortlisted author
THE LUCY CAVENDISH FICTION PRIZE WAS FOUNDED IN 2010 BY PROFESSOR JANET TODD OBE, THEN PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE. THE PRIZE IS THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND RUN BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND IT PROVIDES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR UNPUBLISHED FEMALE AUTHORS TO LAUNCH THEIR LITERARY CAREERS. IT HAS GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH, WITH A RECORD 484 ENTRIES THIS YEAR.
The Prize had an enviable judging panel this year, chaired by journalist and author Allison Pearson. Allison was joined by the celebrated novelist, Dame Margaret Drabble, literary agent, Nelle Andrew from our sponsors Peters Fraser and Dunlop, Professor Steve Connor, Head of the English Faculty at Cambridge University, Cathy Moore, Director of the Cambridge Literary Festival, Dr Lindsey Traub, former Vice-President of Lucy Cavendish and Gillian Stern, editor and author.
The 2016 prize was won by Claire Askew for her novel, Three Rivers which opens the day before a mass shooting in a UK College. Claire is a poet and writer based in Edinburgh, and holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. Claire is currently in post as a Scottish Book Trust Reading Champion, based at Craigmillar Library in Edinburgh. She is also a Creative Writing Fellow at Tyne & Esk Writers, and tutors for Write Like A Grrrl!, an empowering allfemale fiction course run by For Books’ Sake.
Every year aspiring authors are invited to submit an opening to a novel (up to the first 50 pages), accompanied by a synopsis of how the novel progresses and concludes. Submissions are judged for literary merit and ‘unputdownability’. A higher prize fund this year, coupled with the opportunity for all shortlisted authors to consult with a literary agent, increased the number of entries significantly to 484 in total. We are incredibly grateful to our judges for their time in reading so many entries.
The shortlist, aptly nicknamed ‘the magnificent seven’ also included: Sara Collins with Frannie Langton, Kelleigh GreenbergJephcott with Swan Song, Laura Marshall with Friend Request, Kate McEwan with Learning to Swim, J. A. Micheline with Super Charismatic Nucleus and Frances Perkins with Not That Way. Since the prize, Laura Marshall has been signed by the publisher Little Brown and looks forward to releasing her novel Friend Request in 2017.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
From small beginnings, the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is rapidly establishing itself as a formidable finder of talent. Leading London agents are now queuing up to sign writers from the Lucy Cavendish shortlist. As a champion of women's writing, I am delighted to see a prize which gives an opportunity to unpublished authors to blossom so spectacularly.� Chair of Judges, Allison Pearson
2017 Fiction Prize
Key dates
We are delighted to welcome back the following members of the judging panel for the 2017 Fiction Prize; Allison Pearson as Chair, Nelle Andrew, Dr Lindsey Traub and Gillian Stern. Our panel will also welcome four new judges; Gwyn Williams, Controller of BBC Radio 4, Dr Ian Patterson, author, poet and Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge and best-selling novelists Linda Grant and Sophie Hannah.
Closing date for entries: Friday 10th February 2017 Announcement of the Longlist: Thursday 23rd March 2017 Announcement of the Shortlist: Friday 27th April 2017 Fiction Prize Winner announced: Thursday 25th May 2017
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SPORT AND LEISURE
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Rowing reaches new heights By Sarah Roe, College Boat Club President 2015/2016 IT WAS A HISTORIC YEAR FOR OUR BOAT CLUB, WHICH HAS EXPANDED HUGELY IN SIZE AND SUCCESS. WE HAD A RECORD NUMBER OF NOVICES SIGNING UP IN MICHAELMAS TERM AND POLY, OUR LOWER BOATS CAPTAIN, HAD HER WORK CUT OUT ORGANISING SESSIONS, ENTERING RACES AND COACHING. THE EARLY MORNING TRAINING SESSIONS PAID OFF THOUGH, AND THE CLUB CELEBRATED EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES FROM ALL CREWS OVER THE YEAR.
Lucky Lucy Following a generous donation from Emeritus Fellow Dr Lindsey Traub, our Boat Club purchased a third boat – aptly named Lucky Lucy. This new addition meant that for the first time ever, three women’s crews from the Hughes Hall/Lucy Cavendish Boat Club entered the Bumps. In an exciting contest, our W2 crew progressed to Division 3 and our W1 crew bumped so quickly they didn’t have to row any further than First Post Corner.
“Our rowers have enjoyed a brilliant season. They have worked extremely hard and gone from strength-to-strength. We are very proud of them all.” Jackie Ashley
Myriam makes a splash at Henley
Michell Cup winners Our Boat Club was awarded the prestigious Michell Cup in recognition of their overall performance during the academic year. Awarded by Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs (CUCBC), the Michell Cup commemorates Dr. R W Michell, a Cambridge alumni and army surgeon who died from injuries sustained in the First World War.
Myriam Goudet has combined a busy year on the river with an M Phil. in Plant Sciences. Joining the Cambridge Women’s University Boat Club (CUWBC) in 2015, she has represented the University and has also enjoyed competing with our Lucy Cavendish crew.
“We are delighted to win the Michell Cup – it was epic! I hope this motivates more and more women to give rowing a try during their time at Lucy Cavendish College.”
“I have represented France and I still remember taking my first stroke with a Cambridge oar; it was as if it was my first stroke with my national blades. I felt incredibly proud, like I was dreaming.” Myriam Goudet
April Bowman, Overall Captain, Lucy Cavendish Boat Club
www.lccbc.soc.srcf.net
At the 2016 Henley Regatta, Myriam represented CUWBC in the Elite coxless pairs with Hannah Roberts (Jesus College). Beating an Oxford pair in the semi-final, the dynamic Cambridge duo faced rowers from Reading and Oxford in the final. Despite a strong performance, Myriam and Hannah finished in second place – their efforts rewarded with Henley medals. ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016
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Sporting history FROM MAKING HISTORY AT TWICKENHAM TO BRINGING HOME A HEALTHY CLUTCH OF BLUES AND HALF BLUES – IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF SPORTING SUCCESS.
All that hard work and preparation has paid off in wonderful style and we’ve got ourselves a historic Varsity victory! Alice Middleton
Alice Middleton (Graduate Medical Course, 2014) and Lara Gibson (Medical and Veterinary Sciences, 2014), made sporting history when they stepped onto Twickenham’s hallowed turf in December. They were part of the Cambridge team, competing in the first Varsity Women’s Rugby Match to be held at the world-famous sporting venue. The Cambridge women stormed to victory, with both Alice and Lara playing key roles. Alice landed the first Twickenham Women’s Varsity try, adding two more before the final whistle to complete a hat-trick. She also converted a further twelve points – earning her the Woman of the Match title. Lara added to the final score, giving the team a resounding victory: Cambridge 52-0 Oxford.
“We ran out onto the pitch and the feeling wasn’t like anything I’ve experienced before, a unique mixture of nerves, excitement and disbelief all jumbled in a tight ball in my stomach.” Alice Middleton
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Students get the Blues Agata Kurczynska’s (Materials Science, 2015) first year at Lucy Cavendish has successfully combined her two greatest passions – her MPhil studies at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy and volleyball. She received a Half Blue for competing in the Cambridge University Volleyball Team.
Playing in the Blues team was amazing experience for me, the chance to spend time with incredible people who I share a passion with. Agata Kurczynska
Lizzie Moore (Veterinary Medicine, 2015) saddled up for the Varsity Horse Race, a ten-horse, one-mile contest at Newmarket Race Course successfully combining a rigorous training regime with her academic studies
Before coming to Cambridge I’m not sure if I would have had the confidence to take on such a challenge but with everyone’s support I’ve been able to complete this adventure! Lizzie Moore
Other students receiving Blues and Half Blues include: Tashy Rodgers (Graduate Medical Course, 2013) for women’s lacrosse, Florence Slater (Veterinary Medicine, 2015) for mixed lacrosse, Stella Lempidaki (PhD in Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, 2013) for ice hockey and Catherine Dobson (Graduate Medical Course, 2015) also for ice hockey.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Lucy Cavendish Singers become recording artists Katharina Megli (History, 1991) Director of Lucy Cavendish Singers
OUR YEAR BEGAN IN SEPTEMBER WITH A WEDDING IN KING’S GREAT HALL AND ENDED WITH A GALA DINNER IN AUGUST IN THE SAME MAGICAL SURROUNDINGS. BETWEEN THESE SEASONAL “BOOKENDS” THE SINGERS GAVE SEVEN PUBLIC PERFORMANCES AND THREE PRIVATE ONES, PERFORMED OUR DEBUT CONCERT IN LONDON AND RECORDED OUR FIRST CD. Our autumn concert, part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, was presented in the Queen’s building at Emmanuel College – a striking theatre with a clean acoustic and large stage that could accommodate a grand piano, double bass, harp and 18 singers.
Stunning…The Lucy Cavendish Singers held their energy to the end and richly deserved our lengthy applause
A review of the performance
The choir performed in the Linton Music Society’s autumn series in November and at Christmas were privileged once again to provide the choral music for the University Staff Lessons and Carols to a packed congregation at Great St Mary’s Church.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
There are worlds beyond politics. Lucy Cavendish Singers – delirious aural bliss! Andrew Marr
The Singers have been invited back to the festival for the 2016/17 spring season. We ended the Lent Term with a rollicking concert entitled Cherchez la femme, part of the Cambridge Women of the World festival. In February we gave our first public concert in London to a full house at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, as part of the prestigious Brandenburg Choral Festival. We were honoured to have in the audience our new President, Jackie Ashley, her husband Andrew Marr, former Lucy Cavendish President and Honorary Fellow, Baroness Perry, and many friends and alumnae of the College. Our programme was dedicated to the memory of the fourth President, Dame Anne Warburton.
Our spring concerts were sung to capacity audiences in two elegant Cambridge venues: Madingley Hall and the Fitzwilliam Museum, both of which we’ll return to next year. Information about our new CD and forthcoming concerts will be available on our website. Excellent singers interested in auditioning can find further details at: www.lucycavendishsingers.org.uk.
Carols and Cats with Cavendish Chorale Choir member Cherish Watton (History, 2014) THE CAVENDISH CHORALE IS A NON-AUDITIONED COMMUNITY CHOIR MADE UP OF STUDENTS AT LUCY CAVENDISH COLLEGE AND TRINITY HALL. MEETING EVERY WEDNESDAY IN THE MUSIC PAVILION, MEMBERS CAME TOGETHER TO REHEARSE SONGS FROM ACROSS THE GENRES.
During Lent Term, the Chorale performed for Women’s Week, singing a selection of melodies from the musicals including Les Misérables and Cats. Choir members also performed their own solo pieces such as Caro Mio Ben, Silent Noon, Panis Angelicus, Voi Che Sapete and Castle on a Cloud. Despite a busy Easter Term, the Chorale performed twice before Formal Hall, continuing to expand their repertoire, including classics such as Moon River. The Cavendish Chorale’s last performance of the term was tinged with sadness, as this was their last with choir director Susie Self, Director of the Cavendish Chorale (ARCM MPhil Cantab). Susie Self said: “It has been a terrific experience directing The Cavenish Chorale for two years and it is with great sadness that I am stepping down in order to devote myself to starting a PhD in composition at Birmingham Conservatoire. The Chorale has achieved a real presence and in particular a natural voice tone which is in contrast to the Cambridge choral scholar model.” We look forward to welcoming both new and old members alike to the Cavendish Chorale next year.
Singing in the Chorale has helped me connect with others and get out of my very tiny research Back in Michaelmas, the Chorale led the college Christmas Carols around the Tree with a number of carols and classic Christmas pop songs, some accompanied by children from the college community. The Chorale also debuted their performance of Faure’s Requiem, which received much praise.
bubble, which is important as it allows me to see perspectives of others and helps reduce the loneliness felt by most research students. Choir member, Amy Hamizah
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NEWS FROM FELLOWS
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Welcome to our new Honorary Fellows THIS HAS BEEN A YEAR FOR INTRODUCTIONS, AND WE ARE ESPECIALLY DELIGHTED TO WELCOME THREE NEW HONORARY FELLOWS TO OUR COLLEGE COMMUNITY.
Professor Jane Clarke FRS
Ali Smith CBE
Martina Navratilova
Jane Clarke is an Alumna Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Senior Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry. She began her career in science as a teacher in a comprehensive school. She later moved with her family to the USA, where she took a master’s degree that kick-started her new career in research.
Award-winning novelist Ali Smith joined Lucy Cavendish as an Honorary Fellow in January 2016. Born in Inverness, but now living in Cambridge, Ali was awarded a CBE in 2015 for services to literature and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Awarded the Baileys Prize for women's fiction in 2015 for her novel How to Be Both, Ali has collected numerous awards throughout her career, including the Whitbread Novel of the Year, the Goldsmith’s Prize and the Costa Book Award. Her works include novels, plays, non-fiction and short-story collections. She has also penned a love song, curated a collection of favourite authors and is patron of online anthology, Visual Verse. The College celebrated the appointment by holding a sell-out public talk entitled ‘On not giving a talk!’
The appointment of tennis legend Martina Navratilova as an Honorary Fellow in May 2016 highlights the value placed on sport at Lucy Cavendish. The retired nine-time Wimbledon champion was given a sporting welcome by Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club who took her to the river, before she visited the College as a guest of honour at the annual Sports Formal Hall - an event dedicated to the celebration of sport in College. Students achieving a Blue or Half Blue for representing the University received warm congratulations and a certificate from Martina.
We celebrated Jane’s appointment in March 2016, when she gave a sell-out lecture as part of the Cambridge Science Festival. She spoke about her work in biophysical and structural studies of protein folding. The failure of proteins to fold correctly is at the heart of many diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Jane also discussed the obstacles she encountered and why she is passionate to ensure that girls and young women have every opportunity to have a career in science.
Martina’s appointment was celebrated later in the year as part of a BBC documentary about her life called ‘Just call me Martina’. The programme charted Martina’s life both on and off the court and highlighted her visit to Cambridge including the welcome ceremony at Lucy Cavendish.
It really is an honour to become part of such a prestigious College and to spend time amongst such learned women. Martina Navratilova.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Welcome to our new Fellows and Research Fellows This year we welcome the following new Fellows and Research Fellows to our College community: Dr Isabel Clare is a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, and works for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, East of England). She is an Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr Anna Git is the Lu Gwei Djen Research Fellow at Lucy Cavendish. She has recently received promotions at the Department of Biochemistry and at the Cambridge Cancer Centre (see News section).
Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen is a Tutor at Lucy Cavendish College and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Psychology. She recently received a Fellowship from the Royal Society (see News section). She also graces the front cover of this publication (on the left).
Dr Karoline Kuchenbaeker is the Ethel Cruickshank Research Fellow and works at the Department of Health and Primary Care.
Dr Annette Mahon joined us as Assistant Senior Tutor (Graduates). She took a first degree in Zoology at University College, Dublin, afterwards moving to the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge to do a PhD in evolutionary biology. She also stars on the front cover of this Review (on the right).
Dr Karen Ottewell is a Tutor and Acting Praelector at Lucy Cavendish. She is Director of Academic Development and Training for International Students at the Language Centre, and recently won a Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching (see News section).
Dr Helen Roche was the Alice Tong Sze Research Fellow at Lucy Cavendish and has now become a Tutor and Fellow. She recently won a prize for best article in journal German History (see News section).
Dr Jennifer Shepherd is the Greenwood Bidder Research Fellow and is based at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.
Ms Sarah Westwood joined us as Director of Development, having previously worked at Downing, Girton and St John’s. You can read her first Development report on page 8 of this publication.
Dr Yvonne Zivkovic is the new Alice Tong Sze Research Fellow at Lucy Cavendish and is based at the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
News from our fellows FOREWORD BY PRESIDENT JACKIE ASHLEY OUR COLLEGE PRIDES ITSELF ON ITS COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT AND STRONG COMMUNITY SPIRIT, WHERE WE ARE ALL ENCOURAGED TO INTERACT AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER. OUR FELLOWS BRING A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE TO OUR COMMUNITY, AND WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THEIR HUGE ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE PAST YEAR
Fellows and Research Fellows Note on publications: Full details of all publications and conferences are available on our website: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/college-fellows/
Jackie Ashley Dr Ruth Abbott Professor Sabine Bahn Dr Jacqueline Brearley Ms Sue Brindley Professor Ruth Cameron Dr Isabel C H Clare Dr Jane Davies Dr Alice Denton Dr Astrid Gall Dr Jenny Gibson Dr Anna Git Dr Jane Greatorex Mrs Sarah Gull Dr Susanne Hakenbeck Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen Dr Henriette Hendricks Mrs Christine Houghton Professor Christine J Howe Dr Susan Jackson Dr Karoline Kuchenbaecker Dr Victoria Leong Dr Isobel J Maddison Dr Annette Mahon Dr Eileen Nugent Dr Karen Ottewell Dr Teresa Parodi Dr Jennifer Shepherd Dr Orsola Rath Spivack Dr Helen Roche Dr Kathryn Leigh Stoeber Dr Helen Taylor Mrs Lesley Thompson Dr Emily Tomlinson Ms Alison A Vinnicombe Dr Fiona Walter Ms Sarah Westwood Dr Shona Wilson Dr Lisa Wulund Dr Rumiana Yotova Dr Yvonne Zivkovic
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Dr Ruth Abbott and Dr Jacqueline Brearley win CUSU teaching awards We are very proud that our Fellows collected two out of five Lecturer Awards at the Cambridge University Student Union (CUSU) Teaching Awards announced in May 2016. CUSU Awards invite students to nominate staff who have made an exceptional contribution to their education. In a phenomenal response, over 700 nominations were received, from which 14 winners were selected across three categories: Lecturers, Supervisors and Support Staff. Lucy Cavendish was the only College to celebrate two awardwinners. Winners Dr Ruth Abbott, Lecturer in the English Faculty and Dr Jackie Brearley, Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia were both delighted, with Dr Brearley commenting:“This Award means so much to me because it is from the student body.” Dr Ruth Abbott: further prizes and publications In addition to the CUSU Teaching Award, Dr Abbott was also awarded the Andrew W Mellon Foundation Fellowship at the Huntingdon Library of California, USA and the Wallace Fellowship at the Harvard University Villa I Tatti in Florence, Italy. She also received a Humanities Research Grant from the University of Cambridge. She co-convened an International symposium at the Jerwood Centre in Grasmere called Manuscript, Print and the Organisation of Knowledge 1750-1850. Dr Abbott’s articles appeared in the following publications over the year: The Oxford Handbook of William Wordsworth, George Eliot, Metre, and the Matter of Ideas: The Yale Poetry Notebook, Notes and Queries and Writing, Machine, Code: Modern Technographies.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Professor Sabine Bahn awarded grant from Stanley Medical Research Institute Professor Sabine Bahn, Director of the Cambridge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research (CCNR), is celebrating the award of a grant of $2.9 million from the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) to fund the ongoing work of the Bahn Laboratory. Founded in 2004, the Bahn Laboratory is conducting extensive research to define the molecular basis of major neuropsychiatric disorders - specifically schizophrenia, bipolar
affective disorder, major depressive disorder and autistic and anxiety spectrum disorders. The Bahn Laboratory is part of the SPECTS program (Stanley Program for Epidemiology, Prevention and Treatment of Schizophrenia). SPECTS is a close collaboration between eight international laboratories that examine the gene-environment interactions that increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders.
This significant grant from the SMRI gives hope for the future treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Professor Bahn
Professor Ruth Cameron awarded Established Career Fellowship Professor Ruth Cameron along with Professor Serena Best, has been awarded an Established Career Fellowship to conduct a five year, £1.7 million research project to create a ‘design toolkit’ to develop and improve the effectiveness of biomedical scaffolds used to repair and regenerate tissue. This is the first time that the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded a Fellowship
on a “job-share” arrangement. For the last ten years Professor Cameron and Professor Best have jointly run the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials with part-time contracts that fit in with their family commitments.
We are delighted that the EPSRC has recognised the benefits of our joint working arrangements and look forward to being able to make exciting advances in the area of regenerative medicine under this scheme Professor Cameron
Dr Isabel Clare joins NIHR panel In addition to being elected as a Fellow of the College this year, Dr Clare has also been appointed to the panel of practitioner psychologist advocates for the National Institute for Health Research’s clinical academic careers scheme. She has been published in the journals: Intellectual Disability Research, International Journal of Law & Psychiatry, NeuroRehabilitation, and in the book London: Beyond Words.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Dr Jenny Gibson receives funding for research into play Dr Jenny Gibson has started work at a new Research Centre on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDaL). The new centre is funded by a £1.5 million investment from the Lego Foundation. Officially opened on 22 October 2015, it is the world’s first serious research centre focused on the role of play in human development and learning, and the role of education in supporting it.
The work of the research centre breaks down into three main strands: the questions of what is play, how it develops and how beneficial ‘playful learning’ is in schools. Dr Gibson will lead research on the first strand: ‘what is play’. As well as working in schools and playgrounds, research will involve observing children’s play in special labs at the Faculty of Education and working with neuroscientists to study the brain during play.
We really need to know what it [play] is and how we can measure it, to decide whether it has any effect on educational development and learning. Dr Gibson
Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen awarded Royal Society Research Fellowship Fellow and Tutor Dr Anne-Laura van Harmelen has been awarded a Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship from the Royal Society for her work in Developmental and Affective Neuroscience. Dr van Harmelen’s research at the Department of Psychiatry is focused on the effects of emotional maltreatment on brain development and cognitive development in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
The Royal Society is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship scheme is for outstanding scientists in the UK at an early stage of their research career who require a flexible working pattern due to personal circumstances such as parenting or caring responsibilities or health issues. Dr van Harmelen has young children and juggles her work with parental duties.
Professor Christine Howe investigates classroom dialogue Professor Howe has held the role of Principal Investigator for an ESRC- funded project called ‘Classroom dialogue: Does it really make a difference to student learning?’ an issue that has exercised scholars since the time of Socrates but remains unresolved. She was awarded the Janet Duffin award for the best 2015 publication for her article, ‘Rational number and proportional reasoning in early secondary school towards principled improvement in mathematics’ which appeared in the publication Research in Mathematics Education. The prize resulted in a keynote speech on ‘Dialogue and
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knowledge transformation: Towards a sociocognitive theory of cognitive growth’ at the Annual Conference of the British Society for Research in Learning Mathematics in June 2016. She also gave a keynote lecture to over 500 delegates at the Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction held in Cyprus. Professor Howe continues her psychological research into children’s understanding of force and motion and has published articles in Disciplinary intuitions and the design of learning environments and Cognitive Development.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Dr Jane Greatorex awarded Ebola Medal for Service DR JANE GREATOREX IS A SENIOR SCIENTIST IN MICROBIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH AT ADDENBROOKE’S HOSPITAL, AND A FELLOWAND TUTOR AT LUCY CAVENDISH COLLEGE. THIS YEAR SHE WAS AWARDED THE EBOLA MEDAL FOR SERVICE IN WEST AFRICA FOR HER WORK IN SIERRA LEONE DURING THE EBOLA CRISIS.
I will never forget my time in Sierra Leone working with a brilliant and dedicated team of people. Like many others, I would not hesitate to return if asked again. Dr Greatorex
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As a Senior Research Scientist in Clinical Microbiology and Public Health, Dr Greatorex didn’t hesitate to respond to a request from Public Health England in 2014 for volunteers to run laboratories in Sierra Leone. She was selected to lead a team and, following rigorous training, joined other volunteers in Africa in June 2015. Their key role was to ensure all deaths were thoroughly screened and investigated – regardless of cause. This vital process revealed new sources of infection and facilitated the tracing of new cases. The team also worked to establish a better health infrastructure, leaving trained local personnel in place to prepare for future outbreaks. Dr Greatorex received her medal at a ceremony on 2 March 2016. Awarded by the Government and approved by Her Majesty The Queen, the Ebola Medal is the first medal of its kind to acknowledge those who have risked their lives responding to a humanitarian crisis. Back in the UK, Dr Greatorex is leading research into anti-viral resistance at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and is also responsible for the national co-ordination of projects to develop gastrointestinal infection screening assays as well as the clinical implementation of whole genome sequencing for HIV-1. Dr Greatorex has also achieved great success outside work this year. She won a Gold Medal at the Scottish Horseshoe Endurance Ride, a route of 186 km ridden over 2 days (the longest distance ever achieved competitively in the UK). The competition raised funds for South Loch Ness Access Group and the Equine Grass Sickness Fund.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
News from our fellows Dr Isobel Maddison elected President of new Elizabeth von Arnim Society Dr Maddison started the academic year as joint co-coordinator, along with Jennifer Walker and Erica Brown, of the first international conference on Elizabeth von Arnim. This was held at Lucy Cavendish and it spawned a Special Issue journal and a new literary society in von Arnim’s name. Isobel was delighted to be elected its President in December 2016 and was pleased to be able to mark the occasion of von Arnim’s 150th year, on behalf of the Society, by adding five
newly-commissioned ‘Elizabeth von Arnim’ roses to the College gardens. She is now planning another conference on von Arnim, this time held jointly with the Katherine Mansfield Society, at the Huntington Library in California. A sabbatical break in the Easter Term allowed Dr Maddison time to complete several research projects and to begin a few new ones. Her articles have appeared in the following publications: Middlebrow Cultures 1890-1945 and Modern Language Review.
Dr Karen Ottewell wins Pilkington Prize New Fellow Dr Karen Ottewell was awarded a 2016 Pilkington Prize for excellent teaching in her role as Director of Academic Development and Training for International Students at the Language Centre. Dr Ottewell’s work at the Language Centre involves providing training and support to assist international students at the University in further developing and honing
I feel very honoured at the recognition of not only my work but also that of my team at the Language Centre.
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the skills required to succeed in an Englishspeaking academic context. In addition to this role, she is also a Tutor for graduates and Acting Praelector at Lucy Cavendish College and Senior Treasurer of the Boat Club. Sir Alastair Pilkington, the founder of the Pilkington Prize, believed passionately in the importance of education and wanted excellent teaching to be supported and rewarded at the University. He recognized that high calibre teaching was crucial to Cambridge’s continuing success. Twelve prizes were awarded in total in 2016.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Dr Shona Wilson conducts studies in Uganda and Tanzania Dr Wilson spent time conducting field studies in the Mayuge District of Uganda and in the Shinyanga District of Tanzania this year. She organised a workshop on the mass distribution of drugs for worm infections in Uganda and ran a technical workshop in Mwanza, Tanzania, on diagnosing parasites within intermediate snail hosts.
Further travels included Leiden University Medical Centre, the University of Copenhagen and Aberystwyth University where she spoke at lectures on the Molecular and Cellular Biology of Helminth Parasites, Hydra. Dr Wilson has also contributed to an article in Parasite Immunology.
Dr Helen Roche wins prize for best article in journal German History Dr Roche has had an incredibly busy year publishing many articles and speaking at conferences around the UK, in addition to her role as Tutor. Her articles have appeared in the following publications: Classical Receptions Journal 8, Nationalsozialismus und Regionalbewusstsein im östlichen Europa, Beiträge zur Geschichte
des Nationalsozialismus 32, and German History 33, for which her article won the prize for ‘Best article of 2015’. Dr Roche spoke at conferences including the inaugural meeting of the Children’s History Society, and she is a member of the society’s steering committee.
News from research fellows Dr Anna Git promoted to Principle Investigator Dr Git enjoyed a rollercoaster year following the award of stipendiary Lu Gwei Djen Research Fellowship and full research funding from Worldwide Cancer Research to study multidrug resistance in breast cancer. This enabled promotions both at the University (to Senior Research Associate and Principle Investigator at the Department of Biochemistry) and at the Cambridge Cancer Centre (to Faculty Member). She also found time to give a plenary lecture at the 10th International MicroRNAs/Non-Coding RNAs & Genome Editing Europe and she published four papers in the following publications: International Journal of Cancer, PIOS One, Cancer Research and Molecular Oncology.
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NEWS FROM ALUMNAE
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
News from our Alumnae WE ARE ALWAYS DELIGHTED WHEN ALUMNAE STAY IN TOUCH AND SHARE THEIR NEWS, AND CURRENT STUDENTS ARE FREQUENTLY INSPIRED BY THEIR VISITS. HERE IS A TINY SELECTION OF STORIES FROM THE PAST YEAR. YOU CAN FIND MANY MORE ON THE NEWS PAGES AND ALUMNAE PAGES OF OUR WEBSITE WWW.LUCY-CAV.CAM.AC.UK. Sharon Webb awarded MBE
Sharon Webb
Dr Rosena Allin-Kha
Dr Sharon Webb (Archaeology, 1994) received an MBE in the New Year's Honours List 2016 for services to Scottish heritage and archaeology in her role as Director and Curator at the Kilmartin Museum in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll. The Glen is one of Scotland’s most important archaeological sites and home to over 800 internationally significant prehistoric and early historic sites dating back more than 5000 years. The museum provides a unique opportunity for visitors to explore items excavated locally.
My time at Lucy Cavendish College significantly broadened a rewarding career in archaeology, which has culminated in my work at Kilmartin Museum. Through the Museum it is a pleasure to share my knowledge with the wider community and visitors to the area. Receiving an MBE for something I have enjoyed doing so much is really special. Dr Rosena Allin-Khan elected as Labour MP for Tooting
Rachael Brock
Elbereth Donovan
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Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Medicine, 2001) has become the new Labour MP for Tooting, following Sadiq Khan’s departure to become Mayor of London. As a postgraduate at Lucy Cavendish, Rosena was amongst the first cohort of students to qualify via the Cambridge Graduate Course in Medicine ( an accelerated four-year programme for medics). Born and raised in Tooting, Rosena returned home to work as a doctor in Accident and Emergency at St George’s Hospital. As well as combining motherhood with a medical career, she was elected to Wandsworth Council in 2014, becoming the Labour group’s deputy leader within a year.
Rachael Brock appointed National Head of Cancer Registration Rachael Brock (Medicine, 2011) was appointed National Head of Cancer Registration for Public Heath England in 2016. After completing her Foundation training in hospitals around Cambridge, she was awarded a National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellowship at NHS England. She spent time training in Emergency Medicine before moving into Public Health. In her new role, she works with NHS clinicians, commissioners, data analysts, IT developers and cancer registration officers to capture, analyse and report on every tumour diagnosis in England. The data is used by clinicians, researchers and commissioners to provide vital intelligence about cancer in England and the effectiveness of the treatment and care given to patients.
Elbereth Donovan manages the LASER programme for DFID Elbereth Donovan (nee Wentzel, MPhil in Educational Research, 2007) is working with the Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to trial a new approach to managing development programmes. Adaptive programming is an innovative approach to programme management, which allows greater flexibility and ultimately increases impact. This approach enables programmes to adapt to changes in the local political context - shifts in developing government needs, and learnings about what works and doesn’t - without sacrificing accountability for how taxpayer funds are spent. The Legal Assistance for Economic Reform (LASER) programme is a 3 year programme that focuses on supporting investment climate reform in 8 counties and one of the first DFID programmes to test an adaptive approach. More here: www.laserdev.org
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Patricia Duff works on 3 year Croatia project Patricia Duff (Archaeology, 2012) is working with archaeologists at the Universities of Cambridge and Pisa, Italy on a year 3 project funded as part of the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation. Her organisation ArchaeoLink will liaise between the archaeologists and the community of Vela Luka in which is situated the site of Vela Spila to promote the research and to ensure that the community gains from the educational, social and economic benefits of the site. More at: ArchaeoLink.org
Diana Sawyer donates Porters’ Portrait Diana Sawyer (M Ed, 2009) has kindly donated a portrait of our Senior Porters, now hanging in the entrance of Warburton Hall. The portrait formed part of an exhibition shown in June 2016 of all the College Head Porters from the University of Cambridge, by local artist Louise Riley-Smith. Benefactor Diana Sawyer is Secretary to the Alumnae Association Committee, and will be a familiar face for many alumnae. She first saw the portrait on Twitter and thought it was a perfect likeness of both Neil Curtis and John Morley.
I remember thinking what a lovely idea it was that the porters were being celebrated in this way. The college porters have a really important role in the dayto-day running of every college, and I thought it was great that a permanent record of so many of the people currently fulfilling the role was being made, and celebrating them. Erica Carrick Utsi surveys Shakespeare’s tomb on Channel 4 Erica Carrick Utsi (Archaeology, 1981) carried out the first ever geophysical investigation of William Shakespeare’s family graves at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon this year, and was filmed at work in a Channel 4 documentary called Secret History: Shakespeare’s Tomb. The programme revealed the findings of the Ground Penetrating Radar
(GPR) survey of Shakespeare’s tomb, which concluded that, in spite of the well-known curse, the western end of the Bard’s grave had been extensively disturbed. The unexpectedly shallow depth of the grave also correlated with a published account of grave robbing which means that Shakespeare’s skull may be missing from his grave. After reading Archaeology at Lucy Cavendish, Erica went on to specialise in GPR and is now Director of EMC Radar Consulting, specialising in archaeological and forensic investigations.
Patricia Duff
Nora Weller supports Syrian refugees with exhibition and conference Nora Weller (Law, 2006) founded Cambridge Academy of Global Affairs last year and in November 2015 organised an art exhibition to raise awareness and support the current Syrian refugee crisis. The Academy also hosted a seminar discussing International Intervention on State-Building including speakers from Chatham House in London, The Financial Times, former United Nations officials and two academics from the University of Cambridge. Her response to the refugee crisis is very personal because in 1998 she was displaced from Kosovo with her extended family, and her first host family in Canada was Syrian.
Suzanne McCarthy appointed as Chair of Fundraising Standards Committee Suzanne McCarthy (LL.M, 1985) has been appointed by the Institute of Fundraising as the first ever independent chair of its standards committee, which sets the Code of Fundraising Practice. Suzanne is currently Chairman of Depaul UK, a charity concerned with youth homelessness, and a member of the Board of Depaul International. She is also a member of several other boards including the Advertising Standards Authority, the Architects Registration Board and the Senet Group. In addition, she serves as the Independent Appointed Person for the Greater London Authority. Suzanne was recently appointed as a Marshall Aid Commemoration Commissioner. She will return to Cambridge in autumn 2016 to join a discussion panel for the Alumni Festival called Older and Wiser: how women over 50 are making their mark.
Diana Sawyer donates Porters’ Portrait
Erica Carrick Utsi
Nora Weller
Suzanne McCarthy
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
IN MEMORIAM
In memoriam
WE REMEMBER WITH GREAT FONDNESS MEMBERS OF OUR COLLEGE COMMUNITY WHO HAVE PASSED THIS YEAR AND OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES.
Dame Anne Warburton DCVO CMG | 8 June 1927 4 June 2015 By Dr Jane M Renfrew The College was very saddened to learn of the death of Dame Anne Warburton on 4 June 2015. She came to the College in 1985 as our fourth and longest serving President. The Col-lege will ever be grateful for her enormous contribution to its growth and development at a critical moment in its history.
After a distinguished career in the Foreign Office in London, Bonn, New York and Geneva she became Britain’s first female ambassador when she was posted to Denmark in 1976. She served there for seven years and her enjoyment of it is reflected in her book Signposts to Denmark (1992). Whilst there she was involved in an important exhibition on the Vikings in England and she hosted a state visit from the Queen in 1979. After Copenhagen she went on to lead the British Delegation to the UN in Geneva, and only two years later she left the Diplomatic Service to become the fourth President of Lucy Cavendish College. When she arrived in 1985, the College had just received Approved Foundation Status in the University, a major step to becoming a full College with its own charter. It was small, with a total of 50 students housed in three Victorian houses on the private road off Lady Margaret Road, and it was very poor. The finances of the College were overseen by a board of Trustees under the chairmanship of Sir Alan Cottrell, the Master of Jesus College. Dame Anne realised at once that there was a need for more student accommodation, and she, together with her friend Penelope Boscawen, inspected all the rooms in Strathaird and Barrmore and decided to divide the larger ones in half, which helped the problem in the short term. But the long term need was for purpose-built accommodation and she involved the architect of her new Suffolk home, Elaine Denby, in drawing up plans for Oldham Hall to provide more on-site student accommodation, a combination room and a meeting room suitable also for conference use. Provision was also made for the University's Project Granta computer ducting to reach the new building, to
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allow students with their own personal computers direct access to the University and Faculty main frames, making Lucy Cavendish one of the first Colleges to provide this facility. In order to realise these ambitions, she embarked on a large scale appeal for funds, with the help of Ruth Silver, and building work began in 1988 on the site of an abandoned vegetable garden between College House and Lady Margaret Road. Oldham Hall opened, to great rejoicing, in October of the following year and this marked a turning point in the development of the College. I remember Dr Anna Bidder, the founding President, sitting in the Paul Paget Room saying, “I just can't believe it, I really can’t believe it”. This gave a tremendous boost to the College's self-confidence, and as Dame Anne pointed out, “The time has come when, as an established College, it is necessary to aim at providing similar remuneration, facilities and services to those available in similar new colleges – not luxury , but not penury either.” As a result of the granting of Approved Foundation Status, the College was in receipt of annual grants from the Colleges' Fund, and together with the lifting of the restriction on our student numbers by the University in June 1988, it meant a welcome improvement in the College's annual income, which was carefully husbanded by the Bursar, Ellen Macintosh. Quite apart from the need for buildings Dame Anne saw the need to raise the profile of the College both in the University and nationally. In the University she was elected to the Council of the Senate in 1987 and in the following year became a member of
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
the Wass Syndicate on the Governance of the University, and a Syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum. Nationally she was a Trustee of the British Library, a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Academic support for the College greatly increased with the establishment of new research fellowships and studentships. The Laura Ashley and Carlsberg Research Fellowships were established in 1988 and a further Research Fellowship was funded by King's College that year which raised the academic profile of the College within the University. These were followed by a whole series of other Research Fellowships: Greenwood-Bidder, Ethel Cruikshank, Dorothy Needham, Lu Gwei-Djen, Alice Tong Sze, Daphne Jackson and Sutasoma all contributing to the academic standing of the college. Funds for the support of students also greatly increased: Trinity College endowed the Lord Frederick Cavendish Studentships, and the Margaret Masterman Braithwaite Fund was established to support students of Linguistics; these were followed by Laura Ashley, BP, Emmeline Pankhurst, American Friends and British Gas studentships. An annual Fulbright College Visiting Fellowship was established with the University of Arkansas. During the first few years of her Presidency there was anxiety about the College remaining single sex, particularly in relation to its Fellowship, after the question had been raised by the European Commission: by 1987 they had stated that they did not want to change the status of womens’ Colleges in Cambridge and Oxford and by the 1989/90 session of Parliament, legislation was passed authorising single sex womens’ Colleges in Cambridge and Oxford to employ only female Fellows and Research Fellows indefinitely. Thus Lucy Cavendish is enabled to continue to be a pathfinder in helping women to return to, and remain in, academic work. The Silver Jubilee of the College’s foundation was celebrated in the academic year 1989/90 and was marked by two royal visits. First, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who had been made an Honorary Fellow of the College, visited in December, and this was followed in July by Prince Philip, the College’s Visitor. An exhibition entitled “Who was Lucy Cavendish” was mounted to mark this anniversary and Dame Anne arranged with the Duke of Devonshire to borrow Lucy Cavendish’s Diaries, and she went up to Chatsworth to collect them. After the University lifted the restriction on the number of undergraduates in June 1988, and with the new facilities, and its increasing profile, the College aimed to double its number of students (this was achieved in the academic year 1992/3 when the student body reached 100). In the course of the 1990s the University had reduced the age of maturity from 25 to 21 years, and the tutors introduced two innovations aimed at increasing the intake of students: a Contact day for representatives of Colleges of Further Education, and an Open day for potential students. Two new appointments for Dame Anne in 1991 helped to spread the name of Lucy Cavendish: she was made Chairman of the University Careers Syndicate, and joined the Council of the University of East Anglia in Norwich. The College was also able to expand its site and acquire an additional building, Marshall House, with the help of various bequests and donations: it was adapted to house eight graduate students, but the long term aim was for it to become the President's Lodge. There was no accommodation provided for the President in College, and Dame Anne lodged in Barrow Road with Lady Beryl Newns during the week, returning to her Suffolk home at weekends.
Thanks to a bequest of £1,000,000 from Countess Barbara de Brye, a joint Business Expansion Scheme with St John’s College and generous benefactions, the last years of Dame Anne’s presidency saw the unprecedented construction of new buildings on the College site. Two new residential buildings: de Brye and Bertram were constructed along the private part of Lady Margaret Road, ready for occupation in October 1994, and the Dining Hall building with its additional accommodation followed shortly afterwards, all designed by van Heyningen and Haward. Also a circular pavilion for music and meditation was constructed on the corner of College House lawn, through the generosity of two American women, Irene Sharaff and Mai Mai Tze, and designed again by Haward and van Heyningen. These were to completely transform life in College. In December 1992 and January 1993, Dame Anne lead a committee, established by the European Council of Ministers, to investigate reports of rape and other abuse suffered by Bosnian Muslim women. It was felt that as a woman she would be able to gain their confidence and present the team's evidence without bias. The team found that the alleged atrocities had indeed occurred on a massive scale and that they were usually perpetrated with the conscious intention of demoralising and terrorising communities, driving them from their home regions and demonstrating the power of the invading forces. On her return to College Dame Anne was able to put together a financial package to support a mature Bosnian student, whose studies at Sarajevo University had been interrupted, to come to Lucy Cavendish to read for a degree in Arabic. In December 1993, the Governing Body gave a special dinner in honour of Dame Anne which was graciously attended by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and the following morning the Queen unveiled the foundation stone for the Dining Hall building, which was later to be named Warburton Hall. Some six months later, on her retirement, the College presented Dame Anne with a pair of silver candlesticks (from members of the Roll), and a silver rose bowl (from the Governing Body Fellows) designed by Stephen Ottewill, who had designed the Oldham Hall bowl, presented to the College by the Goldsmiths company to mark the opening of the first of the College's purpose built buildings in 1989. Dame Anne gifted the silverware back to the College before she died. In nearly nine years, Dame Anne’s contribution to the College had been enormous. She had put it on the map both within the University and nationally. Within the College, she had strengthened its academic standing by getting funding for Research Fellowships and Studentships. She gave it a new selfconfidence by building up the Governing Body Fellowship with University Teaching Officers, and by making it possible to have five purpose-designed buildings erected on the site. Last but not least, she introduced computers into the College both for academic and administrative purposes. She was enormously energetic and very determined to obtain the goals she had set herself for the College, but she was also very humane and kind. She took a great interest in the students and their welfare and in meeting and greeting them and their guests before Formal Halls. She took special care of Dr Anna Bidder, the first President, to whom she gave Meals on Wheels on a regular basis. She treated the Presidency as a full-time post and was most often around the College, accompanied by a succession of handsome Labrador dogs, one of whom she named Lucy. The College will ever be grateful for her enormous contribution to its growth and development at a critical moment in its history.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
In memoriam Mrs Ursula Lyons | 24 September 1936 - February 2016 By Dr Jane M Renfrew
Ursula joined the College as a Senior Member in 1966, became Librarian in 1972, and a Fellow from 1976 -1996 (serving as Garden Steward from 1984-1994); from 1996-2016 she was an Emeritus Fellow.
Ursula was born in Manchester of Swiss parents whilst her father was working in the UK for CIBA Geigy (Novartis). She went to school in Cheshire and then to University in St Andrews. In 1957 she became president of the St Andrews University Ski Club. She graduated MA in the following year with a brilliant First in French and Arabic. In 1961 she married Dr Malcolm Cameron Lyons, Fellow of Pembroke College, who later became Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge. After their marriage they spent some time in the Lebanon (her car was transported there by boat!). She became a Senior Member of Lucy Cavendish College in 1966 and remained so until she was given a Class A Fellowship in 1976. Ursula was appointed Librarian in February 1972, and had the task of collecting together all the books the College possessed, uncatalogued, (about 1,600). She set about accessioning, labelling and cataloguing them. They were stored in a series of bookcases including a large 18th century glassfronted oak bookcase, loaned by Dr Marie Lawrence (now in the Foyer of the Library Building) in the North Room on the ground floor of College House. She was also asked to “acquire more books
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particularly in subjects most likely to be read by Lucy Cavendish students” on a very limited budget augmented by donations. Her interest in the welfare of the library persisted after she handed over the librarianship to Dr Harriet Crawford in 1974, and in recent years she was often to be found helping in the library on Thursday mornings. Her other great service to the College was as Garden Steward from 1984-1994. She set to with a will to restock the garden so as to give it flowers and colour throughout the year, and during her ten years many new plants, bulbs, shrubs and trees were added to the garden on a regular basis (some coming from her own garden) and a record was kept of all the planting. To mark the first visit of Prince Philip to the College in 1985, he planted a handkerchief tree on the lawn beside Barrmore. This was later moved to the garden of Marshall House. During her time as Garden Steward, the gardens were disrupted by the laying of a computer cable across all the lawns and by the construction of new buildings. The planning of the planting to surround them, to fit in with the informal nature of the gardens, was carefully undertaken, and the success of this hard work can be seen today. She wrote an excellent history of the garden called
A Treasure of a Garden - Lucy Cavendish Garden: The First Thirty Years (1970-2000), which details the way in which four private house gardens were gradually melded into one informal and delightful College garden. Another of her roles in College was to serve on the Wine Committee; here she was especially keen on the College buying Burgundy, whatever the price, which she was very partial to. In whatever she undertook, she worked with dedication together with a lively sense of humour. Her academic work was to teach Arabic and to act as Director of Studies for our students in the Oriental Studies faculty. She and her husband co-authored a translation of The Thousand and One Nights which was published in three volumes by Penguin in 2008. She also helped her husband with the publication of Saladin, The Politics of the Holy War (1982). Ursula was very musical and especially enjoyed singing. She joined Cambridge University Musical Society first in 1959, and re-joined it after her return from the Lebanon and continued to sing with them until the retirement of David Willcocks. She also sang with the Madrigal Society. In the 1980s she sang with the Suffolk Occasional Singers in
the Suffolk Wool Churches. She was a valued member of the Cambridge Philharmonic Chorus until the time of her death. In Fulbourn, she was a keen member of the Fulbourn Historical Society and researched the history of the local houses. She also supported the local library. She loved her cats, her gardennot only the plants but the hedgehogs and the birdlifewalking, swimming and skiing, and especially her trips back to Switzerland and to Venice. She bore her last illness with enormous courage, fatalism and selflessness, putting concern for her husband’s welfare first to the very end. She died in February 2016 and will be remembered as a bright, cheerful, energetic and devoted presence in the College and one of its longest serving members.
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Beryl Wattles (Lady Newns) | July 1926 - 6 January 2016 By Dr Jane M Renfrew
Lady Newns died at her home in East Dulwich on 6 January 2016. She came to the College first to study Dyslexia in order to help her elder son overcome its challenges. She regarded Lucy Cavendish as her academic home and later set up a successful alumnae group “The Friends of the Library”. Her first degree was in Modern Languages and she worked for several years as a journalist in Europe and the USA, and in administrative posts in international organisations including General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the International Monetary Fund. On her return to the UK, Beryl had difficulty in finding a suitable school for her dyslexic son and decided to study the subject in order to help him. In due course she took degrees in Clinical Psychology in Cambridge and London Universities and continued with government-funded research into specific learning
difficulties with Professor Zangwill’s group. For this she was based in Lucy Cavendish College, which she regarded as her academic home. She set up a pilot experiment with a small group of dyslexic children in King’s College School, which was originally planned to last for a year, but was so successful it went on for seven years only ending when Beryl and her ally, the Headmaster, retired. Her son went to Grantchester School and then to King’s School, Ely and became an architect. At Lucy Cavendish, in her retirement she set up a successful alumnae group
“The Friends of the Library” which raised funds particularly for restoring the bindings of many of the rare books. The Friends laid on book sales at the end of each Term and at the Annual Summer Garden Party, which were very popular. When the time came for Beryl to retire as Chairman of the Friends, no one was willing to take it on. The residue of the funds raised was spent on providing shelving for the Brooks Room in the Library. She also provided two handsome display cabinets in the Library Foyer in memory of her husband, Sir Alfred Foley Newns KCMG.
When Dame Anne Warburton became President of the College in 1985, Beryl offered her a room in her house in Barrow Road in which to stay during the week. At that time the College was so poor it could not offer accommodation to its President, and Dame Anne stayed with Beryl for the whole time of her presidency. Whilst she stayed on in Cambridge, Beryl was a frequent and elegant attender of Formal Halls and of many other College events.
Sue (Sylvia) Kathleen Howard (nee Carpos) | 25 August 1950 – 20 February 2015 By daughter Sam Howard Alumna Sue Howard (Education, 1981) died on 20 February 2015 at the age of 64 from pancreatic cancer. Sue is survived by her partner, two children and four grandchildren. She will be remembered for her passion for the arts, her committed feminism and her sense of humour and wit.
Sue was born on 25 August 1950 in Hampstead to Renee and Harry Carpos. She was married in 1968 to William (Bill) Charles Howard in Australia and they had two children, Samantha and Matthew. They divorced in 1978 and Sue returned to England in 1979 with her children.
After receiving her PGCE at Lucy Cavendish College, Sue worked at Bottisham Village College and the Cavendish Laboratories. She lived in Histon, where she forged several friendships which survived years of separation when Sue returned to Australia in 1991. She established close friends
and satisfying employment in both Australia and the UK and she managed at least a decade of living the summer months in each country. In recent years, Sue taught English to Italian students in Pisa, Italy. She met Pierluigi, with whom she shared a love of travelling, intellectual
discussions and music. Sue published a novel Leaning Towards Pisa, a semiautobiographical book which reached the best-sellers’ list in Australia. At the time of her death, Sue had completed a second novel about the life of Puccini’s mistress, which her family intends to publish in her memory.
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
In memoriam Mary Dezille | 17 January 1951 – 2 May 2016 By Julie McDonald, President of the Alumnae Association Committee
Alumna Mary Dezille was taken from us suddenly on 2 May 2016. Mary studied Social and Political Sciences at Lucy Cavendish from 2000 and took an active role on the Students Union committee, including a year as President. She will be remembered for her wonderful nature and wicked, dry sense of humour. Upon graduation, Mary remained within the University working at the Old Schools in the Registrary’s Office. She continued her involvement in the College by joining the Alumnae Association Committee, where she played an active part including time as Chair of the Events Committee. Mary organised many interesting events for Alumnae, including a tour and tea at Madingley Hall,
Cambridge, and a visit to the V&A Museum in London. She set up some very successful stalls at the Lucy Cavendish Garden Party and led the committee to organise wonderful events at Alumnae weekends. She joined us at a backstage tour when the Alumnae Association went to see a performance of The Mousetrap in 2015. On a personal note, our paths crossed when I came to Lucy in 2002 and I remember her
supporting and offering invaluable advice to our group of nervous newcomers. Even following graduation, our group kept in contact and Mary was due to join us at a get-together in London in May 2016. A commemoration was held at Lucy Cavendish for Mary on 4 June for Mary’s many friends, colleagues, and the College community. Readings were ‘Friendship’ by Khalil Gibran and ‘Death is nothing at all’ by
Henry Scott Holland. A further remembrance was held at the Old Schools on 18 July.
Visitors to the College can see a beautiful planter outside College House dedicated to Mary.
Ms Jean Beard (was Somerville, nee Haslam) | 5 December 1945 – 1 December 2015 By alumna Dr Sharon Webb and Faye, Laura and Ross Somerville
Alumna Jean Beard joined the College to study archaeology and anthropology in 1989. She died on 1 December 2015 from breast cancer. She was an extraordinary mother, extraordinary grandmother and a dear friend to many.
Jean was born on the 5 December 1945 in Higham, where she had a happy childhood with her sisters, Diana and Susan and their home was full of pets. She finished her schooling in 1964 and was accepted into the RAF to start her training as an Air Traffic Controller. Jean had a great time in the RAF and thoroughly enjoyed the work side as much as the partying. An Open University course prompted her return to
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education, reading Archaeology and Anthropology before doing an MPhil in Museums and Heritage management. As a single mother of three, she chose Lucy Cavendish because she felt that it provided a very supportive environment. It also led to lifelong friendships with several women in similar situations. She loved her time at Cambridge and earned the nickname ‘Mum’ from fellow students who went to her for comfort and advice. Jean later
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earned the same nickname working at Cambridge Archeology and Anthropology Museum because her children would call daily and just ask to speak to ‘Mum’. Later in life, Jean held a huge range of voluntary roles for organisations including the Little Hall Museum in Lavenham, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Kilmartin Museum, Pakenham Flour Mill, Risby Village Hall Trust and the Suffolk Branch of the Deaf
Association. She loved singing with the Risby Singers and would have been delighted with their choice for her funeral, John Rutter’s ‘Gaelic Blessing’.
DONORS
Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge
Thank you to our donors We would like to thank the donors listed below who generously supported our College between 01 July 2015 and 30 June 2016: Miss Donna Abercrombie, Professor Anna Abulafia, Professor Emerita Juana Acrivos, Dr Elise Alexander, Dr Patricia Alireza, Mrs Peggy Allison, Dr Carol Atack
Ms Joanne Lai, Professor Marcia Landy, Ms Marion Larsen, Lucy Cavendish College Alumnae Association Mrs Ellen Mackintosh, Mr Keith Maddocks, Dr Annette Mahon, MariaMarina Foundation, Dr Kate Mitchell, Dr Clare Morgan, Ms Cate Muther Ms Kate Naughton, Mr George Nissen CBE
Mr Rod Barker, Dr Christobel Barretto, The Becker Trust, Professor Dame Carol Black DBE, Mrs Mary Boorman, Mrs Sally Bowden, Ms Pamela Bradley, Mrs Susan Brindley, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Professor Carole Brooke, Ms Elizabeth Burney Dr Anne Calabresi, Dr Elizabeth Chapman, Mrs Jenny Chinner and Dr Graham Chinner, Dr Isabel Clare, Mrs Jillian Clarke, Baroness Janet Cohen of Pimlico and Dr Jim Cohen, Ms Erica Cotton, Dr Harriet Crawford, Ms Fiona Crawley Dr Anne Dain, DMG Roper Charitable Foundation, Mrs Elizabeth Dolman, Ms Edwina Dunn, Mrs Elaine Durham Mrs Fiona Edington, Professor Heather Eggins, Mr Ernest Hecht OBE and the Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation The Fairway Trust, Ms Ellen Forester, Dr Linda Fritzinger Dr Olga Gandelman, Ms Frances Gandy, Dr Cyndi Glassman, Dr Penny Granger, Ms Susan Greville, Professor Margaret Grieco and Professor Ravi Kanbur Miss Lucille Haire, Professor Norman Hammond, Miss Judith Hanratty CVO, OBE, Mrs Susie Harrison, Mr Nigel Harvie, Mrs Kornelia Hathaway, Mrs Ruth Haynes, Mr Ernest Hecht OBE, Mrs Dorothy Heeneman, Ms Joanna Hewitt, Mrs Gill Heyworth, Mrs Catherine Hopkins, Miss Simone Horst, Mrs Christine Houghton, Mrs Marie Howes, Ms Fiona Hutton Professor Mary James, the late Baroness Phyllis Dorothy James OBE, Mrs Stella Jones, Mrs Elizabeth Jurd Dr Lachmi Khemlani, Mrs Fiona King
Dr Karen Ottewell Mrs Julia Payne, Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD), Dr Wendy Pollard, Mrs Christina Poole Majerus Ms Jothi Reddy, The Rothschild Foundation, Mrs Elizabeth Rushden, Dr Alison Rylands Mrs Zena Sanigar, Santander UK, Ms Diana Sawyer, Mrs Eva Simmons, Mrs Helen Skelton, the late Ms Jean Beard, Spire Healthcare, Mrs Sarah Squire, Dr Janet Stein, Ms Karen Stephenson, Dr Andrea Stockl, Dr Linda Stone, Miss E Story, The Sutasoma Trust, Dame Veronica Sutherland DBE, CMG Dr Paula Tallal, Mrs Lesley Thompson, Ms Christine Thwaite, Mrs Jillinda Tiley, Dr Lindsey Traub, Dr Betty Tucker Ms Alison Vinnicombe Sir Harold Walker, Mr John Warburton, Ms Sarah Westwood, Ms Diane Williams, Dr Jean Wilson, Ms Tamsin Wimhurst, Dr Barbara Wittman, Ms Jane Wood Dr Minako Yamada We gratefully acknowledge those who have made gifts in kind, promised to remember Lucy Cavendish in their will, or asked to remain anonymous. If you would like to know more about Lucy Cavendish College or how you can support us please contact the Development Office on 01223 339241; development@lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk
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Lucy Cavendish College University of Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College Lady Margaret Road Cambridge CB3 0BU Website: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk Email: development@lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk Call: +44 (0)1223 339243 Facebook: @LucyCavCollege Twitter: @lucycavcoll Instagram: lucycavendishcollege Registered charity number: 1137875 52
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