Shaping the Future We know that Old Marlburians make huge contributions and are leaders in their respective fields, both in the UK and internationally, and those who received a bursary are no exception. The Club asked three former bursary pupils to share their life experiences to understand how Marlborough helped shape their future. They have achieved success in many ways and their inspiring stories remind us that bursaries go beyond the excellent education gained in the classroom. As you will read in the profiles of James Root, Mirya Ninova and Molly McHugh-Iddon, they also learnt how to be resilient, perseverant and compassionate.
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n a recent survey, former bursary pupils told the Club that Marlborough had helped improve their grades, securing them a place at their chosen university. For some, it was being at Marlborough that encouraged them to set their sights even higher than they would have expected and apply to some of the world’s top universities. Many shared anecdotes about the importance of being part of the Marlburian community. They described the academic support from their beaks beyond lessons, they named friends who made them laugh through tough times, and they thanked the donors who funded their bursaries. The Marlburian community welcomes the success that every bursary pupil – current or former – has achieved and, as the College increases the number of full bursaries available, it will be exciting to see where their careers take them.
James Root (SU 1975-79) To bring us up to speed, can you give us a whistle-stop tour of your career so far? After university, I worked in advertising in London as a copywriter and creative director, then I re-skilled with an MBA degree at London Business School, from where I joined Bain & Company. I’ve been with Bain most of the time since then – over 32 years now – in London, Boston, New York and Hong Kong. In the middle of all that, I dipped out of Bain for three years to co-start a business process outsourcing business in Asia that we sold a few years after launch. You’ve recently been elected By-Fellow in Hughes Hall at the University of Cambridge; can you tell us a bit more about this?
James Root
‘Resilience. Those early morning pink chit runs up to Wedgwood – toughing them out taught me that sometimes you just have to get your shoulder down and get through.’
First, it’s an honour. My father taught at Cambridge and he was a ‘proper’ academic, which I am not. I have been teaching EMBAs for around 12 years in Hong Kong on the joint Kellogg–HKUST programme and was interested in expanding my teaching commitments. There is a highly innovative Head of House at Hughes who sees value in having people with non-traditional backgrounds join the fellowship – it’s thanks to him that I am part of the College. The Marlburian Club Magazine
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