News and People

Aditi Lahiri

Fellows and staff Professor Aditi Lahiri, FBA, was awarded a CBE for her services to the Study of Linguistics in December. Professor Lahiri has also been appointed Chair of the Faculty of Linguistics and Philology, having previously acted as its founding Chair in 2008. Professor Marc Feldmann, Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, was awarded the 2020 Tang Prize for Biopharmaceutical Science for his discovery of anti-TNF therapy with Sir Ravinder Maini – see news story, page 10. Professor Matthew Wood was elected a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his ground-breaking research in the field of RNA-based precision medicines for rare, inherited neurological diseases. Professor Almut Suerbaum has been elected to a three-year term as the Chair of the Faculty Board of Medieval and Modern Languages, the largest Modern Languages department in the Englishspeaking world. Professor Benjamin Thompson has been appointed Associate Head for Education of the Humanities Division, where he will coordinate undergraduate teaching and learning across Oxford’s ten humanities faculties. Senior Research Fellow Patricia Kingori has helped establish a new Visiting Scholarship for BAME early-career academics in a partnership between Somerville and the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities. Professor Damian Tyler has been awarded an Honorary Skou Professorship in recognition of his collaborative work with the MR Research Centre at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. Professor Natalia Nowakowska has won the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies’ George Blazyca Prize for her book King Sigismund of Poland and Martin Luther: The Reformations Before Confessionalisation. Dr Radhika Khosla, Research Director of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, won the Environment Research Letters journal award for her co-authored paper on the future of India’s energy and emissions.

Students The Somerville football team raised over £2,000 to support women and children suffering domestic abuse by running 2,509km during lockdown. Fifth-year student Aaron Henry (2015, Medicine) has been working with the Jenner Institute to help deliver the Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial. Raphael Reinbold (2017, Bioscience) won the Lilly Prize for Excellence in Organic Chemistry Research 2018-2019 from the Department of Chemistry. First years Nadia Awad (2019, History), Danielle Welbeck (2019, Music), Ibtihaaj Mohamoud (2019, English) and Cara Moran (2019, English) raised £135,145 in one month for the National Lawyers Guild to support Black Lives Matter protesters – read more on p.18

Althea Sovani (2018, Classics with Oriental Studies) was awarded the Chancellor’s Latin Prose Prize for her translation from Runciman’s Sicily.

Alumni Margaret Casely-Hayford (1980, Jurisprudence) and Dame Elan Closs Stephens (1966, English) were elected as Honorary Fellows, our highest recognition for alumni and associates who have achieved distinction in public or professional life.

Margaret Casely-Hayford Photo by Dan Kennedy

Emma Kirkby (1966, Lit. Hum.) has been presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2019 for her outstanding contribution to musicmaking. June Raine (1971, Physiology) became the interim Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) on 23 September 2019 Robin Mednick (née Henry) (1976, PPE) received the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal for founding Pencils for Kids from Canada’s Governor General in 2018. Thérèse Coffey (1989, Chemistry) was appointed Secretary of State at the Department for Work & Pensions on 8 September 2019. Thérèse was previously Minister of State at the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Lucy Powell (1993, Chemistry) was appointed Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers on 9th April 2020.