PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President’s Address at
2021 Annual General Meeting
I
t has been an extraordinary and tumultuous year for us all personally and professionally with much sadness and strive for many. But your society, I am proud to say, has not only weathered the storm but reinvented itself and I believe come through the enormous challenges facing our members, notably the student body, stronger and better positioned to add value in this rapidly changing environment of real assets, when social as well as economic returns and responsibility have become paramount. CULS has adapted remarkably well to the world of zoom and teams, and we have successfully held a series of well attended and innovative events. In broad terms we have held 14 virtual events including an Asia-Pacific gathering and the everpopular University challenge competition. Congratulations to the winners who were Murray Edwards, but it may not be a good omen for tonight that my college lost in a sudden death penalty shootout. We also held two very successful virtual career events brilliantly arranged by Louise Sherwin, and APEC forum endeavouring to do whatever we could to support the students in these challenging times.
Ian Marcus OBE Fitzwilliam 1977
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LAND SOCIETY 2021
In addition, The Whitehall Group held a further 11 events, expertly choreographed by Colm Lauder and featuring some exceptional speakers including Lord Adair Turner and Sir Vince Cable; Although we were unable to host our regular lunches, the silver lining was that these talks were very well attended allowing us to reach beyond our traditional membership. I would like to formally acknowledge the huge support provided by Goodbody stockbrokers in hosting these lectures and to Fiona Jones for all her hard work in ensuring the Whitehall Group continued to prosper.
