MASTER AND FELLOWS OF THE COLLEGE
NEW FELLOWS
NEW BYE-FELLOWS
STAFF JOINERS AND LEAVERS
COLLEGE STATISTICS
UNDERGRADUATE MATRICULATION
POSTGRADUATE MATRICULATION
ACADEMIC AWARDS AND PRIZES
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS APPROVED FROM
Photography throughout, unless otherwise specified, provided by Martin Bond, Dr John Cleaver and Dr Nicola Jones.
Last year I reflected on the progress made through our governance on the ambitious Estate and Academic plans for the next five years – in 23–24 both of these plans have been taken forward significantly, but as ever, the path has not been entirely straightforward – we have delayed the start of our next building project until August 2025, so that we can incorporate the (exciting!) news of our recent historic listing, and the requirements this brings, into our planning.
The pages which follow set out the vibrancy of the College year, so I will not attempt to enumerate here. Suffice to say that Fitz is thriving – we move forward with determination and confidence, recognising the need to engage in conversations both in Cambridge and beyond about the value of the education we offer and the importance of encouraging critical thinking and intellectual curiosity. It is a privilege to be part of such a dynamic community.
For the second year post-Covid, the curve by which examinations were graded was normal (i.e. returned to that used in 2019). We retained a similar ratio of offers to expected confirmations as last year. We gave 184 offers (2023: 183; 2022: 169) against our usual target range of 135–145.
In 2024, the A-level results UK wide were (as last year) substantially lower than in 2022, and of a similar level to those in 2019. However, for the second year running, whilst the numbers missing their offers were comparable to 2019, we found that those with widening participation flags were more likely to miss their offers than in 2019. This was particularly the case in small arts and social sciences subjects, where there seemed to be a correlation between poor schools (which had not served their pupils well in the pandemic) and lower grades. This is a pattern that was replicated all over Cambridge. We looked closely at the contexts and performance in the admission round of the candidates who had missed and were able to reprieve 18 candidates (2023: 30).
This year, we were more exacting when assessing students who had achieved all the terms of their offer apart from IELTS / English language assessment. Where candidates had failed to meet their IELTS offer (some with several retakes), we did not reprieve, as issues with English competency is a substantial reason why some Overseas students struggle at Cambridge. We finalised with 141 students, including five new Foundation Year students. Our Overseas numbers have dipped this year (to 16.2%), despite our higher offer proportion (21.7%). This may be due to our harder line on English competency and to some candidates rejecting our offers in favour of full rides from American universities.
This year, the University has produced a new Access and Participation Plan (APP) which has been agreed by the Office for Students (OfS), and which will come into force for the 2025-6 entry admissions round. The Office for Students holds responsibility for accrediting Universities. Fitzwilliam is required by them to set stringent targets designed to increase access to Cambridge University. These targets are a collective University responsibility.
We continue to develop outreach based on more individual and family-based characteristics (e.g. in care, Free School Meals - FSM), as well as school-
based ones (e.g. educational disadvantage, poorly performing schools). These have to run alongside the targets we need to reach for postcode criteria, but the latter are less consistently reliable as indicators of disadvantage. In 2021, the Widening Participation Team at the Cambridge Admissions Office developed a set of targeting priorities for candidates applying for their Widening Participation schemes, and we have used these in our own work in this area. This does not entirely match our APP targets but has been suggested as a way to better target Widening Participation students for outreach purposes.
The full priorities list is long, but the first three groups are of most interest here: Group 1: ‘In Care’; ‘FSM’ / ‘Pupil Premium’; Group 2: ‘underrepresented ethnic groups’; ‘disrupted education’; Group 3: ‘low school progression to Oxbridge, low Polar4 quintile; low IMD quintile. This year (2024 entry), 51.8% (2023: 44.1%) of home confirmed students had at least one of the seven WP flags. The flags are: In care; Free School Meals; Polar3; OAC; IMD; Low Performing GCSE School; Low Cambridge / Oxford Offers.
This year we are continuing to collaborate with a number of other colleges in a mentoring scheme, run by the charity Project Access, and coordinated by Robinson College, which provides mentors for offer holders with WP flags. This initiative has continued to be successful in helping WP offer holders to make their offers.
Our Outreach Strategy this year has continued to focus on repeat engagement with state school students from WP backgrounds, including those from ethnicities underrepresented at Cambridge. We have also prioritised work on courses with fewer applications / lower application rates of state school students and other marginalised groups (e.g. women in STEM). We are also developing a strategy to ensure that we increase applications from areas of the country outside the London and the South East, particularly focussing on the North West, which contains two of our area links (Cumbria and Cheshire) as well as areas with which we have crucial links with charities and prominent alumni (Liverpool and Manchester).
Our essay competitions have continued to be very successful at drawing high calibre applicants. These drew over 900 entries across the competitions. We have also implemented more online events, followed up with an on-site visit / residential, including taster days for various arts and sciences subjects. We are continuing to assess how successful each event is for achieving our
strategic aims. We are also increasing our social media activity, primarily on Instagram, but also on X and Facebook, and are also creating short videos for content here and on TikTok.
Around a third of all our applicants for this round (2024–5: 29.1%, and of Home applicants, the number is even higher: 45.6%) engaged with our Outreach events. Our July University Open Days remain a huge draw. In July 2024, 654 signed in (though others visited without doing so), and that translated to over 1,300 visitors to the College over the two days. The September Open Day was also successful. This is a smaller event than July (around 220 prospective candidates signed in on the day) but was also very busy. We are grateful to all the students, fellows and staff who help to make these such a great success, and data shows that an average of around a fifth to a quarter of the prospective students who visit us on those days end up applying to us.
The ARP took place (in the Summer Pool) again this year. This pool is only for candidates with combinations of Widening Participation flags or a ‘superflag’, such as ‘In Care’. Those who put themselves forward, who have obtained at least our standard minimum offer level, were in the Summer Pool for consideration alongside near miss offer holders. 108 students were taken across the university this year. We took five students in the August Reconsideration Pool, four of whom confirmed with us.
The Foundation Year had its third admissions round for 2024 entry. The deadline for applications is later than that of the standard round and aligns with the normal UCAS deadline for universities other than Oxbridge, and subjects other than Medicine (this year 31st January). The subjects covered are, in this first iteration, arts and social sciences, though some social sciences such as Geography and Economics are not included as subjects onto which students can progress. The University has full funding to cover the costs of delivering this residential course free of charge to all participants for a pilot phase of five years. The cohort is targeted to be 50, spread across 10 colleges. All applicants can put down a college preference or make an Open Application. The entry requirement is the equivalent of 120 in UCAS tariff points (the equivalent
of BBB) in order to enable other qualifications such as BTECs to be considered.
It should be stressed that the point of the Foundation Year is to enable candidates who have had significant educational disadvantage to be given the skills and academic foundations to enter the first year of one of our courses and thrive. Candidates would have to perform to an appropriate level in the Foundation Year (and demonstrate aptitude in their chosen subject) in order to proceed into the first year of their chosen subject. Of the cohort of four last year, two progressed to tripos, studying History and History & Politics. The other two gained passes in their FY Certificates and obtained places to study on competitive courses at Russell Group Universities. The previous year’s students (currently in their second year of study) have performed very well in their studies. One of these students was also a Co-President of the JCR from Michaelmas 2023–Michaelmas 2024. The Admissions Tutor in Arts, Dr Sara Owen is on the Admissions Panel for the Foundation Year. She is Director of Studies for the third cohort of five students who arrived in October 2024.
STEM SMART (Subject Mastery and Attainment Raising Tuition) is being run in association with Isaac Physics, and is now in its second iteration. It aims at students of educational disadvantage or those who are statistically less likely to progress to higher education who wish to apply to Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biological and Earth sciences courses. It is a 17–month course that runs alongside school work, and aims to increase attainment and build confidence in these subject areas. The scheme also includes a residential for students who have actively engaged in the first phase of the course, and small group tutorials support students in gaining the grades they need to progress to university. The scheme is highly successful. We hosted a residential for the Fitzwilliam assigned students in August. Applicant numbers remain very high this year, and discussions are ongoing about adding further subjects to the scheme (e.g. Geography). We remain committed to STEM SMART. The Admissions Tutor for Sciences, Dr Robert Abayasekara, is our college contact on the Steering Group, the Admissions Tutor for Arts, Dr Sara Owen, is on the Steering Group as the Arts Representative, and Bye Fellow, Dr Anton Machacek is an Assistant Director for Isaac Physics.
The Foundation Year cohort for 23-24 were welcomed to the University with an induction at
Postgraduate Admissions
Admissions Policy and Procedure
The College policy on postgraduate admissions remains unchanged – applications are reviewed when received, but the academic judgement of Departments / Faculties / Degree Committees is normally accepted. The opinion of the relevant DoS is sought in the case of applications for MAST/ Part III Maths / NST courses, and for the LLM/MCL. Once the College is at its target number of offers in each category, the postgraduate applications allocator can ‘close’ the College for further applications in that category. Our target for the last few years has been to remain at around 150–60 for arrival numbers. 298 offers were made this year (not including medics and vets).
The changes to the University College Allocator (the mechanism by which the University redistributes postgraduate applications) have been positive for us this year in terms of the overall number of applicants sent to Fitzwilliam and the overall numbers of offers. The changes made were intended to send slightly more students from the allocator to colleges who have traditionally got very few. This ought to have reduced slightly the number that we received, but we have seen no sign of that effect. Offer numbers have met our required minimum. All Colleges are closed to Allocator for Masters once they reach their minimum Masters applications, and for PhD once they reach PhD numbers of 26% of the total minimum (the total being the total of all applications subject to the allocator). The aim of this is to better distribute PhD applications. We reached 78 PhD offers by the end of the admissions season, which has resulted in 38 confirmations. PhD applications remain heavily skewed, with the top five colleges receiving the overwhelming majority of applications. This is understandable, as candidates are trying to maximize their chances of being funded. To increase our minimum PhD offer numbers via the allocator we would be required to increase our overall minimum and hence take more Masters students.
It is vital that we continue to examine our overall ‘offering’ to potential applicants, and to focus on the factors that demonstrably encourage applications. At the top of this list are funded postgraduate places, both for one-year courses and for the PhD. This will become more important for Arts subjects, as the AHRC scales back its support for studentships from 25 per year to three. The introduction of fully funded studentships will be important not only to our ability to attract talented students but will be essential to enable many subjects to survive at this level. This academic year the University is intending to advertise more overtly the proportions of applicants offered places in each college. This will be in terms of general proportions of applicants accepted (e.g.
fewer than 25% for oversubscribed colleges / more than 75% for those receiving smaller numbers of first and second choice applications). It is hoped that this will enable candidates to make more informed choices as to which colleges they should apply to, and may eventually result in colleges like Fitzwilliam receiving more second choice application.
We continue to focus on communicating the high quality of the postgraduate student experience, and to find new ways of reaching potential applicants. A coordinated approach to postgraduate outreach and communications is important to keep Fitzwilliam visible to potential applicants. Outside of funding, our offering is competitive, and we will continue to focus our communications strategy on all aspects of community from which our postgraduates benefit, including our accommodation policy – in which postgraduate students are mainly accommodated very close to the college site, and may have housing for up to three years of a PhD – which fosters a strong sense of community. Our generous attitude to partners and families is also an element which sets Fitzwilliam apart. Fitz+ has also focussed many of its events on postgraduates and has had success also in attracting current undergraduates to events giving advice on applying to postgraduate courses.
The MCR Grove extension made a big difference to postgraduate life – providing a location for, and a symbol of, the community, which in turn fosters a sense of community amongst the postgraduates. We nurture this further by accommodating the majority of our postgraduate students close to College, ensuring it is a real hub. The quality of the accommodation is, however, as mentioned last year, still a concern, and we need to invest in these elements of the fabric as much as we do the main College site. We are concerned by our small PhD numbers, which are in part down to an inability to nurture strong undergraduates through to further research – the barrier of MPhil funding (or the lack of it) has created a huge problem. This is a challenge created by changed funding models, but we need to note this challenge and form strategies to address it, rather than viewing it as simply beyond our control. The biggest barrier to postgraduate study is finance. Scholarships remain the most effective way to ensure that students are not being denied academic opportunity due to lack of financial means. We need to make it a priority to ensure that our principle that no student should be deterred from studying by financial considerations is upheld. This should also be applied to many talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have excelled at undergraduate level, and who, as things stand, are deterred and / or barred from further study. These students are currently a loss to our academic community and to academia.
Dr Paul Chirico was on sabbatical leave for the whole of the academic year, and Dr Miles Stopher was appointed to the role of Acting Senior Tutor for 23–24. The role of Senior Tutor is demanding even when familiar with the personalities and workings of the institution, and so we are extremely grateful to Miles for the energy, enthusiasm and diligence that he brought to the College in his period of cover.
Fitzwilliam students achieved a total of 113 First Class Honours and Passes with Distinction in the 2024 Tripos examinations. This is slightly lower than the 126 achieved in 2023. In 2024, 80.2% (83% in 2022) of Fitzwilliam students achieved Good Honours in their Tripos examinations, with around 87.2% of finalists (92% in 2023) achieving the same.
More information and a list of those students who were awarded academic prizes and scholarships can be viewed on pp. 50-52.
During the year, 40 doctoral dissertations by Fitzwilliam students were approved for the award of PhD degrees, the titles of which are listed on pp. 52-53. The College awarded 36 College Senior Scholarships to PhD students, and 18 prizes were given to Masters Students who achieved Distinction in exams held in 2023–2024.
With the arrival of Angeline Lee in the role of Head of Wellbeing, the Student Services Hub has solidified in its role as a central point of contact for all members of the student community to seek advice and support in relation to their studies, accommodation, finances and their wellbeing. Located in L staircase, the Hub brings together administrative staff members working in student-facing roles, to facilitate information sharing and to ensure that student needs are handled efficiently and effectively.
Angeline joined Fitz from Hills Road Sixth Form College, where she coordinated pupil wellbeing activities. Her role supports both staff and student members of the College, and combines triage and signposting to external services, safeguarding, hands-on support and a wide range of wellbeing activities for the whole Fitz community.
2023–4 saw the pilot year of FITZ+, the college’s supracurricular programme to support all students in getting the most out of their time in Cambridge. FITZ+ is a new framework to unify and further develop extracurricular initiatives offered by the College. Under the umbrella ‘FITZ+’, we delivered three strands of activity: STUDY (support for academic work, managing exams, note-taking etc.); LIFE (mental and physical well-being, spirituality, social skills); CAREER (researching jobs, making effective applications, mentoring).
The motivation for FITZ+ is simple: admitting a wide range of students to Fitz (‘getting them in’) is not sufficient. It is also our responsibility to make sure that students receive support throughout their time at College so that they can ‘get through’ well, making the most of the opportunities – academic and extracurricular – building resilience, and that ultimately they ‘get on’ successfully into their working lives.
The FITZ+ calendar combines activities to develop study skills, life skills and career skills and draws upon the broad skillset of Fitz academic and nonacademic staff, our alumni and local specialists from within the University. Sessions have taken a range of formats, panel discussions, workshops, and bespoke 1-1 interventions with individual students, where appropriate.
This year’s programme has embraced the nature of
guidance on preparing conference abstracts and academic publishing. Particularly good events were ‘Do you want to be a postgraduate?’, ‘How to get an internship’ and ‘Demystifying the submission process: PhDs’. Careers information, particularly that provided by college members (academics, peers or alumni) has been very well-received, and there is significant scope to develop this in future years.
Following the year’s cycle, students were extensively surveyed for their feedback – which was positive – and their comments and requests have been incorporated into the programme for 2024–5.
Image: Instagram posts recapping a FITZ+ session for Freshers before their first supervisions.
The Foundation Lecture was delivered by David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee, on the topic ‘Idealism in a time of crisis’. The event attracted a broad audience from across the city, and the auditorium was full –with the Gordon Cameron theatre was deployed as an additional screen. Following David’s talk, he was joined on stage by David Aaronovitch for a stimulating discussion and Q&A from the audience.
On November 30th, with temperatures edging below freezing, we held the biennial Winter Ball on the theme ‘Murder on the Hill’. Attendees had fun solving a murder mystery across the college grounds, which were transformed into a wonderland of colour…and warmed up with plenty of dancing indoors.
In January 2024, the Master, Bursar and Development Director were in South East Asia to meet with alumni. The keynote event was a very special evening at the old Parliament Chamber with the Singapore PM, some of our LKY scholars, and our fantastic alumni community.
You can watch the video of the event by clicking on this link or pasting into a browser: https://youtu.be/gIm__ H4hf4w?si=rYX78CzEhodEVbSV
Images:
Right: the Master with members of the Lee family, Shermay, Suan
Bottom Left: The Bursar catching up with alumni.
Bottom Right: The Master with alumnus Gabriel
On 23 January, we were treated to a fascinating doublehander on the theme of tragedy, which brought together Fitz Honorary Fellow, Adele Thomas and Rowan Williams, both in conversation with Fitz Fellow Subha Mukherji. This was an exceptionally popular event and the Auditorium was full to bursting, with lots of English students from across the University.
In March 2024 students and alumni who studied or are working in the Law were treated to a fascinating lecture by Lady Justice Asplin on the topic ‘What Now for Justice?’, hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills. The lecture explored whether AI-powered tools can play a valuable role in alternative dispute resolution, boosting efficiency and offering deeper insights, and where caution should be exercised.
Cornelia Parker – Fitz Literary Society
In May, the Easter term FLS event offered an engaging and thought-provoking retrospective from one of Britain’s best loved and most acclaimed contemporary artists, Cornelia Parker.
On 22nd March, many alumni and colleagues filled the College Chapel to remember Dr Geoff Walker. Professor Robert Lethbridge gave the College tribute. In the evening, over 50 alumni gathered for a reunion dinner.
With Dr Walker’s exceptional Catalan legacy fresh in our minds, in May we hosted the 2nd Robert Gerhard Annual Lecture on Catalan Cultures, which was delivered by Marina Garcés on the topic ‘Collapse and Promise’. Organised by Institut Ramon Llull and MMLL, University of Cambridge
In May, 1869 Fellow Benefactor, Dinesh Dhamija returned to College to celebrate the launch of his book, ‘The Indian Century’. Professor Bhaskar Vira joined Dinesh in conversation in the SCR.
On 23 May, Professor Michael Kenny delivered the The Wilson Lecture 2024, on the topic ‘The politics of place – from Brexit to the UK general election, 2024’. The lecture was followed by a Q&A chaired by Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice and Vice Dean for Social Responsibility at The University of Manchester.
On 11th May, over 100 alumni returned to Fitz to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Fitzwilliam Society. The afternoon began with a set of ‘postcard’ talks on the theme of 1924, during which we heard from Dr Jean-Michel Johnston, Professor Kasia Boddy, Professor Matt Wingate and Professor Mark Blagrove. After drinks and some music in the gardens, dinner was served in the Hall. The Master and Dr Paul Chirico, in his role as Fitzwilliam Society President (23–24) gave short speeches to mark the occasion.
The College’s financial performance for FY2023–24, was flattered by several one-off items. The financial activity continued to be set against a background of uncertain economic activity and high inflationary pressure in certain expenditure categories. For the period, the College recorded income from Total Activity of £19.22 million, expenditure from Total Activity of £13.50 million and a surplus of £5.72 million (FY2022–23: surplus of £1.13 million), before gain/ loss on investments. If the analysis is adjusted for the one-off items, new Endowments and the Colleges’ Fund grant, the underline position is an operating deficit (normalised) of £0.84 million (FY2022–23: operating deficit (normalised) of £0.71 million). The figure more accurately reflects the College’s financial position. Unrestricted Activity, which reflects the College’s day-to-day financial performance, showed an operating surplus for the year of £2.00 million (FY2022–23: operating deficit of £0.06 million). As with Total Activity, when adjusted for one-off items the position is an operating deficit (normalised) of £0.20 million (FY2022–23: operating deficit (normalised): £0.07 million). The College’s operating performance for the year, highlights the College’s approach to seeking to grow certain income categories, whilst in parallel investing in its educational mission and continuing to focus on controlling costs. The College’s total net assets as at 31 July 2024 stood at £166.00 million (31 July 2023: £154.63 million). Our investments consist of a Discretionary Investment Portfolio and External Properties. As at 31 July 2024 the value of investments was £101.63 million (31 July 2023: £96.05 million). The value of the College’s Endowment Reserve at year-end
was £84.28 million (31 July 2023: £77.28 million) and the value of the Restricted Reserves was £8.33 million (31 July 2023: £7.13 million). As a result, the College’s ‘free’ reserves stood at £9.02 million (31 July 2023: £11.64 million). The College’s financial position is now stable, allowing the College to focus on investing to sustain and grow its educational mission. The College is confident it has sufficient financial resources in the form of liquidity and reserves to meet its financial commitments over the next 12 to 18 months.
This was the second year that the College’s investments were managed based on our new Responsible Investment Policy that the College approved in October 2021. Under the new policy the College will not invest its discretionary investment portfolio (‘DIP’), valued at £62.07 million as at 31 July 2024, either directly or indirectly in the fossil fuels, tobacco or defence sectors (where 10% or more of the revenue is exposed to the activities), and will measure its investments against the ‘leader’ ESG rating (‘AAA’ or ‘AA’). The policy is aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement. The approach is applied to all investment classes except for private equity that will be incorporated into the policy in the short to medium term, as funds are returned to the College. The policy ensures that the College’s investments are managed, not just based on their financial performance and value for money, but also in terms of whether they embody the College’s social purpose and the example we set as a community to others.
The College continued to develop its commercial educational activity, FitzEd Educational Programmes (‘FitzEd’), reporting it separately from the conference business. FitzEd continued with its online summer school activity and in addition held its first physical summer school in the College for 137 participants. FitzEd achieved an income of £0.32 million (FY2022–23: £0.08 million). The financial result only partially reflects the income from the physical summer school as this bridged two financial years. The College intends to continue to develop this activity as part of a mediumterm strategy to diversify and grow certain sources of income to subsidise our core educational mission.
The College’s fundraising efforts are primarily directed at raising monies through major gifts as well as by regular giving. Total donations for the year were £4.17 million (FY2022–23: £1.45 million). The performance for the year highlighted the uneven nature of donations, with a significant element of the figure coming from a small number of legacies. A three-year average of £2.98m gives a more accurate indication of the College’s fundraising activities.
The College is immensely grateful to its alumni and supporters, during the year, 1,428 alumni donated to the College representing 14.5% of the contactable alumni on our records.
During the year, the College progressed the development of the new fundraising campaign ‘Future Fitz’ aimed at ensuring that the College continues to thrive and prosper in an increasingly uncertain world. The campaign will ensure that we continue to be an academic community where teaching and research flourishes.
The total value of financial awards to students in the financial year was £1.33 million (2022–23: £1.36 million) and the College’s share was 23% of all fee income received (2022–23: 27%). The primary source of funding for undergraduates with limited financial means is the Cambridge Bursary Scheme (‘CBS’), jointly operated and funded by the University and the colleges. In the 2023–2024 academic year, 147 Fitzwilliam students (comprising 38% of our undergraduates with regulated Home/EU fees) benefited from these awards, amounting to £470,523 (2022–23: £502,735). Additionally, 49 undergraduates received Fitzwilliam College Maintenance Bursaries, and 33 students received Goldman Sachs Bursaries. The dedication of the Development Office and the generosity of our donors have enabled the College, both independently and in collaboration with various University funding initiatives, to provide an increasing number of partially funded and fully funded postgraduate scholarships. In the 2023–2024 academic year, support for postgraduate students reached £448,925, encompassing three full-cost Masters Studentships, seven full-cost PhD Studentships, three part-cost PhD Studentships, 14 additional part-cost postgraduate scholarships, and 53 Senior Scholarships. Furthermore, 26 postgraduate students received Maintenance Bursaries, 10 received PhD Extension Funding, and 123 received Research Awards totalling £47,218.
The College also extends a range of awards and grants from various funds to ensure that all students, regardless of their financial circumstances, can seize opportunities to enhance their educational experience. For example:
• 174 Travel Awards were granted to undergraduates, totalling £45,940;
• 279 Prizes and Scholarships were awarded to undergraduates and graduates with distinguished academic records totalling £49,280;
• An additional 169 awards, totalling £76,868, were provided through the Student Opportunities Fund. These included allowances for Vacation Project Accommodation, awards for successful participation in the Cambridge University Language Programme, support for disability-related expenses (including Disability Rent Rebates), bursaries for laptop/IT support, additional assistance for Architecture students, Book Awards, and a Formal Hall Allowance for undergraduates receiving a Cambridge Bursary award;
• Awards were distributed from subject-specific funds, totalled £68,530;
• Music awards totalled £23,910, while sports awards, amounted to £23,410.
The College’s academic mission is delivered by a dedicated group of academic and non-academic staff members. The academic staff comprises the Fellows, supported by Bye-Fellows, and very many subject supervisors from across Cambridge. In addition to the 103 non-academic staff members (as at 31 July 2024), our casual staff also play a vital role in the life of the College. It is the aim of the College to involve students in the affairs of the College where possible and consistent with their academic work. During the year the College continued to contribute to the broader community, illustrated by our continued support for Cambridge sustainable foods (a local charity that provides food to those in need across Cambridge). The College works to ensure that its employment package remains competitive and attractive to potential staff members. An illustration of this is the agile working policy, allowing staff members to work from home two days a week where it is operationally possible.
During the year, all permanent staff members were paid at or above the Real Living wage for 2023–24 of £12, announced in September 2023. Also, the College extended the payment of the Real Living Wage to casual and temporary staff members and commenced the process to obtain accreditation from the Real Living Wage Foundation. The future availability of
sufficient and reliable pensions for staff members in retirement continues to be an important issue. The College has continued to respond as an employer to the consultations being undertaken by the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), aligning itself to the University of Cambridge’s position, in the firm belief that its own future is inextricably aligned with the University. At the year-end the College had 63 members of USS on the payroll. The Fitzwilliam College Assistant Staff Superannuation Fund (FCASSF), a defined benefit scheme which was closed to new members in 2004, had 79 members at year-end.
Right: Staff members celebrate their victory in the Treasure Hunt in Summer 2023. Teams from across the College took part in a quiz that took them across the City following clues...before arriving back at the Tivoli for celebratory pizza and a few drinks.
Below: The annual veg harvests are a highlight for staff and students. This year we enjoyed a wide range of squash, chilis, brassicas, and some beautiful dahlias. Thanks, as ever, to the gardening team for their hard work.
People are at the heart of Fitzwilliam and the spaces in which we live, work and relax play a vital role in the shaping of our activities and relationships. The College estate, comprising of the main site between Storey’s Way and Huntingdon Road (the ‘Main Site’) and some 28 external properties (the ‘External Properties’) provides the physical environment for the College community. We are in the fortunate position of being able to accommodate all our undergraduates in College-owned accommodation.
In July 2024, the College celebrated the Central Building, The Chapel and New Court becoming Grade II listed, following a listing assessment of certain Main Site buildings by Historic England, see p. 30.
This year again, New Court was planted with an array of vegetables that were supplied free to the College community. It is an illustration of the work the gardens team undertakes to make sure that the rich green environment in which the College’s buildings are set is maintained and enhanced.
Expenditure on maintenance of buildings was £0.55 million during the year (FY2022–23: £0.46 million). Capital expenditure on improvements (including External Properties) was a further £1.26 million (FY2022–23: £0.74 million) and included the reroofing the auditorium, improving its thermal envelope and installing over 100 solar panels that will provide electricity for the auditorium and an element of the Gatehouse building as well as improvement measures on certain External Properties.
A key component of the College Plan relates to the College estate. The Estate Masterplan approved in November 2022, focuses on: 1) increasing the number of student rooms on the Main Site by up to 120 new rooms, 2) the intensification of certain External Property sites and 3) continuing the renovation programme of the Lasdun accommodation and the Central Building, which then in turn allows the College to review the size and shape of the External Properties portfolio.
The first phase of the Estate Masterplan is the £13 million full renovation of M–P Staircases (some 68 rooms) incorporating a new satellite extension to the north of P-Staircase that will provide new student accommodation (17 rooms) and a ‘reflection’ room for
the College community. The scheme will incorporate high levels of sustainability with the new extension being designed based on Passivhaus principles. The source of heating for the renovated staircases and the extension will be air source heat pumps and solar panels rather than gas boilers. Completion of the project will lead to all first-year undergraduates being housed in modern renovated ensuite or semi-ensuite rooms. In addition, the work will make the accommodation more attractive to commercial conference guests and will in turn increase the income the College receives from this activity.
The College was aiming to start the work on the project in the Summer of 2024, but this was delayed by an academic year to allow the College to evaluate the impact of the listing of New Court and the Chapel on the scheme. The scheme will be the biggest construction project the College has undertaken for over 20 years at the heart of the Main Site. The work on the scheme will now commence in August 2025.
During the year planning work also started on the second phase of the Estate Masterplan. This phase is focused on the replacement of two houses on Oxford Road next to the sports ground and the renovation of Red Cottage and the Sports Pavilion. This project will be advanced swiftly in 24–25, with fundraising activities across the College community. In 2027, we will celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Oxford Road – you can learn more about the history on pp. 32–33 – and we hope to mark that landmark date with a brand new set of 21st century facilities for our sports teams.
Image: Architect’s drawing of the new satellite extension to P-Staircase.
The Central Hall Building, New Court, and the Chapel at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, have been listed at Grade II by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
The Central Hall, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. View of west elevation to central hall with projecting former senior common room (SCR) and its copper-clad concrete roof, designed by Denys Lasdun and built from 1960 to 1963. © Historic England Archive
The Central Hall Building was designed by renowned post-war architect Sir Denys Lasdun as part of his 1960s masterplan for the College. Complementing Lasdun’s original designs, architects MacCormac, Jamieson and Prichard (MJP) created New Court in the 1980s and the Chapel in the early 1990s as part of a revised masterplan for the College. The striking designs include a flamboyant gravity-defying lantern (the Hall), a worship space resembling a floating ship (the Chapel) and a distinctive stepped design where each floor has a different appearance inside and out (New Court).
The Central Hall Building was completed as part of architect Denys Lasdun’s first phase of construction for Fitzwilliam College, from 1960 to 1963. Built in blue-brown brick, it originally included a dining hall, various social rooms for fellows including the ‘Senior Combination Room’, the bar
and ‘Junior Combination Room’ for undergraduates, a dedicated space for research students, and kitchens at ground floor. At first floor level were a music room, lecture rooms, and the college library. Above the brickwork building is a flamboyant lantern that seems to defy gravity as it hovers above the hall. On each side, six arched panes of glass appear to bear the weight of the concrete roof and the pre-cast concrete frill around its edge. It marks the highest point in the College. At the centre of the plan is the dining hall, a cube-like space, brightly lit by the lantern.
MJP’s first buildings at Fitzwilliam (and in Cambridge) were the 3-storey residential blocks that form New Court at the south-west corner of the College. Constructed from 1984 to 1986, in blue-brown brick with white concrete dressings, New Court provided accommodation for 100 students and resident fellows. The height and material of New Court complement the design of the original accommodation blocks designed by Denys Lasdun in 1966. The design embraces variety: every floor has a plan unique from the next. Every student has their own corner window in which to study, where they can appear like saints in the niches of a gothic church.
New Court, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Interior view of New Court, 1985, by MacCormac, Jamieson, Pritchard (MJP Architects). Residential block showing intersecting staircase. View from north west. © Historic England Archive
The Chapel is in the shape of a tall drum, constructed of blue-brown brick with white concrete bands.The north and south walls explode outwards and arc to give the building its circular form. At the east end is a massive window from which light floods into the Chapel. Inside, there is a dark undercroft chapel with a wooden ceiling that bows downwards like the swollen belly of a ship. A pair of curving stairways lead upwards to the principal worship space, where a vast wall of glass takes visitors from darkness to light. In the gardens beyond, a 19th century plane tree is framed by the window to form an altarpiece. Principal designer Sir Richard MacCormac described the 2-storey chapel as ‘an ark suspended between the upper and lower world’. In 1994, the building was described as one of the best 20th century interiors in Cambridge.
Fitzwilliam College Chapel, Cambridge. General view of chapel, lit at twilight, by MacCormac, Jamieson, Pritchard, (MJP Architects), 1991. View from south. © Historic England Archive
Readers of the Fitzwilliam Hall Magazine of May 1908 were delighted with the news that a field, on the north side of a new residential street off Huntingdon Road, had been acquired for the purpose of playing sports. It was a mere seven-minute cycle ride from Fitzwilliam Hall on Trumpington Street and lay “just outside the town on the highest and healthiest part of Cambridge, and anyone who has walked up Castle Hill must be struck with the bracing effect which one meets with on the top, compared with the airless atmosphere of the town below”.
The 6 ½ acre field had been purchased by W.F. Reddaway, Fitzwilliam Hall’s Censor (the precursor to a Master), very generously with £650 of his own money. A keen sportsman himself, he wished to bolster the community spirit and communal identity of Fitzwilliam students, who were “very hungry for land”. After “wandering in the desert for three university generations looking for grounds and pitches” to rent, they were to have their own home.
The field was not yet a playing field, however. It was waste ground covered in weeds and rubble from the construction of Oxford Road and neighbouring streets. Paid labourers were brought in for some of the heavy work, but Reddaway organised gangs of students to complete the transformation. By November Reddaway could claim that “steady progress has been made with the task of turning a meadow, originally self-sown and for twenty-five years uncared for, into a ground of the class which Cambridge now expects”. In fact it was a long process, slowly achieved by Fitzwilliam men over a number of years, and eventually resulting in tennis courts, pitches and a fives court.
The most arduous task, according to the Magazine of November 1908, was the creation of the football pitch in only four weeks. On 2nd November 1908 the football team was able to host a home match, and the first ever goal at Oxford Road was scored by Fitzwilliam against Kings. The final result, 3–2 to the home side, was an unexpected triumph at a time when Fitz’s footballing prowess left a good deal to be desired. As the Magazine
reported, the previous season “has passed, we regret to say, without a single victory being recorded...In this unbroken series of defeats almost our sole aim has necessarily been to render the aggregate of goals against us as small as possible”.
Reddaway’s next aspiration, again at his own expense, was for a groundsman’s house. Constructed in 1910, Red Cottage was designed by one of the Hall’s Theology students who doubled as an architect. The pavilion, however, was an old wooden affair, that had literally been picked up and carried to Oxford Road by a party of students.
On 2nd August 1914, as Reddaway celebrated his birthday in Hunstanton, news came through that Germany had declared war on Russia. When he returned to Cambridge a few weeks later he found that many students had volunteered to fight, and that the city had become “a hive inhabited by successive swarms of soldiers”. Oxford Road ground was swiftly put to use as a drilling ground for a squad of dons and students, and bayonet practice by members of the Cheshire Regiment billeted nearby. An unexpected reduction in sporting activity was an opportunity to make further improvements to the playing field, especially the cricket pitch. It was hoped that its partial re-laying would “prevent the southern end from again becoming fiery”. But as the war dragged on priorities on the Home Front changed. The groundsman was called up for military service in 1916 and his donkey was purchased by Reddaway and the Chaplain, who presented it to the Red Cross.
Student enrolments naturally plummeted across the University, and the financial viability of Fitzwilliam Hall was in doubt. Oxford Road proved a valuable asset, providing much-needed income from letting for sheepgrazing. Those few Fitzwilliam students who remained in Cambridge found a further novel use for the playing field, planting it with potatoes. This became not only a source of food for members of Fitzwilliam, but also a money-spinner and a time-consuming passion. In December 1917 it was reported in the Magazine that
“Potatoes are our only love. Personally we always raise our cap on passing a potato”. Sheep and potatoes undid the many hours of work that had gone into creating the pitches, and as late as December 1923 Reddaway wrote that “the weeds are slow to relinquish the hold that they gained between 1916 and 1919, but the turf is approaching its prewar state”.
The tragic legacy of the Great War left a more permanent mark on Oxford Road. An appeal was launched to raise the funds to buy the ground from Reddaway, who retired as Censor in 1924. Characteristically he accepted the original purchase price, foregoing any capital gain that he could have claimed. A memorial stone, still visible on Red Cottage, marked the successful dedication of the playing fields and the groundsman’s house, “TO THE FORTY THREE FROM FITZWILLIAM HALL WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR”. Donations were also sought for a muchneeded brick pavilion, finally constructed in 1927.
As we approach the Pavilion’s centenary, the JMA and College are working to upgrade the sporting facilities of Oxford Road. The Edwardian students who levelled the ditches, dug out the weeds and created the pitches would have been astonished and gratified to learn that their labour still underpins the ‘Billy’ spirit that has defined generations of Fitz men, and of course, women.
Pride in Fitzwilliam’s sporting achievements and the pure pleasure of running up and down a piece of turf, are shared by thousands of Fitzwilliam members, all of whom might recognise a wry comment from the Fitzwilliam Hall Magazine of February 1909 that “Oxford Road in wintry weather can be very nearly the wintriest-feeling part of Cambridge”. A sentiment as resonant today as it ever was.
If you would like to learn more about plans for the upgrading of Oxford Road to mark the centenary of the Pavilion, please see the Future Fitz pages on the College website (www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/future-fitz) or contact the Development Office.
Helen Bettinson
Above and next page:
The 1908-09 football team, the first to play on the Oxford Road pitch.
The following list reflects the College membership on 1st Sept 2024.
The Baroness Morgan of Huyton, Sally Morgan
HONORARY
HM King Juan Carlos I of Spain
HM Queen Sofia of Spain
Professor Federico Garcia-Moliner
Professor Peter Haggett CBE FBA
Mr Roger Dawe CB OBE
Sir Humphrey Burton CBE
Mr Nigel Stapleton
The Hon Mr Justice (Kwok Nang, Andrew) Li CBE JP
Professor Brian Johnson FRS FRSEd
The Rt Revd Dr Michael Nazir-Ali
Professor Joseph Stiglitz
Professor Sir Angus Deaton
The Rt Hon Sir Dennis Byron PC
The Hon Mr Justice Ouseley
The Rt Hon Lord Justice (Sir David) Kitchin KC
Professor Robert Lethbridge
The Rt Hon Lady Justice (Dame Sarah) Asplin KC
The Rt Hon Lord Lamont of Lerwick
His Honour Judge (Dean) Spielmann
Sir Peter Bazalgette
Ms Sharon White DBE
Professor Paul Muldoon
Baroness Morrissey DBE of Chapel Green, Helena
Morrissey
Ms Helen King QPM
Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FMedSci FRS
Sr Josep Carreras
Dame Cressida Dick QPM
Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE CStJ FRSA FBCS
Professor Nicola Padfield KC (Hon.)
Ms Sonita Alleyne OBE FRA FRSA
The Rt Hon Sir John Vincent Cable
Mr Sebastian Dakin
Ms Adele Thomas
Mr Andrew Powell
Dr Harry Hudson
Professor David Thompson DD FRHistS
Professor Geoffrey Whittington CBE FCA
Dr Kenneth Prandy
His Honour Judge David Pearl
Professor Brian Johnson FRS FRSEd
Dr John Cleaver: Archivist
Professor Derek Fray FRS FREng
Professor Robert Lethbridge
Mr Barry Landy
Dr David Bowyer FRSM
Professor Nigel Slater
Dr Elisabeth Marseglia
Professor Graham Davies DD FBA FSA
Dr William Allison
Dr Alan Clark
Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms FBA
Dr David Scott
Professor Michael Potter
Mr Richard Hooley
Professor Nicola Padfield KC (Hon)
Dr Rosemary Horrox FRHistS
Professor Kenneth Platts
Professor Dominic Keown
Professor Sean Holly
Professor Martin Millett
Dr Sara Owen: President, Tutor for Admissions (Arts), Deputy Senior Tutor, Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS in Classics, AL in Classics, DoS in Foundation Year
Professor David Cole: DoS in Engineering, DoS in Manufacturing Engineering, JMA Senior VicePresident, Professor of Mechanical Engineering (Grade 11) (Sabbatical Michaelmas 2023 and Lent 2024)
Professor David Cardwell FREng: Professor of Superconducting Engineering, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy & Planning
Dr John Leigh: DoS in Modern & Medieval Languages, UAP (Grade 10) in French
Professor Bhaskar Vira: DoS in Geography, Professor of Political Economy, Pro Vice Chancellor for Education
Professor Epaminondas Mastorakos: Professor of Energy Technologies
Professor David Coomes: Fellow for Research, DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological), Professor in
Plant Sciences, Director of University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, Head of Forest Ecology and Conservation Group
Dr Rachel Camina: Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS, CTO and AL in Mathematics (Sabbatical 2023–2024)
Dr Alexei Kovalev: UAP (Grade 9) in Mathematics (Sabbatical Lent 2024)
Professor Subha Mukherji: DoS in English, Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture (Grade 11)
Dr Robert Abayasekara: Tutor for Undergraduate Admissions (Sciences), Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS in Pre-Clinical Medical Sciences, College Lecturer in Endocrinology/Reproduction
Professor James Elliott: DoS in Natural Sciences (Physical), Professor of Macromolecular Materials Science, Joint Head of Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy
Professor Andrew Wheatley: ADoS in Chemistry, Professor of Materials Chemistry (Grade 11) (Sabbatical Lent and Easter 2024)
Professor Kourosh Saeb-Parsy: DoS in Clinical Medicine, Professor of Transplantation (Honorary Consultant) (Grade 11), Dean
Professor Jason Rentfrow: DoS in Psychological & Behavioural Sciences, Professor of Personality & Individual Differences
Dr Paul Chirico: Senior Tutor, Disability Officer (Sabbatical 2023–2024)
Professor Simon Gathercole: Secretary of the Governing Body and the College Committee, Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS in Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion, Professor in Divinity
Professor Matthew Wingate: Tutor for Undergraduate Students, DoS in Mathematics, JMA Senior President, Professor of Theoretical Physics (Grade 11) (Sabbatical Lent 2024)
Professor Jonathan Cullen: Tutor for Graduate Students, Professor of Sustainable Engineering (Grade 11) (Sabbatical Easter 2024)
Dr Francis Knights: Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS in Music
Dr Anna Watson: CTO and DoS in Economics, Tutor for Undergraduates
Professor Andrew Jardine: DoS in Natural Sciences (Physical), Professor of Experimental Physics (Grade 11), Deputy Fellow Health & Safety Officer
Professor Kasia Boddy: Professor of American Literature, Assistant DoS in English (Sabbatical Easter 2024)
Dr Stephen Sawiak: Financial Tutor, Tutor for Undergraduate Students, ADoS in Mathematics for Natural Sciences, JMA Senior Treasurer, Senior Research Associate at the Translational Neuroimaging Laboratory in the department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience
Professor Emma Lees: Peter & Audrey Wilson Estates Gazette Fellow in Land Economy, Professor of Environmental & Property Law (Grade 11), on secondment from September 2021– September 2026
Dr Gabriel Glickman: DoS in History, UAP (Grade 9) in Early Modern British & Irish History (Sabbatical 2023–2024)
Dr Julia Guarneri: DoS in History, UAP (Grade 10) in American History
Dr Nicola Jones: Director of Communications & Engagement
Professor Ianthi Tsimpli: DoS in Linguistics, Professor of English & Applied Linguistics
Professor Christos Genakos: DoS in Management Studies, Professor of Economics & Policy (Grade 11)
Professor Richard Powell: DoS in Geography, Professor of Arctic Studies (Grade 11), (Sabbatical Michaelmas 2023 and Lent 2024)
Professor Michael Kenny: Professor of Public Policy, Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Dr Aaron D’Sa: DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological), DoS in Clinical Medicine and Pre-Clinical Medicine, Specialist Registrar in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine
Dr Benedict Wiedemann: Tutor for Graduate Students, DoS in History, Steward
Dr Jonathan Rogers: Fellow Health and Safety Officer, DoS in Law, UAP (Grade 9) in Criminal Justice, CoDirector of Cambridge Centre for Criminal Justice (Sabbatical Lent 2024)
Dr Céline Marie Vidal: DoS in Geography, CTO in Geography
Dr Stevie Martin: DoS in Law, CTO in Public Law (Leave Easter 2024)
Dr Jean-Michel Johnston: DoS and CTO in History, Fellow Librarian (Sabbatical Easter 2024)
Dr Olenka Pevny: UAP (Grade 9) in Slavonic Studies
Professor Srinivasan Keshav: DoS in Computer Science, Robert Sansom Professor of Computer Science, Tutor for Graduate Students
Professor Giles Oldroyd FRS: Russell R. Geiger Professor of Crop Sciences
Mr Rod Cantrill: Bursar, College Data Protection Lead, Safeguarding Officer, Freedom of Information Officer
Dr Elisa Galliano: DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological), UAP (Grade 9) in Neuroscience
Mr Peter O’Connor: Director of Development
Dr Isaias Fanlo: UAP (Grade 9) Modern & Contemporary Iberian Cultures
Dr Caitlin Harvey: Research Fellow in HSPS
Dr Emily Lees: Research Fellow in Medicine
Dr Tim Williams: DoS in Pre-Clinical and Clinical Veterinary Sciences, UAP (Grade 10) in Clinical Pathology (Sabbatical Easter 2024)
Dr Davide Luca: UAP (Grade 9) in Economic Geography, DoS in Land Economy
Dr Alexander Cullen: UAP (Grade 9) in Political Ecology, DoS in Geography.
Dr Saul Nelson: Research Fellow in History of Art
Dr Qixiang Cheng: UAP in Photonic Devices & Systems
Dr Anke Arentsen: Research Fellow in Astrophysics
Dr Anna Heenan: DoS in Law and LLM, UAP (Grade 9) in Family Law (Leave Michaelmas 2023)
Professor Andreas Vlachos: Professor of Natural Language Processing & Machine Learning (Grade 11), DoS in Computer Science
Ms Georgina Cannon: Managing Director of Development for Cambridge University
Dr Saeed Kayhanian: Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurosurgery
Dr Gabriel Duckels: Research Fellow in Education
Dr Lisa Mullen: Tutor for Undergraduate students, DoS and CTO in English
Dr Itai Massad: Research Fellow in Chemistry
Dr Mekayla Storer: Principal Investigator Cambridge Stem Cell Institute
Dr Alexander Carter: UAP in Philosophy & Interdisciplinary Studies
Professor Esra Ozyurek: Sultan Qaboos Professor of Abrahamic Religions & Share Values, Director of the Cambridge Interfaith Programme
Dr Ben Guy: DoS and UAP (Grade 9) in Celtic Studies (ASNC)
The Venerable John Beer: Wine Steward
Dr Nicholas Pyper: Chemistry
Professor Mark Arends: Pathology
Dr Yin Wu: Pathology
Dr Victoria Condie: Tutor for Undergraduate Students, Medieval Literature
Dr Fiona Danks: Geography
Dr Danny Ho: Chemistry
Dr Graham Spelman: Engineering
Mr Paul Hoegger: DoS in Modern & Medieval Languages, Tutor for Undergraduate Students, German Language Programme Co-ordinator/Teacher
Dr Martin Parker Dixon: Tutor for Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Deputy Praelector
Dr Andrea Giusti: Engineering
Ms Catherine Groom: Director of Music, Praelector
Dr Adam Thorn: Computer Officer at the Department of Chemistry, Natural Sciences (Physical)
Dr James Womack: AL in Spanish & Portuguese, Department of Modern & Medieval Languages
Mr Eric Martin: DoS in Architecture
Dr James Brind: Aerothermal Engineering
Dr Milena Ivanova: DoS in Philosophy, Tutor of Graduate Students
Dr Anita Gibbons FRCP AFHEA: Consultant
Gastroenterologist, Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Regional Sub-Dean, Clinical School
Dr Alex Pryce FRSA: Director of the Foundation Year Course
Dr Jeongmin Choi: DoS in Natural Sciences (Biological)
Dr Ares Llop Naya: Batista i Roca Fellow in Catalan
Studies, AL in Catalan, Department of Modern & Medieval Languages
Revd Graham Stevenson: Chaplain
Dr Oliver Burton: Engineering
Mr Graham Matthews: Director of Estates, University of Cambridge
Dr Anton Machacek: NST P
Professor Monojit Chatterji: Economics
Dr Rachel Hopkinson: Veterinary Medicine
Dr Natalie Morningstar: DoS in HSPS
Dr Thomas Matthews Boehmer: DoS in Archaeology
Dr Ashley Wiseman: Archaeology
Dr Richard Bateman: English
Professor Sumantra Ray: Founding Chair NNEdPro
Global Centre for Nutrition & Health
Dr Peter Bolgar: NST B
Mr James Manton: NST B
Ms Hannah Fox: Director of Operations
Ms Laura Frost: Dos in Pre Clinical and Clinical Veterinary
Dr Maggie Huang: Medicine
Dr Daniel Jafferji: Medicine
Professor Dave Keays: NST B
Dr Rob Machado: Classics
Dr Aude Rauscent: PBS
Dr David Roper: NST P
Dr Jonathan Ruprecht: NST B
Dr Rob Foster: Engineering
Dr Ashraf Zarkan: NST B
Dr Miles Stopher: Acting Senior Tutor for 2023–2024
Dr Helen Bettinson: Development
Dr Mahbod Ghaffari: DoS in AMES
Mr Simon Gleeson: Law
Dr Stavros Vagionitis: NST B
Dr Stephen Millmore: Computer Science
Ms Deborah Loveluck: Development
UAP University Associate Professor
UAL University Assistant Lecturer
ADR Assistant Director of Research
SRA Senior Research Associate
RA Research Associate
AL Affiliated Lecturer
CL College Lecturer
TA College Teaching Associate
CTO College Teaching Officer
DoS Director of Studies
ADoS Assistant Director of Studies
VISITING FELLOWS
Dr Igor Teslenko
Professor Tatiana Thieme (Michaelmas Term 2023)
Dr Shuki Yeshurun
Professor Paul Dastoor
Dr Emilia Arguello: Biochemistry
Dr Hazem Award: Engineering
Dr Yoon Hee Choi: Life Sciences, Babraham Institute
Dr Thomas Cushion: Physiology, Development & Neuroscience
Dr Safet HadziMuhamedovic: Divinity
Dr Chloe Johnson: Medicine
Dr Masoud Mohammadirad: AMES
Dr Julie Morin: Geography
Dr Guido Papa: Medicine
Dr Lena Quambusch: Biochemistry
Dr E-Ping Rau: Plant Science
Dr Michael Schlichtkrull: Computer Science
Dr Dominic Thomas-James: International Development
Dr David Wilson: Mathematics
Mr Peter Selman
Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE CStJ FRSA FBCS
Mr Xiaoyang Xie
Lady Julia Olisa
Mr Dinesh Dhamija
Junior Members’ Association Officers
Senior President: Professor Matthew Wingate
Senior Vice-President: Professor David Cole
Senior Treasurer: Dr Stephen Sawiak
Dr Gabriel Duckels is an Early Career Research Fellow in Education at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. His research is at the intersection of children’s literature and childhood studies; queer studies; HIV/AIDS sociology; and the study of aesthetics, culture, and pedagogy. He is particularly interested in the role of melodrama as a framework for public memory in popular culture, especially regarding HIV/AIDS.
Dr Lisa Mullen is Assistant Professor of Visual Culture & Literary Studies, and teaches modern and contemporary literature, film, and other visual culture. Lisa’s teaching and research place a particular focus on ecocriticism, cultures of health and sickness, and the affordances of interdisciplinary approaches to critique.
Itai received his PhD from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 2023, working in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. As a Herchel Smith Fellow in the Department of Chemistry, he employs supramolecular cages – large and hollow molecules that can confine guest molecules within their cavities – to study and utilise weak intermolecular forces.
Dr Mekayla Storer is an Associate Professor in regenerative biology and a group leader at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Dr Storer’s research focuses on how stem cells regenerate mammalian digits (the equivalent of fingers or toes) with the overall goal of using this information to generate therapeutic strategies to improve ailments as diverse as birth defects, traumatic injury and age-related pathologies.
Alex Carter is Academic Director for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education where he has designed and delivered courses in philosophy, ethics and creativity theory. He also oversees the Institute’s undergraduate research courses. Alex is a Fellow and College Lecturer at Fitzwilliam College, where he provides study skills support to students in all disciplines and at all academic levels. Alex is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Alex’s research interests include Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, the theology of Simone Weil and the philosophy of humour. Alex is currently researching the (im)possibility of creative AI.
Professor Esra Ozyurek is the Sultan Qaboos Professor in Abrahamic Faiths and Shared Values at the Faculty of Divinity; academic director of Cambridge Interfaith Programme; and one of the directors of Global Humanities Initiative. Esra Ozyurek received her PhD in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and has taught at the University of California, San Diego and the LSE before Cambridge. She is the author of Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey (Duke University Press, 2007), Being German Becoming Muslim: Race, Religion, and Conversion in the New Europe (Princeton University Press, 2015); Subcontractors of Guilt: Holocaust Memory and Muslim Belonging in Post-War Germany (Stanford University Press, 2022).
Dr Ben Guy is Assistant Professor in Celtic in the Department of AngloSaxon, Norse and Celtic, where he teaches medieval Welsh language and literature. His research interests range across early Insular history, medieval historical writing, Welsh manuscript studies, and Celtic philology, as well as medieval Welsh language and literature.
DR MILES STOPHER
Acting Senior Tutor 2023–2024
Development
DR
GHAFFARI DoS in AMES
Development
The following people started work at the College 1st October 2023–30th September 2024:
Daniel Bozhilov: Catering Section Chef
Hugh Brading-Loughran: Coffee Shop Assistant
Melody Brooker: Deputy Development Director
Carmen Dobrin: Housekeeper
Damarys Flores Rodriguez: Housekeeping Supervisor
Valentina Florez Gallego: Catering Assistant
Kay Greenwood: Stores and Purchasing Assistant
William Gregory: IT AV Engineer
Kieran Groom: Computer Officer
Ahmed Hassani: Housekeeper
Dylan Horn: Tutorial Officer Exams UG Awards
Eleftherios Karapatsias: Duty Night Porter
Aasha Karki: Housekeeper
Katie Lane: Schools Liaison Officer
Angeline Lee: Head of Wellbeing
Luis Martins: Kitchen Porter
Antony Moule: Boatman and Head Coach
Gerda Peciuliene: Housekeeper
Nicola Plumb: Coffee Shop Assistant
Keith Roberts: Maintenance Multi Skilled
Mark Rookes: Duty Night Porter
Karl Stedman: Data and Insight Officer
Stephanie Tancredi: Management Accountant
Harrison Wells: Senior IT Officer & Data Administrator
Monika Zawadzka: Housekeeper
Monika Zhukov: Housekeeper
The following people retired from their roles at the College:
Doris Asfaha: Housekeeping Supervisor
Philip Baney: IT Database Developer
Ian Butcher: Stores and Purchasing Assistant
Alistair Cook: Duty Porter
Simon Davison: Maintenance Assistant
Carol Lamb: Development Officer
The following people were recognised for their long service of the College:
Naomi Spaxman: Sous Chef (10 years)
At the beginning of the academic year 2023–2024 there were 481 students in residence registered for undergraduate degrees. 247 men, 232 women and 2 other.
In September 2024 there were 410 registered full-time postgraduate students; the total changes throughout the year as, for instance, PhD students are approved for their degrees, so a snapshot is provided.
113 Firsts (including 10 equivalents) were awarded in 2024.
The total number of Firsts in previous years are as follows:
• 126 Firsts (including 17 equivalents) were awarded in 2023
• 128 Firsts (including 17 equivalents) were awarded in 2022
• 113 Firsts (including 7 equivalents) were awarded in 2021
• 70 Firsts were awarded (to ‘Finalists’) in 2020
• 126 Firsts (including 11 equivalents) were awarded in 2019
• 112 Firsts (including 15 equivalents) were awarded in 2018
The results for the Undergraduate finalists in 2023–24:
About 43% of the full-time postgraduate students were from the UK, and 57% of the full-time postgraduate students were overseas students. Of the full-time postgraduate students, 43% were either registered as candidate for a PhD or on track to be so registered (180 students) and 37% were registered for an MPhil (153 students). Other full-time students were in medical or veterinary studies undertaking other courses such as leading to PGCE or LLM, or at the Judge studying for an MBA or Mfin.
Of the part-time postgraduate students, the majority of this group were studying for Master of Studies degrees with Applied Criminology, Sustainability Leadership, English Language Assessment and Genomics Medicine.
E.M.Alagar Reynon J.Allen A.Armstrong S.P.Arnold L.Barber E.J.Bassett S.W.Batchelor S.M.Bath I.G.G.Baxter W.J.F.Beattie H.R.Belshaw K.R.Best E.E.Betts N.S.Azizul Azmi A.M.Bortymowski E.S.Bowden A.B.Brown
Y.Bu M.J.B.Bukoh M.S.Cadena J.Celliers Y.Chen K.S.Choi A.S.Choudhury E.N.Collins S.Collins J.P.Craig-Sharples C.B.Crawford E.A.Crease N.Dawit L.Dawson-Jones A.T.Denton J.M.A.D’Silva S.Feng O.J.B.FitzGerald M.Z.H.Fong
N.Galvez C.S.Garcia A.R.Geddes W.E.Gotobed P.J.Grotjahn A.L.Harley S.J.Harwood E.Hateley I.A.Heath I.Ho T.Hope H.Huang O.Ige M.Jenkins S.Johnson O.Kabesha K.Kanesanathan S.Kauser J.Kendall E.Kew J.Khan G.I.Kidman R.E.Kitson S.A.Z.Kleinmoedig B.Kneale M.Korona P.Korotov B.Lan T.Langston K.Lazaro Z.Le Riche J.M.Y.Lee A.Lee-Jones J.Leventis
G.T.E.Lewis Z.Li S.Li X.Li A.W.Loh T.Y.Y.Lok W.Lowden H.L.Lu H.Mahad Ali I.Malik M.McPartland M.K.Middlehurst T.D.Millar S.Mishra R.E.Moorhouse E.J.Murphy-Smith A.Mutugi C.Oke B.Olajos H.E.Omotayo L.J.Osborne-Patterson A.Penberthy C.M.Peterson G.A.Pham E.R.Price M.J.Probert
M.J.Rayner K.A.Reed F.J.Reeds M.Remsha T.Ruan I.Salim L.Sayers C.Scally K.Sharma I.Skordis M.A.Smith S.E.Smith V.R.Smith S.T.Smout W.Stubbs Z.Teale
A.G.M.Teferle E.L.Thomas O.R.Todd J.I.Todman
H.Z.S.Tsai M.Tubb D.J.P.Turley D.E.Udegbe M.H.J.van Bellen M.van Domselaar A.E.Walter R.Y.H.Wang S.Wang J.Warburton J.Watson R.Webb F.Wei Y.T.Wei E.Whitbread B.C.Wise H.Wise F.Wong A.Wooster Y.Xie J.Xu Y.Xu Mr P.Hoegger Ms C.M.Groom Mr A.Fuller Ms H.Fox Mr R.Cantrill Baroness S.Morgan Dr M.Stopher Dr S.Owen Dr R.Abayasekara Revd G.Stevenson P.Harper S.Anderson Y.Yang I.Yeung X.Zhang
D.Grasby A.de Gooijer A.Augustinaite A.Tandon S.D.Rihm A.Redier M.Dalakoti C.Yang Z.Zhou L.H.He X.Meng X.Long
E.Rai-Johnson O.Castro L.Gregory V.Marcano H.Xu M.Khokhar C.Holah S.Uddin H.M.H.Nguyen A.Bazin D.Patel M.F.Bin Mohamed Faqarh F.G.Kalua A.G.M.von Both L.Anders Y.Pan
S.Benedetti K.Younsi S.R.Jung T.Hale E.Long J.Douglas L.Harrington H.F.Houillon M.A.Hodgson C.White Z.Yao Z.Wang Y.Qi S.Cao Y.Huang A.Sakti Z.Lu
L.Terzuolo D.Lim C.Townend G.Griffiths D.J.Lockwood M.Groarke R.Izawa W.Ruan S.Gonzalez Varela Y.Liu A.Aljalal S.King A.Luxford Y.Wu A.Chenwittayakhachon V.John X.Zhang Y.Liu
L.Prevedello G.Corredor Romero A.Iyengar M.Ruiz J.Paredes L.Henry Q.Yang Y.Y.G.Lee A.Omiyale V.Vassiliou S.Xu Z.Chen X.Luo A.Bordoloi Z.Pei Y.Wu R.Guo S.Rodriguez de Cordova
C.W.De Heus M.M.E.Boomars L.Carlton-Jones A.Zasiedko A.Hughes P.J.O’Boyle L.Ezeugwu H.A.Berndt J.Smith J.W.Aimer S.Galin M.Zhang H.Zhang S.Liu M.Stryjniak Z.Zhao R.Xue C.Liu
I.Cushing R.Fletcher-Stones S.Lima R.Cantwell A.E.Jarvis C.Szij I.Smuga P.Bafna L.Souza-McMurtrie S.Maiya A.W.T.Casablanca L.Endicott D.Okine M.Lyu S.Mrozinski Z.Pan D.Sun E.Dias
P.C.H.Lau A.Coombs T.Hajnik X.Zou W.Skinner S.Mandi-Ghomi N.Roe H.Z.Jiang S.L.Kirkbride F.Pang D.Lindsay P.Shen P.Baker D.Behiyat A.Kuek G.Pandey X.F.Lin R.Arif A.K.Gudum
S.Abernethy P.E.Ifada M.Zhong M.Cracana S.Ahmad A.W.Lai A.Ham H.Hodges M.Anwar N.Deng H.C.K.Leung Q.Wang J.Yu J.C.Gollin S.Wang Z.Wu Y.Wang W.Ai G.West N.Huang M.Denant S.Chakraborty M.Watt A.Kuraite J.Cullen
Baroness S.Morgan M.Stopher B.G.E.Wiedemann F.Knights L.Gale Z.Rauwald W.M.Baker Y.I.Dancheva Y.Yao
POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENTSHIPS FOR 2023-24
Awards for PhD studies
Kuok Family – Lee Kuan Yew PhD Scholarship: W. Xie (renewal), S.J. Quah (honorary), T. Sim (renewal). Lee Kuan Yew NUS PhD Studentship: C.K. Ha (renewal), J. Seah (renewal), S. Rihm (renewal). Stan Gold PhD Studentship: P. Heathcote (renewal), T. Cochrane (renewal). Leathersellers Scholarships: N/A.
Awards for Masters studies
Cambridge Masters and Fitzwilliam College Awards: M. Hodgson, L. Gregory. Cleaver-Wang Studentship: S. Lima. Fitzwilliam College Hong Leong – Lee Kuan Yew Masters Scholarship: M. Dalakoti, B. Hou. Fitzwilliam College – Quantedge – Lee Kuan Yew Masters Studentship: M.F.M. Faqarh. Fitzwilliam College Charlton Studentships: A.L. De Gooijer, J. Douglas, L. Gregory, S. Lima. Fitzwilliam College Masters Studentship: A. Zasiedko. Fitzwilliam College Masters Scholarship: S. Lima; A.L. De Gooijer. Fitzwilliam College Robert Lethbridge Scholarship: P. Aniakor. Peter Wilson Estates Gazette Scholarship: M. Hodgson, F. Kalua. Plummer Pollard Scholarship: A. Augustinaite.
Other Graduate Scholarships
College Graduate Scholarship: S. Chakraborty. ED Davies Scholarships: F. Beke, J. Rauwald, T. Sim. Gibson Scholarship: S.W.D. Lee. Hirst-Player Scholarships: J. Paredes UC, R Walker. Shipley Scholarship: T. Horton.
E. Almanzor, T. Amofah-Akardom, I. Ananya, E. Canova, R. Chowdhury, J. Christensen, Y. Dancheva, S. Deka, R. Dryzek, W. Dunn, L. Gale, T. Gaskin, A. Holcomb, O. Kim, C. Kirkham, A. Kuraite, Y. Li, S. Liu, T. McNally, N. McStay, D. Morley, D. Noyvert, L. Qiu, S.J. Quah, M. Quednau, S. Rashid, S. Rihm, T. Ross, B. Saffell, W. Skinner, J. Steele, E. Suchomel Duskova, C. Tan, E. Thursfield, D. Whitehouse, W. Xie.
Z. Ali (HSPS IIB), S. Anderson (Classics II), S. Arundel (NST-B III), P. Bacik (Maths III), S. Barhanpurkar (NST: Material Science III), H. Berndt (Master of Law LWM1), C. Boon (NST: Material Science III), G. Fibeesh (Maths III), A. Haffner (Land Economy II), K. Haket (Education II), L. He (MSt Mathematical Statistics MASS), W. Kay (NST: Earth Sciences III), W. Lea (Maths III), T. Lerman (Law II), Z. Minett (MML II), B. O’Neill (HST II), S. Owen (Geography II), I. Owen (History and Politics II), M. Stokes (English II), A. Venkat (NST-C III), I. Woodford (TRPR IIB), K. Younsi (MSt Mathematical Statistics MASS).
Scholarships awarded to students with First Class or equivalent
Elections to scholarships
1912: Y. Chen (NST IA), H. Huang (NST IA), J. O’Reilly (Engineering IB), M. Weston (Engineering IB). Barnes: C. Ashworth (NST-P II), L. Campbell (NST IB). Clothworkers: E. Bowden (ASNC I), A. Brown (AMES IA), J. Xu (Architecture IA). Clough: Y. Agarwal (Engineering IIA), W. Beattie (Geography IA), J. CraigSharples (MML IA), J. Emsley (Chemical Engineering I), E. Hateley (Geography IA), T. Hush (Maths IB), S. Johnson (Geography IA), D. Kayley (NST IB), S. Larcombe Tee (NST IB), I. Malik (Geography IA), M. Remsha (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology IA), A. Sleigh (NST IB), S. Uddin Nusrat (Geography IB), Z. Wang (NST IB), K. Xu (Economics I). Donald Walker: N. Eyre (NST-C II). Ellen Hughes: E. Knight (HST IB). Excelect: E. Thompson (Music IB). Fitzwilliam Society: S. Nadvi-Byrne (Education IB). Fitzwilliam Society Coleby: Z. Le Riche (Land Economy IA). Fitzwilliam Society Taylor: A. Mardling (HST IB). Irene Walker: T. Langston (Geography IA). Marion Burrow: J. Lee (Medicine IA). Peter Constable: E. Sutcliffe (Veterinary Sciences IB). Rawlins: M. Copeman (NST IB). Reddaway: A. AllenKyng (Economics IIA), M. Middlehurst (HSPS I), L. Sahar (Economics IIA), L. Sayers (HSPS I), R. Stephens
(History of Art IIA), L. Stone (Archaeology IIA), H. Tsai (Linguistics I), Y. Yadav (HSPS IIA). Sir John Stratton: E. Betts (English IA), A. Nixon (English IA), K. Reed (English IA). WW Williams: A. Wooster (Geography IA).
Re-elections to scholarships
1912: M. Duxbury (Engineering IB). 1912 Senior: D. Bowers (Geography II), W. Chan (Land Economy II), H. Curry (Archaeology IIB), L. Franks (NST III), D. Georgiou (NST-P III), A. Gunasekaran (Engineering IIB). F. Hargreaves (English II), L. Hill (MML II), A. Hodgson (HST II), M. Kowalski (HSPS IIB), Q. Lei (Computer Science II), J. Lindsay (Computer Science II), A. Macpherson (History and Modern Languages II), O. Mosheim (HST II), I. Nayakshin (Engineering IIB), S. Shah (Computer Science III), A. Shenoy (Maths III), F. Swinburne (MML II), D. Timmers (NST-P III), E. White (HSPS IIB), T. Willock (NST-P II), S. Wilshaw (Maths III), K. Yap (Law II), M. Zhao (Land Economy II). Clothworkers: J. Davies (AMES IB). Clough: A. Gupta (Computer Science IB), L. Lawton (Engineering IIA), S. Lochan (Computer Science IB), T. Peretz (NST-C II), X. Sun (PBS IB), M. Zhang (Engineering II). David Mason: R. Sun (Engineering IIA). Excelect: P. Brownlow (Land Economy IB). Fitzwilliam Society Skinner: F. Kong (Economics IIA). Geoff Walker Scholarship for Excellence in the Field of Hispanic Studies: L. Xia (MML IB). Henry Locke: B. Woodward (MML IB). Muriel Lawrence: J. Henley-Waters (Medicine IB). Reddaway: E. Grandidge de Paz (Archaeology IIA), A. Waters (HSPS IIA). SS Samra: K. Suzuki (Engineering IIA). Tim Gray Law: S. Saravanan (Law IB). Thomas Walker: G. Stein (NST II). Vincent Joseph Hughes: V. Tung (Architecture IB). Wilfred Wilde: B. Levy (NST-P II).
Foundation Scholars who have achieved a First in each Undergraduate course year
D. Bowers (Geography II), M. Kowalski (HSPS IIB), Q. Lei (Computer Science II), J. Lindsay (Computer Science II), A. Macpherson (History and Modern Languages II), T. Peretz (NST II), S. Shah (Computer Science III), F. Swinburne (MML II), D. Timmers (NST II), E. White (HSPS IIB), T. Willock (NST II).
Graduate Tutors’ Prizes for distinction in Masters Degrees
K. Ashcroft (Mphil ELAC), D. Birch (Mphil English Studies), G. Golding (Mphil English Studies), O. Groves (Mphil Economics), J. Hale (MSta Applied Criminology
& Policy Management), J. He (Mphil Machine Learning), M. Hollander (Mphil English Studies), P. Jorgensen (Mphil Film & Screen Studies), O. Keskin (Mphil Advanced Computer Science), A. Labib (Mphil Economics), S. Lekare (MSt Applied Criminology & Policy Management), B. Mälberg (MSt Applied Criminology & Policy Management), P. Ottaro (MSt Applied Criminology & Policy Management), R. Severy (Mphil Music), W. Skinner (Mphil ELAC), R. Smith (Mphil Social Anthropological Research), A. Stone (Mphil Politics & International Studies), K. Tyulberov (Master of Finance).
Academic Prizes for First Class Results
AJ Watson: C. Sun (PBS). Audrey Siddall: L. Sahar (Economics). AV Stachulski: T. Peretz (NST). Barbara Humphrey: S. Owen (Geography). Brian Jones: P. Brownlow (Land Economy). Burton: A. Nixon (English). Business Fellows: F. Kong (Economics). Carole Putnam Lowry: A. Gunasekaran (Engineering). Cockle: D. Bowers (Geography). College: A. AllenKyng (Economics), S. Arundel (NST), S. Barhanpurkar (NST), W. Beattie (Geography), A. Brown (AMES), Y. Chen (NST), J. Davies (AMES), M. Duxbury (Engineering), E. Grandidge de Paz (Archaeology), A. Gupta (Computer Science), A. Haffner (Land Economy), E. Hateley (Geography), S. Johnson (Geography), W. Kay (NST), M. Kowalski (HSPS), T. Langston (Geography), S. Larcombe Tee (NST), L. Lawton (Engineering), Z. Le Riche (Land Economy), W. Lea (Maths), Q. Lei (Computer Science), J. Lindsay (Computer Science), S. Lochan (Computer Science), I. Malik (Geography), M. Middlehurst (HSPS), J. O’Reilly (Engineering), M. Remsha (Engineering), L. Sayers (HSPS), S. Shah (Computer Science), A. Shenoy (Maths), A. Sleigh (NST), G. Stein (NST), R. Stephens (History of Art), L. Stone (Archaeology), R. Sun (Engineering), H. Tsai (Linguistics), A. Venkat (NST), Z. Wang (NST), A. Waters (HSPS), M. Weston (Engineering), B. Woodward (MML), A. Wooster (Geography), J. Xu (Architecture), K. Xu (Economics), M. Zhang (Engineering). Cuthbert: J. Lee (Medicine). David Pearl: H. Berndt (Master of Law); W. Ruan (Master of Law). Dennis Price: J. Craig-Sharples (MML). Edward Miller: B. O’Neill (History). Gent: A. Macpherson (History and Modern Languages). Harvey: O. Mosheim (History). Heather Butcher: E. White (HSPS). Houston Putnam Lowry: T. Lerman (Law). Hugh Humphrey: I. Woodford (Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion). Humphrey: C. Boon (NST), D. Georgiou (NST). Inge Naismith: E. Sutcliffe (Veterinary Sciences). Jack Gossage: A. Mardling (History). Jean & Arthur Hart: E. Thompson (Music). Johnson-Jary: S. Saravanan (Law). Kevin Yuen: S. Wilshaw (Maths). K.L. Desai: E. Betts (English). Mary Lucking: H. Curry (Archaeology). Landy Prize (Attainment): D. Kayley (NST). Newton: L. Franks (NST); I. Nayakshin
(Engineering). O.B. Pask: L. Xia (MML). Padma Desai: K. Reed (English). Pat Higgingbottom: M. Zhao (Land Economy). Paul Cassidy: S. Anderson (Classics). Peter Wyllie: A. Hodgson (History). QinetiQ: C. Ashworth (NST); K. Suzuki (Engineering); T. Willock (NST). R.A. Watchman: T. Hush (Maths). Rawlins: M. Copeman (NST). Ray Kelly: Z. Minett (MML). Sir John Stratton: Y. Agarwal (Engineering); Z. Ali (HSPS); L. Hill (MML); E. Knight (History). Skepper: F. Swinburne (MML). Stumbles: P. Bacik (Maths). Swinburne Senior: M. Copeman (NST). Thatcher: S. Anderson (Classics); E. Bowden (ASNAC); W. Chan (Land Economy); J. Emsley (Chemical Engineering): S. Nadvi-Byrne (Education); V. Tung (Architecture); S. Uddin Nusrat (Geography); Y. Yadav (HSPS); K. Younsi (Mst Mathematical Statistics). Tom Comfort: D. Timmers (NST). Trethewey: L. Campbell (NST), H. Huang (NST), B. Levy (NST). Vera Lethbridge: I. Owen (History and Politics). Wellings: K. Haket (Education). Whitlock: K. Yap (Law).
Music Awards
Avshalom Hertwolf Saxophone Scholarship: J. Xiao. Carolyn & David Keep Choral Scholarship: K. Jacovides. Dennis Doyle Scholarships: M. Duxbury, J. Misra, M. Weston. Duncan Choral Scholarship: B. Thompson. John Etherton Choral Scholarship: K. Austin. Ken Smith & Ronald Smith Alkan Piano Scholarship: Y.K. Leung. Open Instrumental Scholarship: A. Shenoy. Pardley Repetiteur Scholarship: A. King. Queen Anne’s Choral Scholarships: A. Davies, K. Reed. Swinburne Senior Prize for Music: C. Johnston. Thatcher Music Scholarships: C. Johnston (Organ Scholarship), M. Tanju (Conducting and Musical Leadership Scholarship). Yehudi Menuhin Scholarships: A. Loh, R. Ruan.
Scholar of the Year: H. Curry (Archaeology)
Other Awards and Prizes
Anuradha Bhagwati: J. Douglas (English Studies Mphil). Paul Cassidy Progress: R. Ranson (Classics). Fitzwilliam Society Stratton: D. Timmers (NST). John Adams: E. Wilding (Plant Science PhD); Molly Maclean (Land Economy). Sir James Holt: Alex Macpherson (History & MML). Bourdeau-Rest Prize: F. Cory (MML). Ilsey: E. Busby (ASNAC); S. Ratnasingam (History). William French: S. Arundel (NST). John & Jenny Duncan: A. Whittington (Geography). Fitzwilliam Engineers’ Progress Prize: E. Rabinowitz (Engineering). Landy (Progress): S. Larcombe Tee (NST). Colinssplatt Cup for Music: Z. Gavin (Maths). Colinssplatt Cup for Drama: H. Bowers (English). Reddaway: S. Anderson (Classics); I. De Bessou (History); P. Harper (Classics); L. Harrington (English Studies Mphil); I. Woodford (Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion). Lalit Kumar Singhania: M. Zhao (Land Economy). Chandaria Economics: R. Gao (Economics). R. N. Walters: S. Owen
(Geography).
Sports Personality of the Year: G. McConachie (Philosophy)
Team of the Year: Fitz boat club M2
The following dissertations were approved for the degree of PhD in the period October 2023–September 2024.
S.B. Ajadi: Conflict, violence, and Abuja markets: a spatial analysis of impact
Y.N. Andres Jeske: Mechanisms of dynein-based mRNA transport processes in human cells
W.M. Baker: New insights on the evolutionary mechanisms of local and distant galaxies
H.T.J. Bevins: A machine learning-enhanced toolbox for Bayesian 21-cm data analysis and constraints on the astrophysics of the early universe
D.M. Collins: An investigation into the function of CDS2 in phosphoinositide synthesis in murine macrophages
E. Danby: A comparative analysis of auditory perception in songbirds: Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) and great tits (Parus major)
E.A. Daxberger: Advances in probabilistic deep learning and their applications
K. Derkach: Definite and indefinite articles in Learner English: identifying the learning problem and addressing it with processing instruction intervention
T. Döme: Modeling Astrophysical and Large-Scale Structure Signatures in Axion Cosmologies: Navigating Ultralight and Ultracold Frontiers
F.J. Donnangelo Cleffi: Diagnosing the increase in homicides in Montevideo
S.N. Edwards: Newspapers in wartime: case-studies in Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
N. Ezra: High efficiency topologies for dual voltage inputs
S.T. Frengley: Explicit moduli spaces for curves of genus
and 2
Y. Gao: Federated self-supervised learning
T. Gessey-Jones: Probing the first stars with the 21-cm signal: theory, methods, and forecasts
M.E. Houck: The thermodynamics, kinetics and modelling of fast-charging lithium-ion batteries featuring crystallographic shear niobium metal oxide anodes
D. Huthwaite: TransGothic methods
M. Kalyva: Characterising the evolutionary dynamics of hypermutated tumours using single-cell sequencing
S.A. Kidwai: Voice, case and the external argument: the perspective from Urdu
R. Kimber: The role of DEAD-box helicase 1 in humoral immune responses
E.P. Knight: The kinematics and dynamics of active mountain ranges
M. Krzyzanska: Modelling spatio-temporal changes in the ecological niches of major domesticated crops in China: application of species distribution modelling
J.M. Lawrence: Electrochemical and genetic tools for analysing and engineering bioenergetic processes in cyanobacteria
Y. Liu: High capacity VCSEL array based optical wireless links
R. Liu: Conductive PEDOT:PSS fibres for modelling and assessing oligodendrocyte ensheathment
E. Lleshi: Molecular characterization of methylated circulating tumour DNA biomarkers and their detection with low-cost biosensor
J. McCarthy: Enzyme-linked electrochemical detection of urinary sarcosine
M.J. Morey: ‘Purposeful activity’: masculinity and the meaning of prison work amongst young men in three English prisons
E. Moutin: Tissue adaptations to colitis influence neoplastic risk through clonal interaction
A.J.K. Ng: The state of the clear-sighted ruler as envisioned by Han Fei and his predecessors
S. Ni: Numerical investigation on the effect of fuel
droplets on premixed laminar flames
A.M. Savu: On the local economic and political consequences of controversial policies
A. Sobey: Exploratory analysis of the inhabitants’ experience of the Singaporean smart nation: construction, boundaries, and connection
Y. Suganuma: Computational modelling of interfacial failure behaviours in polymer-metal joints
K. Townsend: Envisaging community in twentyfirst century US film and television: neoliberalism, relationality, ecologies
A.N. Triantou: Primate-specific KRAB zinc finger proteins and their targets rewire regulatory networks related to inflammation and pancreas development
T. Wright: Written convergence in the Greek pentateuch: studies at the semantics-pragmatics interface
G. Yakovleva: Application of polyhedrin protein microparticles for in vivo vaccine and biologics delivery: a proof-of-concept study
S. Yu: Longer range backscatter communications for IoT
X. Zhou : Question answering on dynamic knowledge graph for chemistry
Presidents
Jayden Bafoa and Aaron Lardi
Vice President
Adam Irad
Treasurer: Evan Grandidge De Paz
Secretary: Christabel Okongwu
Welfare: Samuel Bath and Amelie Nixon
Accommodation and Services: Stamatis Angeletos
Women’s: Ashyn Chew
International: Solomon Tsai and Bryan Bukoh
LGBT+: Izzy Cole
BME: Noel Dawit and Fitz Wong
Social Media: Tomi Omotayo
Trans and NB: Matthew Biggs
Environmental: Alex Wooster
Ents: Krystyna Lazaro, Poppy Drake and Talia Okadia
Target and Access: Adam Safi
Academic Affairs: Yufan Tan
Charities: Hannah Belshaw
This year, we are proud to report an unprecedented level of engagement with the JCR Committee election process, resulting in a nearly full committee right from the start. We successfully filled almost every position in one go, with only two roles remaining unfilled. This strong turnout reflected the enthusiasm and commitment of the student body to actively participate in college life and contribute to meaningful initiatives. With a diverse and dedicated committee, we were wellprepared to address student needs and create a positive impact throughout the year.
A primary goal was to enhance communication and accessibility for students, and the highlight of this initiative was the development of a new JCR website. The website now serves as a central hub for students to access important information, submit anonymous feedback, view upcoming events, and connect with JCR representatives. In collaboration with our Social Media Officer, Tomi Omotayo, we also implemented an Instagram content strategy that boosted online engagement. Through creative, consistent posts and interactive stories, our Instagram account has become a lively space for students to stay updated and connected with JCR activities, further increasing awareness and involvement across the College.
Our Ents Officers, Talia Okadia, Krystyna Lazaro and Poppy Drake, organized several memorable events, including the immensely popular “Fitz Up” parties.
This year, we introduced a new approach by allowing students to vote on the event themes, with “Y2K” and “Wild West” winning the popular vote. These themes brought the community together with impressive turnout and fantastic costumes. Generally, we delivered fun – and importantly, safe – events for the student body, ensuring an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Our Environmental Officer, Alex Wooster, made significant strides this year by launching the college’s new Green Society, a community dedicated to promoting sustainability and environmental awareness among students. One of Alex’s key initiatives was organizing a second-hand sale during Freshers’ Week, which encouraged students to make sustainable choices by purchasing pre-owned items. This sale was met with enthusiasm, reducing waste and providing an affordable option for students needing essentials. In addition to the sale, Alex hosted an environmental-themed social event that brought students together to discuss sustainability practices and ways to reduce their ecological footprints. This event was not only engaging but also instrumental in raising awareness about environmental issues within the college community. Through these efforts, we have strengthened our commitment to sustainability, making it a key part of student life at Fitzwilliam.
Our Liberation and Charities Officers have been highly active this year in promoting inclusivity and community support. Our Trans and Non-Binary Officer, Matthew,
and LGBTQ+ Officer, Izzy Cole, organized a vibrant Drag Bingo Night, which not only provided a fun and inclusive space but also raised funds for the Fitz Gender Affirmation Fund. Additionally, our BME Officers, Noel Dawit and Fitz Wong, hosted a well-received Black History Month formal, celebrating diversity and heritage within the college. To support charitable causes, our Charities Officer, Hannah Belshaw, ran a bake sale that successfully raised £151.50 for the Save The Children Gaza Appeal, contributing to vital humanitarian aid efforts.
Our welfare officers played a crucial role in keeping up morale throughout the year, organising events like the popular “Donut Drop-ins.” These sessions provided a relaxed space where students could grab free donuts and chat with welfare officers, offering both a sweet treat and a much-needed opportunity for connection. With the introduction of the new Freshers’ induction programme, we were tasked with thinking of fresh, exciting, and engaging events to offer our Freshers. This led us to introduce several new initiatives, including a Fitz Games night, which we organised in collaboration with Anji Lee, the Head of Wellbeing. In addition, we secured sponsorship from Red Bull, which added an extra layer of energy to our events. We also partnered with Barbershop A2D, who generously provided free haircuts, and Orleans Café, which offered complimentary catering for our “Barbecue” event. These collaborations helped to enhance the overall
Freshers’ experience, providing a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere from the outset.
We found that Freshers overwhelmingly enjoyed the enthusiasm with which we delivered the standard Freshers Week events. The positive feedback and high level of engagement demonstrated that our efforts had a lasting impact, setting the tone for an unforgettable start to their time at Fitz.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Rod, Hannah, Miles, Sally, Nicola and Paul for their unwavering support throughout the year. Their guidance and encouragement was invaluable. We also want to express our deep gratitude to our committee members, whose dedication and hard work made this a successful year for the JCR. Particularly to our Vice President, Adam Irad, for his unwavering support throughout the year, particularly for us as Presidents. Adam was always there to represent us when we were too busy, stepping in to handle matters on our behalf, and offering invaluable advice when we faced tough decisions. His dedication and insight were essential in helping us navigate the challenges of the role, and we are deeply grateful for his consistent support. As we pass the torch, we wish the next presidents and committee the best of luck. We hope they continue to build on our efforts and go even further in enhancing the student experience at Fitzwilliam College.
Jayden Bafoa and Aaron Lardi
President: Agne Kuraite
Treasurer: Melissa Watt
Vice President: Rosie Rice (22–23), Alex Jarvis (23) and Patrick Carter Cortez (24)
Secretary: Sarah Baloch (22–23) and Laura Ciuches (23–24)
Access Officer: Awais Nawab Ali (22–23) and Lianna Harrington (23–24)
Environmental Officer: Liliia Akatova and William Ruan (23–24)
Welfare Officers: Yoana Dancheva, Zack Rauwald (22–23), Josephine Gollin (23–24)
Technical Officer: Laurie Gale (22–23) and Daniyal Behiyat (23–24)
Academic Officers: Maya Hollander (22–23) and Soura Chakraborty (23–24)
Social Secretaries: Agne Augustinaite (23–24), Robert Cantwell (23–24), Louisa de Gooijer (23–24), Awais Nawab Ali (23–24), Lilien Ezeugwu (23–24), Kate Ashcroft (22–23), Melissa Watt (22–23), Gabriel Golding (22–23), Rebecca Smith (22–23), Max Barysevich (22–23), Callum Young (22–23).
The Presidential term runs from Easter term for a year, and this is the timeline that this report will summarise. The term started with reintroducing a change to the committee that was previously dropped some time during COVID – one of the welfare officers was also elected in Easter term together with the president and treasurer, to ensure the continuation of welfare provision and appropriate handover of any ongoing welfare issues. The benefits of this were seen throughout the year with the welfare officers providing strong welfare provision via drop ins, welfare tea, coffee and cakes, and welfare yoga. The new welfare officer quickly acclimated to their new role, when compared to previous years. Hopefully this work can continue and the new Wellbeing Coordinator will encourage and support engagement with the postgraduate community by collaborating with the MCR on welfare matters.
Throughout the year, there was much work to be done with regards to increasing the social side of the MCR. This began with continuing the tradition started by the Santak administration and organising the swap with our sister college in Oxford, St Edmund Hall. This was well received by the community, the attendance was reasonable and could have been better, but the main
contributing factors to this likely were the unestablished precedent of regular social events and swaps, and that masters students were having exams. There were also difficulties regarding a lack of formal hall provision, which contributed to difficulties in organising swaps. Luckily, enough momentum was built by organising more and more events and by the end of term we saw an increase in social participation, with the garden party having an excellent turn out along with a live performance by a band formed of Fitz MCR members –No Flamingos on a Sunday.
The summer was relatively calm as a lot of the MCR social secretaries were masters students and they had left Fitz by that point. This left a minimal amount of MCR officers able to sustain social activities. Regardless, there were still small events happening every so often, such as welfare tea and cake, an MCR tiramisu bake off, PG tutor BBQ etc. As we have more members of the committee who are PhD students, this should help with sustaining an appropriate level of MCR activity throughout the summer.
Before the start of Michaelmas, the MCR ran a Q&A for incoming students, encouraged them to follow us on social media and made ourselves open to any questions or queries that they may have before coming to Fitz. The welcome week was a great success, with excellent attendance at the events hosted. Some of the most noteworthy highlights were: The Cambridge Night walk – a scavenger hunt event, where the freshers relied on clues to find the next station, where they found snacks and hot drinks to keep them going. Speed Friending – was an extremely popular event with around 70 people gathering in the JCR. Pub Quiz – had excellent attendance and great questions prepped. Punting – was very well attended this year. Welcome Party and Vegas Themed Welcome BOP had very good attendance and reviews as well. Overall, the welcome week went very well, it also gave us a chance to help the freshers raise any questions or concerns they had about living in Fitz and for them to meet and socialise with their cohort.
Going into Michaelmas Term, the majority of the committee was new and they adapted and managed to build an excellent term card, with a variety of different events that appealed to the different groups within the MCR. The contributions from all the officers from
the MCR shone through. We rekindled engagement with other colleges, by having swaps with Churchill and Girton Colleges during this term and discussing collaborations with St Edmund’s College for open mic nights. We also continued the tradition, started by the Bateman administration, of having Grad Salon every term and we had a variety of performances by freshers and current students alike. Fitzmas BOP was also a success, albeit, it was the day after the Winter Ball, which led to it having quite a relaxed atmosphere.
Lent term has been so far the busiest, with swaps with Corpus Christi, Magdalene, Darwin and Lucy Cavendish Colleges. There has also been a reintroduction of themed formals, with a Lunar New Year Formal, International Women’s Day formal and an African formal being organised by the MCR. The Grad Salon this term was held in collaboration with Pierre Riley and Fitz Music. It has been the most well attended Grad Salon in the last two years and had the right balance of eclectic fun, and quality music-making. We also collaborated with the Chaplain on Pancake Day, with the MCR as the venue and it was very well attended. There have also been quite a lot of new access initiatives, such as LGBTQ bar crawls with other colleges, movie nights and a new access tea for people to bring up any accessibility concerns. There have been
plenty of environmental walks planned throughout the term as well as a thrift shopping. In Easter term, the MCR also committed to more sustainable options for cleaning supplies in the MCR to help minimise plastic waste and this has been maintained.
Overall, it has been a successful year recovering the MCR and I feel like we are on a positive trajectory to help Fitz regain their reputation as the best MCR in Cambridge. I would also like to thank the people in college that we have collaborated with for events, namely, the Chaplain, Dr Pierre Riley, Dr Benedict Wiedemann, Chris and Adam from the bar, Richard Wayman and the catering team, Freya Wayman and college events, and Claire from Fitz+. I would also like to thank the college management for supporting the MCR community throughout the year with any issues that they were experiencing, namely Dr Miles Stopher, Rod Cantrill, Hannah Fox, Sylwia Kowalska and the housekeeping team, Kathryn Quinn and the maintenance team.
I would also like to give the biggest thank you to everyone on the committee and the hard work and the hours they have taken out of their degrees to ensure that we have a vibrant community in the MCR. I would like to give an extra thank you to Melissa Watt for going out of her way to support me throughout the year with the logistics of the MCR.
Agne Kuraite, MCR President 2023–24
Members of the MCR Committee.
From closely contested football wins, Art Society drawing sessions and set design, Blades victory in the Boat Club, a student-led Sherlock Holmes theatre production, a Hansel and Gretel Opera and countless more – Fitzwilliam College Clubs and Societies saw many successes and special moments in the year 2023–4.
It was a great year for our netball teams. Regular training sessions and consistent wins throughout the year led to the Fitzwilliam Mixed Netball once again securing their place in division 1, coming second place overall and third place in Cuppers. Their progress, dedication and teamwork was evident in highlights including their win over the Jesus 1st team in Lent, after a close loss the term before. The Women’s Netball team also retained their place in division 1, including notable wins against Murray Edwards and Downing, and they made it to Cuppers Final, coming fourth overall.
On the football field, Fitzwilliam football once again came out on top in the league with another unbeaten season. Unfortunately, the year also marked the end of the Fitz dominance at Cuppers as the 1st XI bowed out in the semi-final against St John’s. A particularly notable moment included Fitzwilliam Football 3s winning their closely contested Cuppers semi-final on penalties against Jesus.
In rugby, following on from a very strong campaign reaching the final of Cuppers, Fitzsidney (Fitzwilliam & Sidney Sussex) attempted to go one further. Bolstered with some new quality the team battled through a shaky start to the season to progress through the first two rounds of Cuppers to set up a meeting with St Catz/ Homerton in the semi-final. A strong Catz/Hom team got the better of them on the day pulling away in the second half to send Fitzsidney to the Cuppers plate final. A similar foe awaited in the plate final and a similar result followed, after a great match at the University Rugby Club Fitzsidney unfortunately came up short against St John’s, finishing fourth overall.
Fitzwilliam’s Boat Club had an amazing year. M1 put up a tough fight in Lent Bumps as they adjusted to a crew of mostly new members, after losing rowers to graduation. Their comeback was incredible, taking victory in earning their Blades in May Bumps, bumping up into the 1st division for the first time in many years, displacing Trinity into Division Two for the first time in their boat club’s history. As demonstrated in their award for Team of the Year, the boat club M2 team deserves special mention for their unrivalled level of
success. After securing Blades in Lent Bumps, they went on to win their division in the Spring regatta and then winning Blades again at Easter Bumps. During Michaelmas, the senior women and non-binary side had a good term, showing lots of commitment with 12 rowers and crew selected for Fairbairns. It was very tough, coming 15th at Fairbairns, but it looks strong for the year ahead. The novice women crews are also very promising with two crews training and one racing.
The Mixed Lacrosse Team (shared with Peterhouse and Murray Edwards) showed incredible progress this year, progressing into division 1.
The Trinity-Fitzwilliam Hockey Team had a successful year, winning most of their matches and finishing in 3rd place overall in division 1.
Fitzwilliam’s partnership with the incredible charity Power2Inspire continued with another successful PowerHouseGames. Twenty-four Fitzwilliam volunteers, along with our Chaplain Graham, led small groups of children from diverse backgrounds and abilities in inclusive sport activities, such as Boccia, Sitting Netball and New Age Kurling. Volunteers described the experience as incredibly rewarding and feedback from the schools highlighted how much the children enjoyed the event and gained confidence as a result.
The year 2023 marked the creation of the Fitz Theatre Society, which launched with its debut production of Sherlock Holmes. Rigorous auditions, dedicated rehearsals and meticulous logistical planning during the Michaelmas term culminated in an impressive three-night run in the Fitzwilliam Auditorium at the start of Lent Term, showcasing the exceptional talent of Fitzwilliam students.
Adding to the celebration of music and performing arts at Fitzwilliam, this year’s opera, Hansel and Gretel, starred Annabel Davies and Sarah Anderson. Behind the scenes, Mercedes Tanju led a small team of Fitz students in constructing and painting a gingerbread house, along with other props. Beyond her contributions to set design and leading the Art Society, Mercedes Tanju also directed the Hill College Orchestra, conducting performances throughout the year, alongside organ scholar and fellow Fitz student, Charlotte Johnstone. Fitzwilliam’s musical talents also contributed to the end of year celebrations in the Fitzwilliam Music Garden Party. Students gathered on picnic blankets on the Grove Lawn to enjoy
Fitz Opera’s 2024 iteration was Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel. The opera was sung in English and conducted by Director of Music Catherine Groom with principals’ coaching by College Accompanist Pierre Riley and stage direction by Guildhall School of Music & Drama Directing Fellow Anne Sutton. Hansel was sung by fourth-year Classicist Sarah Anderson, and Gretel by second-year Medic Annabel Davies. The principals, orchestra, chorus and technical teams hailed solely from Fitz’s undergraduate, graduate and staff populations. The audience enjoyed an intriguingly freak dark forest rendered by our extraordinary gardening team and lit by the AV technician, Alex Camp, and a gingerbread house built by Maintenance’s very own Bob Devonshire – truly a Fitz achievement. Main photo is from the dress rehearsal - hence the empty front rows!
performances by Fitz Sirens, Fitz Barbers and the Fitzwilliam choir, making for a fun and memorable end to the year.
Within the Fitzwilliam sports community, end-ofyear celebrations included the 2024 Amalgamated Sports Dinner in June, which included the Sports Awards Ceremony to honour the achievements of both individuals and teams. We were privileged to welcome our guest speaker, Joe Harman, who shared his inspiring experiences with us and helped give out the awards. As a Musculoskeletal Therapist and Exercise Lead at Chiltern’s Neuro Centre, Joe supports individuals across the country with neurological conditions, helping them to improve mobility and manage their symptoms. His passion for the transformative power of sport was sparked during his recovery from a life-changing accident, motivating him to pursue a career dedicated to physiotherapy and empowering those with chronic and debilitating illnesses. Joe’s remarkable career has included working with Paralympians, professional football clubs and hospitals around the UK, making his insights and experiences an invaluable addition to the evening’s celebration of sport.
Another highlight marking the end of the academic year was our annual Billy Day, a much-anticipated celebration of sports. Fitzwilliam students gathered at the Oxford Road playing fields for a day of activities. Despite the rain early on, spirits remained high and the weather cleared just in time for a game of rounders and the final match of the Five-a-Side football competition, which had been running throughout Easter term.
Collectively, these moments highlight the dedication and effort put into weekly training sessions, practices, coordinating with other colleges to organise games, locations, kits and socials. These countless hours
contribute not only to the victories and achievements but also the strong sense of community in Fitzwilliam College and foster an environment that enables students to thrive during studies.
Joseph McGuigan and Emma Pretty
President and Vice President of the Clubs & Societies, 2023–2024.
Notification of alumni deaths are listed in the Journal, by year, in the year in which the College is notified.
We have created a dedicated In Memoriam website, for alumni, friends and family to contribute their own tributes. In contrast with the Journal, which is often published many months after notification, this site is updated regularly throughout the year. The site can be visted via this link: https://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/ inmemoriam.
Ron Clements was born in ‘Outer London in Essex’ in 1929 and was educated at Buckhurst Hill County High School. Although recognised as one of their most outstanding pupils, he left at the end of the fifth form as was not uncommon in those days and went into Barclays Bank, interrupted only by National Service in the RAF 1947–49, which gave him a lasting love of flying – he was still flying light aircraft quite late in his life. He also loved travel and steam trains – a love he enjoyed later in life when travelling to international conferences. To understand Ron’s later career as an Old Testament scholar, however, one has to turn to the other great influence in his early life: South Woodford Baptist Church. The minister who baptized him and encouraged in him a sense of call to the Baptist ministry encouraged him to train at Spurgeon’s College, South London, where he studied from 1951 to 1954, graduating with a London BD. As was customary for bright students then, he applied to Regent’s Park College, Oxford to complete his training. However, Regent’s had a rule forbidding ordinands to marry until they had completed training; Ron and his fiancé, Valerie, a member of the same Baptist Youth Fellowship, had effectively been waiting to get married since 1947. Ron therefore withdrew his application to Oxford and applied successfully to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he read Part III of the Theological
Tripos (now an M.Phil), specialising in Old Testament, graduating with First Class honours in 1956.
Called to a ministry at Southey Green Baptist Church, Sheffield, Ron immediately enrolled for a PhD at Sheffield University under Professor F.F. Bruce, meanwhile continuing to prepare to be a candidate for the Cambridge Hebrew Prize, which he won in 1957. He also completed his PhD in 1961. Ron was appointed to a Lectureship at Edinburgh in 1960, which became permanent in 1964. Only three years later he was appointed to a Lectureship in Old Testament at Cambridge, which he took up next year. At that point Gordon Rupp was retiring as Director of Studies in Theology at Fitzwilliam to give his full time to being Principal of Wesley House, succeeded by Basil Hall. Ron was therefore offered and accepted a Fellowship at Fitzwilliam, with the qualifying office of Director of Studies in Theology. He was also appointed as a Tutor. His academic work continued to develop with a stream of books and articles into the early 1980s, on the basis of which Cambridge awarded him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, its senior degree.
In 1983 Ron was elected to the Samuel Davidson Chair of Old Testament Studies at King’s College, London and therefore resigned his Cambridge posts. But he and Valerie continued to live in Coton and Ron commuted to London when necessary. Having been Foreign Secretary of the Society for Old Testament Study for ten years, 1973 to 1983, he was elected President for 1985. He took slightly early retirement from London in 1992. He was presented with a festschrift in 1999, appropriately named In Search of True Wisdom. Ron continued to write in retirement and was awarded the British Academy’s Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies in 2013, the third Fitzwilliam recipient after W.D. Davies (1964), and Graham Stanton (2006). He was loved by his students, and he loved them; he was as ready to teach a young person at church as a PhD student. As one scholar commented, ‘If you want to assess the value of Ron’s contribution to scholarship look not only at his own books, but at the number of times he is mentioned in the prefaces of books of other scholars.’ His mind remained alert and lively to the end, and he died peacefully in Easter week 2024 after a day out with family. His funeral in the parish church while it was pouring with rain was packed.
David M. Thompson also using material from Rex Mason and Professor Graham Davies
Ruth Morse, College Lecturer and Director of Studies in English at Fitzwilliam from 1985 to 1995, died in December 2023. Born on 1948 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ruth attended Newton High School and Lake Forest College in Illinois, before crossing the Atlantic in 1970 to join New Hall, now Murray Edwards College, as an Affiliated Student. After receiving a First in Part II English in 1972, Ruth began doctoral research on fifteenth-century Anglo-French literature, supported by a Le Bas Studentship. She was awarded the PhD in 1976.
For the rest of her life Ruth regarded Britain, and especially Cambridge, as her true home. Her PhD was followed by several limited-term academic appointments, including as Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds (1979–82), Research Fellow at the Humanities Research Centre in Canberra (1982–83), and Research Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge (1984–85). Then came her Lectureship and Fellowship at Fitzwilliam. Having spent a year as a Visiting Professor at L’Université Denis Diderot (Paris 7), Ruth was invited to apply for its Chair in Renaissance Literature, which she held from 1995 until her retirement in 2014.
Ruth had wide intellectual interests - her publications included works on Chaucer, Shakespeare, and postcolonial literature. Perhaps her best-known book was Truth and Convention in the Middle Ages: Rhetoric, Representation, and Reality (1991). She reviewed regularly for the Times Literary Supplement, and was for many years a judge for the Crime Writers’ Association ‘International Dagger’ award for the best work of crime fiction translated into English.
Ruth was a witty and generous hostess, a talented poet, a whip-sharp critic. She loved travel, and all things French. Sadly, in her last years she suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease. She is survived by her husband of more than five decades, Stefan Collini.
Hazel Mills
Peter Searby was born on 27 September 1930 in Liverpool, son of a Shipping Clerk. He attended Liverpool Institute High School and read Modern History at Liverpool University and qualified as a teacher. He was Head of History at a Liverpool Grammar School, 1955–59, moving to a similar post at Caludon Castle school, a new comprehensive in Coventry, subsequently becoming Senior Lecturer at the City of Coventry College of Education, 1962–68. He had begun work on a Ph.D. in Social History at Warwick University under E.P. Thompson. His move to Cambridge came in 1968, when he was appointed Lecturer in the Faculty of Education (History), retiring in 1990.
Peter was elected a Fellow of Fitzwilliam in 1982, on appointment as Director of Studies in Education; he was Tutor for Admissions (Arts), 1983–87 initiating a significant change in policy.
In 1987 he became Joint Director of Studies in History with Hazel Mills; and in 1990 he became Steward; in all a contribution to the College that went beyond that of many Fellows. Moreover he also represented the College as Proctor of the University in 1992–93, which involved membership of the Proctorial Syndicate, 1991–94. Peter finally retired from Fitzwilliam in 1994 and from 1994 he was a visiting professor at Greenwich University for two years. During this time he was completing what had been a ten-year project on the History of Cambridge University 1750–1870, (CUP, 1997) the third volume in the history and one of the most challenging to write because of the scale and variety of change experienced: what is not the legacy of the twentieth century today derives from the century before and socially it was more radical. He died in spring 2024, survived by his wife Norma, and three children.
David M. Thompson
1948
Edward James GARBETT
Gerald James SIDDALL
Ian TOMLINSON
1949
Robert Stephen LONG
1951
John Arnold BOOTH
John Stewart HOLMES
Stanley James HUTCHENCE
Peter Andrew MacDonald MAYES
1952
Harold BRANNICK
Peter DOBLE
Francis (Frank) Vernon MAY
Trevor Henry PAYNE
Alan Oxley SUTHERLAND
Raymond Davies THOMAS
1953
Jack Leslie Anthony DAVEY
Leonard Brian HEATH
Peter Wilfred HONEY
Michael Ellsworth HYDON
Alec Albert THOMPSON
David James Ferguson WARRINGTON
1954
David William Charles EDGINGTON
Norman Bernard HAZELDINE
Alan Geoffrey RYALL
Hassan SHAKIR-KHALIL
1955
Brian Harrison ARCHER
John BARRACLOUGH
Roger Mark Lewis BRACEY
John Michael WARWICK
Peter WHILES
1956
Arthur Leslie (Les) ANTROBUS
John Fillingham COOK
Frank Geoffrey HUNTER
Paul Robert ILES
Alwyn ROBERTS
Trevor Henry PAYNE
1957
Michael Paul TOOLAN
1958
William Thompson BROWN
John JOHANSEN-BERG
1959
David Baird FANSTONE
Ian Reid MCCALLUM
1960
Anthony James LOYNES
John Leslie TRUDGILL
1961
David Edward FRANKLIN
1962
Peter BROOKS
Ahmed Yousri Kamel Sayed OKASHA
James Morton Hunt PARKE
1963
Gerald Peter GRIFFITHS
Graham Edward JONES
1964
Kim Beachcroft JONES
1965
Frank Edgar Whitby EDMONDS
Roger Mark Alan FARROW
Evan Theodore KOCH
Norman Clifford John POPE
Paul Vincent Anthony WILLIAMS
1966
Neil Wilson JENNER
Malcolm Alistair CLARKE
Sidney John WOODCOCK
1967
Anthony Mervyn JORDEN
James Alan TICE
1968
Derek Charles BRICE
James William Aquila STRAWSON
Alan Stephen WORROW
1969
Patrick Lawrence CHAPMAN
Dalbert Peter CIANCHI
1970
Stephen James ALLCHIN
1971
William Anton Peter VEKIC
1972
Michael Ernest DEAN
Timothy John JONES
Adrian Peter TOLLETT
1973
Robert (Bob) Nigel BARLTROP
Brian Frederick OGSTON
Simon Roy OLDING
1974
Mark Bellwood TATUM
1979
Jonathan William Richard GROVE
1980
Sarah Lindsay BRUNTON
Deborah Jane HEY
1991
Helena Julia Maria MALHOMME DE LA ROCHE
1996
Anthony Grahame BARKER
Derek Norman CAKE
2006
Janet Margaret CORCORAN
Stephen Anthony OSBORN
President Dr Paul Chirico
Vice-Presidents
Geoff Harrison (1955)
Professor Brian Johnson FRS (ex officio)
Professor Robert Lethbridge (ex officio)
The Reverend Professor David Thompson
John Adams (1958)
Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE (1971)
Professor Nicola Padfield KC
Dr John Cleaver
Dame Sarah Asplin DBE (1979)
Baroness Sally Morgan (Master) (ex officio)
Zoë Shaw (1979)
Rachael Webb (1979)
Secretary Peter Howard (1970)
Treasurer
Editor of the Journal
Robin Bell (1965)
Dr Nicola Jones
Development Director (ex officio) Peter O’Connor
Bursar (ex officio)
Rod Cantrill
Acting Senior Tutor (ex officio) Dr Miles Stopher
Elected members
Retiring 2024
Peter Bates (1959)
Stjepan Mandic (2008)
Tim Sullivan (1976)
Retiring 2025
Andrew Garden (1981)
Judith Bunting (1979)
Retiring 2026
Maurits Houck (2018)
Matt Bennison (2008)
Dr Helen Bettinson (1982)
Co-opted member
Professor Glen Norcliffe (1962)
JCR Co-Presidents (ex officio) Aaron Lardi (2022) & Jayden Bafoa (2022)
Sarah Anderson (2020) & Philip Harper (2021)
MCR President (ex officio) Melissa Watt (2022)
Agne Kuraite (2021)
Honorary Independent Examiner Roger Smith (1967)
The Fitzwilliam Society was established in 1924. Most of the specific aims for which the Society was established, including keeping records of members, publishing the Journal and arranging reunions, were delegated to the Development Office at the College some years ago. The Committee therefore reviewed the role of the Society in 2011 to ensure that it is useful and productive for members, and to strengthen the links between alumni and students. The Society exists to keep the members of Fitzwilliam College in contact with each other and with the College, to promote social, business and career networking and support, and to further the interests of Fitzwilliam College.
To achieve these objectives, the Fitzwilliam Society works principally through the Development Office to:
• collaborate in the publication of the Fitzwilliam Journal
• fund Fitzwilliam Society awards, scholarships, prizes and debates
• provide grant funds to support other student activities – see below
• support the College in organising careers-related events.
For the last eight years the Society has been making small grants to assist a variety of student activities. Projects supported by grants made in the last two years include:
• Art supplies and equipment
• Creative supplies for Black Girls’ Blues
• Sports equipment for the Fitz Pump Society
• Launch of the Fitz Green Society
• Lighting in the bar
• Fitzwilliam Jewish Society
• Land Economy Society
• Updating the MCR Presidents’ commemorative board.
The Society operates through a Committee. The current members of the Committee are set out on the previous page, and we are always delighted to welcome new members. All members of the Society are eligible to stand for election to the Committee – please contact the Secretary through the Development Office if you are interested in doing so.
You can help students with career development by
• giving careers guidance to current students or recently graduated alumni at careers events organised by the College
• hosting a careers-themed event at your organisation
• telling the Development Office about any work experience or internship opportunities for students at your organisation
• making a gift to the Student Opportunities Fund which provides travel grants to students to help them undertake work experience placements.
Held in the Trust Room, Fitzwilliam College at 5.40pm on Saturday 23rd September 2023
The chair was taken by the President, Professor Glen Norcliffe (1962). Others present included Robin Bellis (1957), Dr Helen Bettinson (1982), Professor John Campbell (1958), Dr Paul Chirico (Senior Tutor), Peter Bates (1959), Judith Bunting (1979) Maurits Houck (2018), Peter Howard (1970) (Secretary), Dr Nicola Jones (Director of Communications and Engagement), Stjepan Mandic (2009), Baroness Sally Morgan (Master), Professor Nicola Padfield KC (Vice-President), Rosie Rice (2019), Rev. Professor David Thompson and Rachael Webb (1979) (Vice-President).
1 Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Sarah Anderson, Florin Badulescu, Robin Bell (Treasurer), Rod Cantrill (Bursar), Andrew Garden, Philip Harper, Geoff Harrison, Professor Robert Lethbridge (Vice-President), Zoë Shaw and Doug Webb.
2 Secretary’s Report
The report by the Secretary, which had been provided before the meeting, was approved. Judith Bunting mentioned that the London drinks in March had been well attended.
3 Treasurer’s Report and Accounts
The report by the Treasurer and the accounts, both of which had been provided before the meeting, were approved. The Treasurer drew attention to the increase to over £51,000 in the amount of the loan to the College.
4 Report on the Fitzwilliam Society Trust Fund
The report had been provided before the meeting. Dr Chirico reported that the first page of the report summarised the headings of the awards, which were unchanged, and the following pages listed the recipients. Responding to a question, the reason for the Taylor Scholarship for History not having been awarded yet was because the results had been delayed by the marking boycott. The boycott has now been lifted and marks should be awarded by 15 October. In reply to a suggestion that some of the awards should be increased. Dr Chirico said the awards are at a fixed rate and the rates were increased about 5 years ago; the surplus on the Society’s account could not be used directly to increase the Trust Fund awards.
5 Change to the Society’s Constitution
Notice of the proposed change, reducing the quorum for the General Meetings of the Society from 15 to 12, had been given to Society members before the meeting. The Secretary explained that the Committee had agreed to the change because numbers attending the AGM in several recent years had been between 16 and 20. The proposed change was agreed unanimously.
6 Election of Officers
Dr Paul Chirico was elected as President for 2023-24. Peter Howard, Robin Bell and Dr Nicola Jones were each re-elected for a further year as Secretary, Treasurer and Journal Editor respectively.
7 Election of Committee Members
Dr Helen Bettinson (1982) and Matt Bennison (2008) were each re-elected to the Committee for further 3 year terms, and Maurits Houck (2018) was elected to the Committee for an initial 3 year term.
8 Election of Independent Examiner
Roger Smith FCA was re-elected as the Independent Examiner for a further year.
8 Any other business
Professor John Campbell mentioned that he has been paying a membership subscription of £1 a year to the Society, and felt that processing payments of this size cannot be cost effective, The Secretary said he thought that most alumni had paid for life membership, and he would raise this with the Treasurer.
Dr Helen Bettinson proposed a vote of thanks to the President.
The meeting closed at 6.07 pm.
Minutes prepared by Peter Howard, Secretary, and approved and signed by the President, Professor Glen Norcliffe
