Autumn 2008 Newsletter

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Girton Development Newsletter of Girton College Cambridge

newsletter Autumn 2008


In this issue... Development Campaign Why your support matters: 21st Century Campaign priorities and fundraising news.

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Modern & Medieval Languages at Girton Dr Stuart Davies, Director of Studies in MML on teaching the subject today.

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Alumni Events A review of a busy programme of alumni activities in the UK and overseas, from Canada to China. Editor Francisca Malarée Design www.cantellday.co.uk Photography Girton photographer,

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Emma Cornwall, Andy Marsh, Nigel Stead, Stephen Bond Print Burlington Press Contact: Development Office Girton College

Interview: Rachel Lomax Girtonian and Honorary Fellow Rachel Lomax (1963), former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, talks to Samuel Venn.

FREEPOST ANG6880 Cambridge CB3 0YE

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+44 (0)1223 766672/338901 development@girton.cam.ac.uk www.girton.cam.ac.uk Copyright in editorial matter and this

College Sport An update on sports fundraising, including a new IV for GCBC

collection as a whole: Girton College Cambridge © 2008. Copyright in individual articles: © October 2008

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, without prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be issued to the public or circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Please see back page for forthcoming events


Message from the Mistress Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern FBA

We are delighted to announce that the College is receiving a major donation of £5 million towards its educational mission. The donation comes from an alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous. This magnificent gift is the largest Girton has received in recent times. Donated in response to the College’s second development campaign, as a gift to the College, it is also a gift to the University in its 800th Anniversary year. Some 10 years ago the single gift of two friends of the College enabled Girton to launch its crucial student bursary scheme; the donors also saw the need to support teaching. Today, a full half of the £5 million will be used to set up a Teaching Support Fund, also crucial in a college that employs many teaching officers. This fund will be used to match gifts from alumni and other sources for the long-term endowment of teaching posts. The other half, as Girton’s pioneering founders would have wanted, will be added to the College’s

endowment for general purposes to back up student services and facilities, among other activities. It is needed. The difference between public funds received from student fees, and necessary expenditure on Collegebased teaching is currently made up from investment, conference and fundraising income. The aim of the Teaching Support Fund is to endow teaching posts in subjects where College Teaching Officers are in demand, and thus to ensure that the supervision system at Girton, and for which Cambridge is internationally renowned, continues into the future. From its foundation, Girton has existed because of the thought and enthusiasm of individuals committed to education,

and the personal generosity of so many. The scale of this particular donation enables us, quite simply, to take a long view of our objectives. Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern FBA

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Development

College to receive milestone gift College is to receive a donation of £5 million, from an alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous. The pledge has been made as part of a campaign to raise more funds for College teaching. This magnificent gift signals that Girton has achieved £12 million of the £15 million target for its current campaign, which was publicly launched in 2006. This is a major milestone that will help us to realise long-term ambitions. The gift has been given in the spirit of encouragement: a sum large enough to start Girton down the road of building up reserves that will make a difference to financial planning, and large enough to really augment its capacity to identify priorities. The donor said he hoped the human benefits would be visible, and that it would inject a real stimulus into fundraising. £2.5 million of the gift will be added to the College’s endowment fund, to help secure the future financial stability of Girton. This will add to the funds College has for general purposes, which are already used to support teaching, student services and facilities, and to maintain buildings. The other £2.5 million will be the basis of a Teaching Support Fund. We hope

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to be able to use the Fund to match gifts from alumni and other sources for the long-term endowment of teaching provision in the College. The sum needed to fully endow the College’s teaching is near to a further £6 million, so within this donation is a challenge to match the donor’s generosity with other gifts. The Teaching Support Fund will match at a ratio of 1:1 gifts from alumni and friends in the College’s core subjects. It will be for the general support of teaching and, given our present needs, will be directed towards College Teaching Officer provision. The College’s core needs are in those subjects for which there is little personal teaching support provided by University departments, and where College Teaching Officers provide the bulk of

teaching. They include: Economics, English, History, Law, Mathematics and Modern and Medieval Languages (MML). The long-term aim is that all the posts in these subjects are endowed, with the Fund doubling any contributions to teaching (the subjects above being a priority). At present extra teaching provision is largely funded by College’s unrestricted income, which has been cut in recent times, and which has to fund many other services for students. We have already enjoyed success in fundraising for teaching, with an endowed post in Classics, thanks to the gift of John and Barbara Wrigley in 1997, and gifts of £400,000 from a number of donors to support Mathematics. At present Girton has an annual shortfall of between £500,000 and £1 million in its education account, the difference


Development

between the funds received from student fees and UK government, and the necessary expenditure on College-based teaching. In the last financial year for which audited accounts are available, the income from fees was £2 million, and education expenditure was £2.8 million. The shortfall is currently met from College’s endowment fund and conference and fundraising income. The aim of the Teaching Support Fund is to endow teaching posts to secure the funding for specific subjects, and thus to ensure that the supervision system, for which Cambridge is internationally renowned, continues into the future.

This is a spectacular gift, and it makes our targets realisable. The ultimate aim is to double the amount allocated to the provision of College teaching; but for this we need the support of alumni and friends. For more information on the matching scheme, please see the forms in this Newsletter, or contact the Development Office at College. Teaching Support Fund Core Targets: Selected Cases Economics and History: These subjects have no endowed funding, and require an endowment of £1.25 million each, or donations of £612,000 with matched funding from the Teaching Support Fund.

Modern and Medieval Languages (MML): This has a small endowed fund, but requires a further £1 million for full endowment, which now means £500,000 alongside matched funding. Mathematics: So far £700,000 has been raised; a further £550,000 is needed in contributions from other donors, which will be matched. Law: We benefit from an annual donation to fund the Lady Hale Fellowship, but at present there is no permanent endowment to support teaching in Law.

MML at Girton College Dr Stuart Davis is College Teaching Officer in Spanish and Newton Trust Lecturer in the University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese. His broad research interests are in contemporary Spanish literature and film, and he is currently lead Director of Studies for Modern and Medieval Languages at Girton. This is the first of a new series highlighting different teaching subjects. Arriving at Girton in 2003 to my first

appointed to a Pro-Vice Chancellorship in

full-time academic post, and as a

the University; Professor Sarah Kay, also a

newcomer to the Oxbridge system, I was

British Academy Fellow, took up a post at

immediately struck by the real sense of

Princeton in 2005. All three maintain Life

community in both the wider College

Fellowships at Girton.

and in MML as a discipline embedded in Girton. There was a palpable sense of

With the departure of these three

MML’s importance in College’s history,

longstanding University Teaching Officers,

physically represented by the sculpture

MML teaching at Girton now relies on a

for Alison Fairlie in Woodlands Court,

more piecemeal approach. While I teach

the plaques in the library and chapel,

modern Spanish and Latin American

and portraiture, such as the photograph

literature, film and culture, Dr Gabriele

of Ruth Morgan which I frequently pass

Natali is Senior Language Teaching

on ‘D’ corridor, not to mention of course

Officer in Italian in the University and

past Mistresses such as Kathleen Butler.

continues to publish poetry, his latest

When I arrived, the Fellows in MML were

collection Un sole in fuga dal rimpianto

the project and Bye-Fellow of the

a distinguished group, who were

appearing in 2005. In French, the College

College, is able to provide invaluable

understandably moving on to other

is lucky to have a connection with the

French literature teaching support whilst

experiences: Dr Gillian Jondorf, who

Arts and Humanities Research Council

the project runs until the end of the

became a Fellow in 1971, retired in

funded project ‘Poetic Knowledge in Late

current academic year. To supplement the

2004; Professor Melveena McKendrick,

Medieval France’ established by Sarah

teaching that Finn can offer, MML has

FBA, who had joined the College in 1967

Kay shortly before her departure; Dr

spearheaded an innovation in College

and retires this year, was swiftly

Fionnùala Sinclair, research associate with

aimed at supporting outstanding young

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Development

researchers whilst providing the CVenhancing teaching that will prove necessary for the next rung of the academic ladder: a ‘hybrid’ Teaching/Research Junior Research Fellowship. Running in addition to the usual broad Arts and Humanities JRF, we recently advertised and appointed specifically in French, and are enormously pleased to have secured Laura McMahon in the post, a promising academic in French cinema studies. Judith Drinkwater,

remains post A-level only. Across the four

provides money for an annual travel

who moved back to Cambridge

years of current students, all of these

award competition; successful applicants

following a Hispanist career, revitalised

languages are represented, with the

receive approximately £400 to fund an

her links with Girton where she had

exception of Greek. There are also, at the

intellectual project, which is written up in

studied and continues to help with

moment, two students combining

the language of the country visited.

Direction of Studies. With the invaluable

Modern with Classical languages – Latin

Recent awards have been made to

support of a lectrice, sent to us each year

or Ancient Greek – as well as three

students travelling to Germany, Spain,

by the École Normale Supérieure in

students from the Faculty of Asian and

Italy, Belarus and Guatemala.

Lyons, and by securing teaching through

Middle Eastern Studies combining Arabic

posts based at other colleges, MML

with French or Spanish. In addition,

The range of skills needed to succeed in

continues to evolve, and thrive, as a

Ukrainian and Catalan are available as

MML never fails to amaze me. Our

community within the College, hopefully

one year papers to any MML student,

students are not only excellent linguists,

continuing the work of previous

and there are also papers available on

but literary critics, historians, philologists,

generations of academics.

Occitan and Neo-Latin literature and

film analysts, translators and

culture. With such a range of possible

communicators. Whilst literature and

An important part of that community is

combinations, it is rare for two students

linguistics study remains a predominant

the students. Whilst at any one time

to follow an exact same course, so it is all

part of Tripos study, beyond the expected

MML will have two or three

the more remarkable that the MML

focus on language acquisition there has

postgraduates attached to the College,

community is so strong – undoubtedly

been in recent years an increase in the

Girton continues to have one of the

our natural linguistic desires to

number of offered Tripos papers that

larger undergraduate MML communities

communicate play an important factor!

focus more exclusively on intellectual thought (the new ‘Early Modern

amongst the Cambridge colleges. It admits between eight and ten new

Many students particularly enjoy the

Thought’ paper in French, for example),

students each year, as well as

chance to spend a year abroad during

on comparative approaches such as the

accommodating students combining

their third year, during which they

Part II paper ‘The Body’ where students

European and Oriental languages, in

engage in either university study, gainful

study representations of the corporeal

addition to the occasional adventurous

employment or a British Council teaching

across a variety of media and languages,

medic or vet who opts for languages

placement, for a minimum of eight

and on film, such as ‘Modern German

during their third year! During the first

months (although in practice many

Cultures of Performance’, a brand new

two years – parts 1A and 1B – Tripos

spend at least a year overseas). Whilst

paper this year. To support this the

candidates must study two languages

away, they maintain contact with

College Library has recently invested

from the following, listed here in order

Cambridge via a supervised dissertation-

heavily in stocking a large number of set

of current ‘popularity’: French, Spanish,

length project. Other opportunities to

films on DVD, all available for borrowing

German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese,

travel also exist, with the University

in the same manner as textual media. It’s

Dutch and Modern Greek. All of these

offering financial support for attendance

not unusual to move one week to the

are available both post A-level and ab

on language courses overseas during Part

next from Cervantes to Almodóvar, or

initio with the exception of French which

1. In Girton, the Ruth Morgan Fund

from Pascal to Godard.

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Development

The Development Office This year Girton’s Development team has some new faces. As we have a fifth of our alumni making donations every year, we have made some changes to the structure of the Development Office to ensure better communication with alumni and donors. We were sorry that Sam Bowie (1999)

College and will be responsible for

for Cambridge Student Community

left in October 2007 to take up the

running the telethon next year, and

Action. She is responsible for

new challenge of a post at University

managing the Friends’ Groups.

accurate recording and administration

College London’s Development Office,

of donations on our database,

having had a number of roles at Girton,

Linda Scott joined us as Development

and has been a chartered public

latterly Development Officer. We wish

Administrator in May, having been

finance accountant for a number

him all the best for the future.

co-ordinator of Finance and Resources

of years.

Samuel Venn has joined Girton as Deputy Development Director. As well as deputising for the Development Director, his role is to meet alumni on a face-to-face basis and manage discrete fundraising projects. Sam is a graduate of Durham University, prior to joining Girton he was Development Officer at Trinity Hall, and Development Officer at Christ’s College. Verity Moore is our new Annual Fund Andy Marsh

Officer and has joined us from Cambridge Consultants, where she worked in the communications department. She brings with her expertise in public relations, as well as experience from having worked in Newnham College’s Development Office. She is a graduate of Jesus

The Development Team. Back row from left to right: Margaret Nicholson, Sarah Westwood (Research and Database Officers), Samuel Venn (Deputy Development Director). Front row: Verity Moore (Annual Fund Officer), Francisca Malarée (Development Director), Linda Scott (Development Administrator), Emma Cornwall (Alumni Officer).

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Development

Girton: The Financial Story

The College is funded by a mixture of public and private resources. As at 30th June 2007, the College’s net assets (total wealth) was £94 million, broken down as seen in the table below. Thanks to investment gains and donations, net assets increased by 5.6% in the last financial year ending June 2007, which runs from 1 July to 30 June. Assets

£

Buildings, furniture and fittings

£46 million

Investment capital (also known as endowment)

£45 million

Working capital

£3 million

Total

£94 million

Income and expenditure: The College’s fee income is constrained by public policy; students are charged economic rates, and conference prices include an element of profit, but conference income is constrained by term dates and College activities, which take priority. The expenditure table includes depreciation of the College’s buildings, of £1 million, which means the College runs an operating deficit in most years. Income source

2006/7

2005/6

Fees (constrained by government)

£2 million

£2 million

Student and conference income (rents, catering, rooms)

£3.2 million

£3.3 million

Investment income (including income from donations/endowment)

£2.4 million

£2.3 million

Profit on sale of properties Total

£0.7 million £7.6 million

£8.3 million

Expenditure Type of expenditure

2006/7

2005/6

Education

£2.8 million

£2.6 million

Residence, catering (conference and student)

£5.3 million

£5 million

Total

£8.1 million

£7.6 million

The College’s endowment – its investment capital, as shown in the table above – is used to support the deficit College faces on its education account supporting ‘core’ functions, such as teaching posts, learning, research Fellowships and research expenses, as well as scholarships, bursaries, and prizes. Plugging this funding gap costs between £700,000 and £1 million per year. In addition to this, there are deficits on residence as the college receives no state funding to maintain or improve its historic buildings, which makes alumni support for improvements critical.

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Is Girton rich or poor? The College’s endowment of £45 million makes it about the 15th largest in Cambridge University. The mean size of endowment is about £80 million, but only seven of the 31 Colleges in the University have endowments larger than that. For the size of its operation, College needs an endowment fund closer to £100 million. It is most encouraging that thanks to alumni donations, and good management of the funds, the endowment has grown considerably; the increase last year was £5.1 million. Girton is stretched by educating more students than the (mean) average in Cambridge, and depends on a less than average-sized endowment to do this, therefore it has a lower than average endowment per capita. Arguably, Girton bears a disproportionate share of the cost of Collegiate Cambridge, as it directly employs many teaching officers rather than relying more on Universityfunded posts. This is common to some other Colleges, and indeed the comparison can also be made internationally.


Development

Cambridge (Colleges and University combined) has an endowment of approximately £3 billion, whereas Yale and Harvard, institutions with which it directly competes, have endowments of £8.5 billion and £14 billion respectively. In terms of per capita endowment, Harvard has £600,000 for each student, whereas Cambridge has £150,000. To remain at the forefront of education, Cambridge and its Colleges have no option but to raise funds. Alumni and friends continue to support Girton, just as they have done from the earliest days of the College. In fact such

support is the key to our ambitions to expand the funded base for teaching, learning and research which previous donors have initiated. College is fully behind fulfilling its original access mission by enabling Girton to give better academic and financial support to students. Donations also enable us to narrow the gap between Girton’s per capita endowment and that of other colleges. The gift that will add £5 million to its endowment base and teaching provision is a start on the path to financial sustainability, and with your help, the College will continue to prosper.

Projects Update The Tower Wing The refurbishment of most of the students rooms in the Tower Wing is now finished, thanks to the support of alumni and friends of the College. Most works were completed in the long vacation. Many of the bedrooms at the front of the College now have basins, and all bathrooms, kitchens and corridors have been rewired, redecorated and refurbished. There is still some work to be undertaken on the ground floor, in particular to the historic public rooms such as the Stanley Library and Reception Room, which have to be sensitively restored.

The Sports Pavilion The fundraising for the new Pavilion building has nearly reached the halfway stage, with near to £400,000 being pledged and donated for the new building. This year, we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the first ‘old boys’ rugby match on 29 November 2008, and it will be the first old boys match to take place on the redeveloped and full-size rugby ground.

There will also be a Sports Dinner taking place at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London on 8 May 2009, to highlight the fundraising campaign for the Pavilion.

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Alumni Events

A Canadian Idyll but not idle I have always loved Canada and its inhabitants. So it was with great pleasure that earlier this year I received am invitation to visit my “kid sister” (now in her mid 70s but still playing both tennis and golf) at her house, which runs down to the River Rideau in Manotick on the outskirts of Ottawa. It should be understood that my sister has certain rather fixed views which include “Visitors are like fish - after three days they start to smell and must be removed”, so I realised that I really needed an extra excuse for polluting the air with aeroplane generated carbon dioxide, and arranged with the Girton Development Office to base a tour of my beloved Canada on visits to my old students from Girton (and Downing) coupled with a lecture on the history of the Boat Race. I fondly saw it

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as three weeks, tripping gently round a little country on the other side of ‘the Pond’ with genial company at intervals along the way. An idyll (a pastoral or sentimental scene – s.o.e.d.) it certainly was, though certainly not idle, because it involved journeys of over 5000 miles by air, land and water between touching down in Vancouver Island and departing from Toronto Airport for my hop back to Cambridge – but in the event, a wonderful three weeks. I only hope that the people that I visited viewed it similarly. Certainly they were polite enough not to tell me otherwise. My first stop was in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to visit one of my Downing medical students from the mid 1950’s, a chap who arrived fresh from

convalescent home, having been injured as a commando during the Suez debacle. The commandos had taught him the art of a ‘good life’, but not how to concentrate on academia and he had a little trouble persuading the examiners that he was worthy of progressing to the clinical course. A stay over some weeks in our home helped matters somewhat and produced a life-long friendship. I touched down to have a quiet few days recovering from the jet lag and perhaps enjoying some salmon fishing (I still have a photo at home of the salmon I caught during my previous visit to him – all of six inches long!) Much to my annoyance it was not to be. He had booked a trip up to his daughter in Smithers some 400 miles north in British Columbia. His daughter, Sarah who had also stayed with us during her


Alumni Events

student days, reading law, had recently started up a legal practice in this developing outpost, with her partner and they thought that I would love to see the North-West territory. Despite my initial annoyance at having my plans changed, ‘love it’ I did and would not in retrospect have missed it for anything. Smithers (some 700 miles north of Vancouver) is a rapidly growing township surrounded on three sides by the Rockies, and the five law partnerships cover an area of 450 miles by 350 miles and everything from conveyancing to defending in murder cases. It is nothing for them to have to travel over 200 miles each way to deal with a case. They took me around the area. A forest wilderness, with bald eagles flying overhead, refreshments in ‘wild west’ saloons, ancient paddle steamers that took the original settlers into the area (Old Hazelton), long houses and totem poles (K’san village), railways with long trains with their ghostly “whaa whaa” warnings and ravines with racing torrents from thawing snow, even in late May (Moricetown canyon).

The North-West territory bordering on the Yukon is wonderful to visit but I would hate to settle there. No University library! And so, after four glorious days back by plane to civilisation in Vancouver, where I was met by Cicely Bryce (Ford, 1976) who took me over on the car ferry to the lovely little Bowen Island in Vancouver Bay, where they have a holiday home looking down over the trees and sea. Cicely is now not only running a cancer programme, but bringing up a charming family of teenagers (yes such paragons of virtue do exist!). Cicely had offered to host a buffet reception for Vancouver Girtonians at Sunday lunchtime, a small but delightful gathering. Medics predominated, for in addition to Cicely, Jane Hailey (1981) and Karen Kruse (1974) had also settled in Vancouver and came with their partners. I only hope that the non-medics who included Marian Coope (Robinson, 1953), Judith Fairwood (Wood/Fairbrother, 1959) and Alan Lund (1984) did not feel too isolated

from the conversation. A delightful gathering in lovely surroundings, for which I want to thank Cicely. Then back to Vancouver and on the Tuesday the short flight (a mere 600 miles) over the Rockies to Calgary. There, over a two-day stop I met up with two Girtonians, though my friendship with the first of these Susan Chivers (Campbell-Ferguson, 1961) dates well before Girton times. Not only was she the daughter of my GP when I first came to Cambridge, but (aged 5) she was very briefly (fortunately for her sake) my patient. I cannot say that she has not changed since I first met her, as I can say about many of those I saw on this trip, but she was as delightful as I have found her on all the occasions that our paths crossed in Girton over the intervening years. The following day it was a more recent friend, Gwyn Bebb (1980), who has been a regular visitor back to College, for he has commuted back to play in the annual Old Boys rugger match, most years since he left. After leaving Girton, where he read Nat. Sci. (and sport) he changed to medicine

Left to right: Dr John Marks, Mrs Dara Robinson (Beard, 1975), Dr Janet Payne (Williams, 1972), Mrs Marilyn Macre, Mrs Katharine Rapoport (McLellan, 1971)

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Alumni Events

babe in arms, who does not look a bit like me, apart from a lack of hair.

Left to right: Mrs Diana Burnett (Hargreaves, 1957), Dr Anne Thackray (1970), Mrs Clare Orchard (Brind, 1983)

Left to right: Mrs Dara Robinson (Beard, 1975), Dr Janet Payne (Williams, 1972), Mrs Marilyn Macre, Mrs Katharine Rapoport (McLellan, 1971) and like two of the three Girton medics in Vancouver is now involved in cancer treatment. A short stop, but one that I would not have missed. Then, the longest hop of the trip apart from those across the pond, the 2100 mile journey to Ottawa. There, I was not only going to spend some time with my sister but give a lunchtime talk about the history of my favourite topic (the Boat Race) to the Cambridge Society of Ottawa and meet up with Donald Ramsay (St Catharines, 1941), who was at school with me and his wife Marjorie (Findlay, 1944). Donald is that exceptionally rare breed, a rowing (wartime) ‘blue’ who became an FRS. Donald was in great form, still working

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and writing papers. Sadly Donald has died suddenly since my visit. After a delightful week in the Ottawa area, where I not only really got to know my sister for the first time in our lives (we were separated first by an age gap and then the North Atlantic), but had the pleasure of a trip on that remarkable man-developed waterway, the Rideau Canal, I was taken by car to Toronto. My first day was spent meeting the Canadian members of the family including not only nephews and nieces but great nephews and nieces, which was great fun since the age range stretched from a graduand, the prime reason for the gathering, to a charming

And so to my last Girton gathering of the trip in the Albany Club in downtown Toronto. I am very grateful to Mrs Dara Robinson (Beard, 1975) for suggesting this venue, a lovely Victorian wood panelled club around which we were given a guided tour by Lindsay Shaddy (1975), and with helping with the organisation. Some 12 old Girtonians (including Mrs Janet Payne (Williams 1972), Mrs Diana Burnett (Hargreaves 1957), Mrs Katharine Rapoport (McLellan, 1971) and Mrs Clare Orchard (Brind 1983), attended and I hope enjoyed the gathering at which I tried to assure those who were up in the time before co-educational Girton, that the men had not totally destroyed either the fabric or the ethos of the College. It had the same wonderful community feel as it had when the then women Fellows welcomed me in as the first male Fellow. Did I succeed? To judge from some of the kind letters that I have received since my return, I did. So have I any regrets about the visit? Yes one. That in those previous years in Girton and after I retired, when I jetted round the world so much, I did not make the time, during those trips to make visits to other Girton Alumni gatherings. I have no doubt that had I made the time, I should have enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed this one. My thanks to all of you that I met this trip. John Marks Life Fellow


thank you for your support

Donation Form Gifts from the UK All UK gifts, whatever the payment method, are tax-efficient. Tax can be reclaimed by the College, increasing the value of your gift by nearly a third – for example a gift of £20 increases to £25.60. A gift of £10 per month over three years will be worth £461 once College has reclaimed the tax. This applies to all gifts made by cash, cheque, credit and debit card, and all gifts in installments, such as standing orders.

Regular Gifts

Income Tax relief applies to gifts of quoted shares and certain other investments by individuals and companies, whether resident in the UK or not. This is in addition to the relief from Capital Gains Tax. • The amount the donor can deduct is the market value of the shares or securities at the date of transfer plus any incidental cost of disposing of the shares. • Donors can claim tax relief at the top rate of tax on their Self Assessment or Corporation Tax return. Which shares and securities qualify?

It is possible to donate by standing order by completing the form attached. If you prefer, you can also set up a direct debit online by visiting: www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development/giving

• Those listed or dealt in on a recognised stock exchange, whether in the UK or elsewhere, including shares traded on the Alternative Investment Market.

One-off Gifts

• Units in an authorised unit trust.

These can be made by cheque payable to ‘Girton College’, by bank transfer, or by credit or debit card. We accept all credit cards (except for American Express) and all debit cards. We also accept CAF Vouchers (payable to ‘Girton College’). Please complete the attached form or visit our website, which has a secure online payment facility, at www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development

Giving Shares Donations of shares and investments have become one of the most tax-efficient ways of giving.

• Shares in a UK open-ended investment company; and • Holdings in certain foreign collective investment schemes (offshore funds). How do I donate stocks and shares to Girton? Please contact the Development Director on development@girton.cam.ac.uk or on +44 (0)1223 339893, who will ask the College’s brokers to send you the relevant forms to transfer stocks.

Worked examples CASH GIFT

Cash Gift

Donor

Girton College

Donor

Girton College

£500

£500

£50,000

£50,000

Basic Rate reclaim (20%) Higher Rate reclaim (20%)

£125 (£125)

Transitional Relief (2%) Cost / Benefit

£12,500 (£12,500)

£16 £375

£641

£1,603 £37,500

£64,103

A GIFT OF QUOTED SHARES Donor

Girton College

Gift of Shares*

£50,000

£50,000

Income tax relief (40%)

(£20,000)

CGT saving (40% of gain)

(£16,000)

Cost / Benefit

£14,000

£50,000

*Shares example presumes a taxable income of £100,000+, and that the shares were originally purchased for £10,000 and the donor’s annual CGT relief had been utilised elsewhere.


thank you for your support

Gifts from Europe If you are resident and paying tax in Belgium, the Netherlands, France or Germany, it is possible for you to make a gift to the College tax-efficiently through Transnational Giving in Europe. You should stipulate that your gift is for Girton College and contact the relevant organisation in your country. There will be a 5% commission on gifts then transferred to Girton, but this method allows you to use tax relief in your country on charitable giving. It is of course possible to send funds directly to Girton by other methods such as a cheque or credit card, but no tax-relief will apply. Contacts if you are donating from Belgium, France, Germany, or the Netherlands. If you pay tax in any other European country except the UK, no tax-efficient vehicle for giving currently exists. King Baudouin Foundation

Oranje Fonds

rue Brederodestraat 21

J.F. Kennedylaan 101

1000 Brussels, Belgium

81 CB Bunnik, The Netherlands

Tel: +32-2-549 02 31

Tel. : +31-30-656 45 24

Fax : +32-2-549 02 89

Fax : +31-30-656 22 04

E-mail : tge@kbs-frb.be

E-mail : info@oranjefonds.nl

Maecenata International e.v.

Fondation de France

c/o Maecenata Management GmbH

40 Avenue Hoche

Barer Straße 44

75008 Paris, France

D- 80799 München, Germany

Tel. : +33-1-44 21 31 90

Tel.: +49-89-28 44 52

Fax : +33-1-44 21 31 54

Fax: +49-89-28 37 74

E-mail : fondation@fdf.org

E-mail: mint@maecenata-management.de

Gifts from the USA You can give tax-efficiently through Cambridge in America, Cambridge University’s 501(c)(3) in the USA, stipulating that you would like to support Girton College. The contact details are as follows: Cambridge in America PO Box 9123 JAF BLG New York, NY 10087-9123 www.cantab.org If you require more information, do email us on development@girton.cam.ac.uk and we can send you a Cambridge in America giving form.

Gifts from Canada Canadian donors can also donate and claim tax-relief on their gift. If you make a donation to the College we can request an official receipt from the University, which is recognised as a charitable institution by Revenue Canada.

Leaving a Legacy Leaving a bequest to a charitable institution can make a huge difference, and has tax advantages for your estate within the UK. If you require more information, or a legacy brochure, please contact us at the Development Office, email: development@girton.cam.ac.uk


thank you for your support

DONATION FORM Please complete and return to the Development Office FREEPOST ANG6880 Cambridge CB3 0YE. If you are a taxpayer, please complete the Gift Aid declaration below, as we can now reclaim tax at the basic rate on your donation. Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Home address: _________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode: _______________________________ Telephone: ___________________________________________ Email: __________________________________

Gift Aid declaration Please treat all donations I have made in this tax year, and in the previous six tax years, and all donations I make from the date of this declaration, as Gift Aid donations, until I notify you otherwise. I understand that I must pay an amount of UK Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the tax that Girton reclaims on my donations in each tax year. Signed: ______________________________________________ Date: ________________________________ I wish to donate to: 21st Century Fund (Unrestricted Funding)

Sports Pitches and Pavilion

Choir Endowment Fund

Teaching Fellowship Fund*

Boat Club Millennium Fund

Childcare Bursaries

Postgraduate Endowment

Tower Wing Refurbishment

*If you would like to support a priority subject, please tick box below: Priority subjects:

Economics

English

History

Law

Mathematics

Modern and Medieval Languages.

Gifts to Teaching Fellowships will be matched with a 1:1 ratio (excluding the Gift Aid element)

Other fund not listed here: ______________________________________________________________________ If you would like your details passed on to the University Development Office to make a donation, please tick this box.

One-off gift I enclose a cheque (made payable to Girton College)

I wish to donate by credit / debit card

I enclose a CAF Voucher (made payable to Girton College) Card type (e.g. Visa): ___________________________________________________________________________ Please debit the sum of £ ___________________________________ from my account. Number: __________________________________

Card Security Number (on reverse of card): ____________

Valid from: _____________________ Expires: ______________________ Maestro Issue No: _______________

Regular gift To the manager, ___________________________________________________________________________ Bank Bank address: __________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode: _______________________________ Bank account number: _________________________________ Sort code: ______________________________ Please pay the

monthly

quarterly

annual sum of £ ______________ commencing on _____________

and ending on _______________ to Girton College, Cambridge, Account No. 40207322 at Barclays Bank plc, Bene’t Street, Cambridge CB3 3PZ (Sort Code 20-17-19) Signed: ______________________________________________ Date: __________________________________ PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THIS FORM TO YOUR BANK Donors to the Development Campaign will be listed in the College Annual Review. If you do not wish your name to appear, please tick this box.

If you have any queries, please contact us on +44 (0)1223 766672 or (0)1223 338901, email development@girton.cam.ac.uk, or visit our web site www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development


thank you for your support

Please complete and return to: Development Office FREEPOST ANG6880 Cambridge CB3 0YE UK Please use a stamp if posting from outside the UK

Tel: +44 (0)1223 766672 or (0)1223 338901 Email: development@girton.cam.ac.uk

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development

Girton College Cambridge


Alumni Events

Alumni Events 2007 / 08 The alumni events calendar continues to grow and record numbers of Girtonians were welcomed at various Collegeorganised occasions. 2007 began with the annual Geographical Society Dinner in February which brings current geography students, Fellows and past geographers together for a convivial evening. After dinner Mr Jon Pike (1983) spoke enthusiastically about his time at Girton, his experiences on field trips and the influence these had on his working life. As in the previous year proceeds from the evening and a raffle held afterwards went to the Dr Jean Grove Memorial Fund, which is a fund set up to assist with undergraduate dissertation costs. At the end of March 2007 the College hosted dinners for those who had returned to collect their MA degree that year and for those who matriculated 10 years ago in 1997. The 10 year reunion was presided over by the Vice-Mistress Dr Julia Riley. Dr Riley welcomed back the alumni and their guests and informed the attendees of the College’s progress in recent years. As the academic year drew to a close a number of alumni attended the termly Alumni Formal Hall, this popular occasion gives Girtonians a chance not only to relive their student days but is also an opportunity to bring friends, partners and relatives to the College to show them what it was like to dine in Hall. The Alumni Formal Halls are advertised via email, please contact the Alumni Office to ensure we have your latest e-mail address. Alumni may attend Formal Halls on other dates, once again please contact the Alumni Office for more information. In the summer Senior Life Fellow Dr John Marks met a number of our

Canadian alumni on an extended visit to Canada (see page 10). A few weeks after Dr Marks returned to the UK, he presided over the 20 and 25 year reunion dinner for those who matriculated in 1982 and 1987. Once again alumni travelled from near and far to attend this celebration. There was much reminiscing and story telling and guests were delighted to hear Dr Marks speak about the College and the changes since they were in Cambridge. 2008 started off as busy as 2007. The February Geographical Society Dinner was as well attended as previous years

and has now become an established part of the College’s reunion programme. The MA Dinner, held this year in March, continues to grow in popularity, and is becoming a much anticipated evening. April saw two ‘firsts’: the first 15 year reunion dinner for those who matriculated in 1993, which was held together with our regular 10 year reunion (for those who matriculated in 1998), and the first Medical Reunion Dinner. The Medical Reunion Dinner, presided over by Dr John Marks, was attended by over 200 current and former medical students, Fellows and their guests.

The coming year’s calendar of events promises to be every bit as busy, particularly with the University commemorating its 800th anniversary in 2009 and Girton celebrating not only her 140th anniversary but also 30 years since the admission of male undergraduates. More information about the College’s programme of events can be found on our website, www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni-roll, and information about the 800th celebrations can be found on the University’s website, www.800.cam.ac.uk.

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Girton Newsletter 13


Alumni Events

A good friend remembers what we were, knows who we are and sees what we can be… Girton has the well-earned reputation of being a friendly College. It is sometimes said that a good friend remembers what we were, knows who we are and sees what we can be. The support of friends is integral to the success of Girton, so the College has established a number of Friends Groups to ensure that a variety of important veins of college life, which may have played important roles in your life when you were here, are supported and safeguarded into the future. We also hope that such groups will encourage people to come into the fold and become part of the College’s extended family – you don’t have to be alumni to be a Friend.

Library, Friends of the People’s Portraits and The Infidel Boat Club.

You can subscribe to these groups at one of two levels, namely as a Friend or as a Patron, and, amongst other things, you will be invited to events. Theses groups include the Friends of Girton College Chapel, Friends of Girton College Choir, Friends of Girton College Gardens, Friends of Girton College

An outstanding College needs exceptional supporters and we continue to be impressed by the interest and generosity provided by the Friends Groups of Girton College, and hope that you too will consider becoming a supporter. If you decide that you would like to subscribe to one or more of the groups or to renew

your subscription before 2009, your membership will include the remainder of this year and 2009. If you are interested in finding out more about the Friends Groups, please contact development@girton.cam.ac.uk and we can send a copy of our new brochure to you, or visit www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumniroll/friends-girton

Friends of the Library Annual Event

Detail from the Book of Hours

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This year’s Friends of the Library Annual Event, held on 12th July 2008, was a great success with Old Hall packed with Friends and Patrons of Girton College Library and Members of the Roll. All had attended to hear Sheila Mann talk about her work in the fascinating archives of Aelfrida Tillyard. Aelfrida, a novelist and mystic born in 1883, left her intriguing diaries and papers to the College, where both her daughters came to study. The audience was captivated by stories of Aelfrida’s complex life, which seemed to be punctured with tragedies. The display

of some of Aelfrida’s work at the end of the talk also created much interest and discussion. The Library and Duke Building were also open for most of the day, with Girton’s exquisite Book of Hours on display for the first time. Visitors donned white gloves and were allowed to look through this beautifully illuminated manuscript (15th Century Flemish), which until recently was housed at the University Library, and is a real treasure to behold.


Alumni Events

The Lawrence Room opening celebrations The refurbishment of Girton College’s very own small museum, the Lawrence Room, has now been finished. A celebratory reception opened the new display on Sunday, 13th July 2008 with over 130 supporters in attendance, keenly anticipating a tour of the room. The refurbishment highlights the ways in which the collection has grown in the years since the foundation of the College. The completion of this significant project means that the College’s wide range of important artefacts and antiquities are now on show in their full glory, in state-of-the-art display cases, and with full-supporting information. The Lawrence Room is home to three major collections, namely Anglo-Saxon, Egyptian and Mediterranean, which include significant, and in some cases unique pieces such as Hermione Grammatike, a named portrait mummy from the Fayum. The College has acquired many of these interesting exhibits from its benefactors and supporters. However, the Anglo-Saxon material came from a cemetery excavated on the College site in 1881.

on the Girton site has returned to the College from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where it has been held on loan since its discovery. Many Girtonians and outside experts have given generously of their time and skill in aiding this significant undertaking, and Girton hopes that the Lawrence Room will prove to be an outstanding resource for teaching and research in years to come. Currently, access to the Lawrence Room is by appointment only (please give at least 24 hours notice). If you are interested in seeing the room, please contact the Lawrence Room Committee at lawrenceroom@girton.cam.ac.uk.

2008 This year’s Donors’ Dinner was a little special, for not only did we fill the Hall’s capacity with well over 200 guests, but it was also the final Donors’ Dinner hosted by our current Mistress, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern – in 2009 the Donors’ Dinner will be replaced by a special 800th Anniversary Dinner. Please see events on the back page for details. The level of noise in the hall is always considered to be an accurate measure of the success of an evening, and as there was a constant low roar, which only abated during the Mistress’s speech, it might be deduced that everyone was having a jolly good time. New friendships were made and some old friendships were rekindled, which was lovely to behold.

A key part of this project has been the development of a complete, illustrated electronic catalogue of the collections, which will eventually be available on the web. The refurbishment will help to preserve the Lawrence Room’s collections for the benefit of future generations, and its reorganisation and electronic catalogue will enhance access for teaching and research. The Lawrence Room appeal was launched in 2007 to raise funds for the housing, conservation, cataloguing and display of these collections. Generous donations have enabled the acquisition of new display cabinets and, as a consequence, some of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman material from the 1881 dig

8th Annual Donors’ Dinner

Hermione, Girton’s 1st Century AD portrait mummy

There was a particularly good turn-out of donors who had supported the Lawrence Room refurbishment, many of which were eagerly awaiting the opening celebrations of the Lawrence Room the next day. The winner of the Lawrence Room Appeal Florrie Plate prize draw was announced by the Mistress, with Cicely Kerr (née Fillmore, 1945) being presented with the plate.

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Alumni Events

2007 People’s Portraits Reception In September 2007, a new portrait was added to the People’s Portraits Collection at Girton College. At the reception, we were delighted that the Director of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), Mr Sandy Nairne, spoke and unveiled the new portrait. Mr Nairne has been the Director of the NPG since 2002, and prior to this held posts at the Tate Galleries and was Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The new addition is entitled John McWilliam, and is by Benjamin Sullivan RP. Benjamin Sullivan graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art in 2000 with a BA (Hons) degree in painting. Whilst there, he was awarded the Andrew Grant Memorial Travel Scholarship (Edinburgh College of Art) and the John Kinross scholarship to Florence by the Royal Scottish Academy. Benjamin has received a considerable number of prizes and awards, including the Purvis Prize for Painting and the

Painter-Stainers' prize, among others. His works have been exhibited at BP Portrait Award exhibitions, the Royal Academy, and the RP’s summer exhibition. He is the youngest artist to be elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

John McWilliam, by Benjamin Sullivan RP

NEWSFLASH: A special opportunity has now arisen for the chance to bid in an auction for a portrait commission by Andrew Festing. Please visit www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni-roll/friends-girton/peoples-portraits-auction-2008 for further information.

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Autumn 2008

In 2007, the College’s May Week Concert took an unusual form. Billed as 'Music for a Summer's Evening', the concert took place outside in the College grounds, on the croquet lawn, instead of in the Hall. Our thanks to Dr Martin Ennis, the Director of Music, and the College musicians involved. We are also grateful to current student Richard Sands (Engineering 2005), who devised the programme, and the sponsors, Taylor Vinters Solicitors. The programme was designed to cater for most musical tastes, and guests enjoyed Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, extracts from Bizet's Carmen and Verdi's La Traviata, Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs, and music from the Jurassic Park sound-track.

Left to right: Dr Alistair Reid, President of the Friends of People’s Portraits, speaks at the reception, the Mistress, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern and the Curator, Ms Frances Gandy, look on.

16 Girton Newsletter

May Week Concert 2007

The outdoor setting was only made possible by the generous sponsorship of Cambridge firm Taylor Vinters Solicitors, see www.taylorvinters.com


Alumni Events

US Alumni Events The Mistress of Girton, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern FBA, was honoured with a dedicated panel at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Washington DC in December 2007.

The Mistress then visited New York, and we are grateful to HE Karen Pierce (1978), the Ambassador and Deputy Permanent representative of HM Government to the United Nations, for hosting a wonderful dinner there for our alumni and supporters, complete with piano accompaniment. As well as speaking about recent developments at college, there was a lively after-dinner debate on contrasting educational trends in the USA and the UK. Furthering our academic links, in the Lent term this year, US-based Girtonian Dr Sylvia Hewlett (1964), President of the Center for Work-Life policy, and director of the Gender and Policy Program at Colombia University was a Visiting Fellow at Girton. While here she continued her research into the growth of extreme jobs, a global phenomenon.

The Mistress with Ms Anne Fosty (1970), in New York The Stribling Award, which was established thanks to the generous gift of Mrs Elizabeth Stribling (Robinson 1966), was awarded to a talented Girton graduate to enable him to continue his PhD studies at College. Thanks to a generous gift from another Girtonian and Cambridge in America Board member, Dr Ruth Whaley (1974), the College has also established the Ruth Whaley Scholarship from 2008. The scholarship aims to foster further understanding and communication between the USA and the United Kingdom, by assisting students of merit holding US citizenship to undertake studies in an Arts subject at Girton either as affiliated students or as graduate students. We are delighted that we are soon to launch a new award named after a US academic, Diane Mary Chase Worzala

Dan Owen

After this engagement, the Mistress was delighted to meet Girtonians in DC at a reception at the Cosmos Club, hosted by Professor Angela Stent (1966), a Cosmos Club member and Director of the Center for Eurasian,Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University. Our thanks to Professor Stent, and also to Ms Cynthia Walker (1967), who hosted a networking lunch in DC last year, and coordinated efforts on both sides of the Atlantic with Professor Stent to make the Cosmos club event run smoothly. The Mistress spoke to 35 Girtonians and their guests about College’s development projects, from the tripleaward winning Duke Building to the current campaign for the sustainable funding of teaching, within the University’s 800th Anniversary campaign.

The Mistress speaking at the Cosmos Club, Washington DC (1934 – 2007), and generously supported by her friends and family. Diane Worzala used the Girton Archive extensively for her research into the Langham Place Group, a 19th Century early feminist group instrumental in fighting for women’s working rights. Diane’s family and friends are

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Girton Newsletter 17


Alumni Events

establishing an endowment fund in her memory so that students wishing to use the Archive for research can receive a grant to travel to the UK from the US or elsewhere to make use of our collections.

Strathern, will be visiting the USA in June next year, and we are in the process of finalising arrangements for her visit. She will be going to New York and Boston, and hopes to be able to host an event in San Francisco as well.

We are currently planning a number of events for the University’s 800th Anniversary Campaign in 2009, which is also the College’s 140th anniversary. The Mistress, Professor Dame Marilyn

All alumni, including those in the US are welcome to attend any of the anniversary events taking place in the UK if they are making plans to visit. For more information, please see the back

page of the Newsletter, or go to www.girton.cam.ac.uk/anniversary We hope all these initiatives will contribute to strengthening our educational and alumni links with the USA, and we are pleased that we have been able to reach out to more of our US alumni and donors in the past year. Thanks to all our US friends for their continuing support and interest in College.

International Alumni Gatherings Singapore Ms Susan Palmer (1970) gathered together several alumni in places physically far away from Girton and the UK; from a meeting in Dar es Salaam, to a lunch in Sydney, and helped us organise an alumni event at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Thanks too to those whom the Development Director was fortunate to meet there, in preparations for some events next year; Mrs Lim Hwee Hua (1978), and the other Girton alumni in Singapore.

Singapore: Girtonians at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Hong Kong The Development Director and Alumni Officer also met Girtonian alumni community in Hong Kong. After a reception organised by the Friends of Cambridge University in Hong Kong, alumni enjoyed a dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Amber restaurant. We intend to organise another alumni event in Hong Kong in March 2009, with the Mistress, as part of the 800th Anniversary celebrations.

Foreground left: Mr Dominic Chan, of the Friends of Cambridge University in Hong Kong. Right, from foreground: Miss Eva Cheng (2003), Mr Jeremy Ford (1979), Dr Emma Cornwall (1999), Mr Daniel Poppleton (1990), Mr Guy Green (1988), Mr Colin Bosher, Mrs Liz Bosher (King 1969).

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Alumni Interviews

Girton Interviews Rachel Lomax (née Salmon) Matriculated 1963, Honorary Fellow 2004 Rachel came up to Girton in 1963 to read history. Whilst in Cambridge, she discovered an interest in economic history, and after graduation, this led to her heading to LSE to read for an MSc in economics. After completing the MSc, Rachel was keen to continue with economics, and she initially thought of going into economic journalism, but that was not possible at the time. Instead, Rachel took a short-term contract at the Treasury as an Economic Assistant: “I thought, if I go into the Treasury, I’ll find out how things really work, and that will be grist to the mill if I go on to do economic journalism. So I went into the Treasury, and of course I ended up staying there for a quarter of a century!” Very few women went into the Treasury at the time: “When I started, women at the Treasury were secretaries. There were one or two of us doing economics, but we were a tiny minority. It’s changed a lot now!” Working as an Economic Advisor throughout the 1970s, Rachel had to take unpaid leave to have children – but she was able to negotiate a part-time return to work afterwards, which was most unusual at that time. In 1985, and back to full-time work, Rachel was asked to head up the Private Office of the then Chancellor, Nigel Lawson. “Being Principal Private Secretary is a job that needs about 150% of your time, but it’s fascinating, as you get to see absolutely everything that goes on!” It was the first time – and to date, the only time – that a woman has held this post.

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Several further positions at the Treasury were followed by a spell as a Deputy Secretary at the Cabinet Office, 19941995. Rachel then took up a position at the World Bank, where she was soon asked to be Chief of Staff to the incoming President, James D. Wolfensohn. Heading up the President’s Office, Rachel was able to draw on her previous experience as Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Rachel returned to the UK in 1996, when she became Permanent Secretary at the Welsh Office. “When I started, the Welsh Office was mainly concerned with regional development, but then in 1997 there was a change of Government, so I became involved with the whole devolution process”. Once the Welsh Assembly had been established, Rachel moved to the Department for Social Security in 1999, coincidentally taking over from another Girtonian, Dame Ann Bowtell (Kewell, 1957). During Rachel’s tenure, a major reorganisation saw both the DSS merge with the Employment portfolio to become the Department for Work &

Pensions, and the creation of Jobcentre Plus from a merger of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. When asked about the rôle of the Permanent Secretary, Rachel says: “It’s changed a lot from the Sir Humphreystyle civil servant of Yes, Minister, where he’s very much a chief policy advisor – to now, when it’s far more managerial rôle.” In 2002, she moved with her Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, to Transport, which had to be extracted from the then Department for Transport, Local Government & the Regions. “This was a bit like my previous job in reverse – before, I had had to merge several sections into a new department. This time I had to extract Transport from John Prescott’s mega-department, but it was much simpler than before, as Transport was only loosely joined to the Regions and Local Government – in fact it was still in its own building.” Rachel was appointed as Deputy Governor (Monetary Policy) of the Bank of England in 2003, where she had the responsibility of putting a proposal to the Monetary Policy Committee each month.


Alumni Interviews

“I thought, if I go into the Treasury, I’ll find out how things really work, and that will be grist to the mill if I go on to do economic journalism... of course I ended up staying there for a quarter of a century!” The way the Committee took the monthly decision on Interest Rates was such that Rachel had to put the Bank’s proposal on the table first, and then everyone else voted, with the Governor voting last: “It wasn’t a case of people asking me ‘Did you vote with the Governor?’ but one of ‘Did you manage to persuade the Committee to vote with you?’” On the topic of an independent Bank of England, Rachel says, “I’m in no doubt that the process of setting monetary policy is much better thought through now than it ever was when I was at the Treasury, but of course there are a huge number of things that are well outside the control of the Monetary Policy Committee – it’s certainly not all-powerful! ” Outside economics, Rachel is on the Board of the Royal National Theatre and a Governor of De Montfort University; she is also an Honorary Fellow of both Girton and LSE. Having left the Bank of England in July, Rachel is currently enjoying having some free time, “More than I’ve had at any time since before I came up to Girton!” Samuel Venn

Rachel Lomax (Salmon 1963)

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Sport

Sport College Sports Thanks to the support of alumni and friends of Girton, the new sports ground is ready to play on from this Michaelmas term. The rugby and football pitches are now full-size, and are now aligned so that both sports can be played concurrently. College is still actively fundraising for the Sports Pavilion building to accompany the pitches, and so far £350,000 has been raised. However, we still require another £350,000 to make a start on the building, which will include four changing rooms, a state-of-the-art (and fully accessible gym), and a social area.

Girton staff member takes Duathlon gold! David Peck, a long standing member of the maintenance department at Girton, has once again achieved a notable success in the European Duathlon Championships for age groups from 2024 years up to 75-79 years, winning a gold for Great Britain. The event was over a course of 10 km run, 40 km cycle and a 5km run, around

David Peck crossing the finishing line at Rimini, and (left) receiving his World Duathlon Championship gold. a motor racing circuit. It took place in Serres in northern Greece, in 33 degrees centigrade. David’s finishing time was 2 hours and 56 minutes, and he won a gold medal in the 75-79 age group. The GB team, of which he is a member, is entirely self-funded.

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David then repeated this success by winning gold again, at the World Duathlon championship which took place in Rimini at the end of September. This was an advance from his two silver medals from Switzerland in 2003 and Newfoundland in 2006.


Sport

GCBC Girton received generous support for its Boat Club in the form of a new IV, thanks in part to a donation from NanDee Stockler née Sugerman, the parent of a current student. She named the new IV ‘Danny Boy’ in memory of her brother Danny Sugerman, and we were pleased that Fawn Hall, his widow, who is based in California, was able to attend the boat naming in June this year.

The funds to purchase the IV were also donated by members of the College’s alumni Boat Club, the Infidel Boat Club. The Infidels held their annual dinner in the Oxford and Cambridge Club last year, and also competed in the Winter Head and raced against the current men’s first VIII in May. New members are welcome, whether keen to row or just keen to participate in social events!

GCBC would like to thank its sponsor, PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) for its generous support of College rowing.

Steve Tancock www.rowphoto.co.uk

Mrs NanDee Stockler (left) and Ms Fawn Hall (right) with Danny Boy

Owen Patey (2006)

Photos: Andy Marsh

Girton’s first men in action in May Bumps, in which they moved up three places

Danny Boy on the water for the first time

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Girton Newsletter 23


For more events information, and updates, please see www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni/

Old Girtonians Honours

Thursday 30 October 2008

Saturday 13 June 2009

New Year Honours 29 December 2007

Alumni Formal Hall

GCBC May Bumps Marquee

CBE

Events Calendar 2008/9

Dr Margaret Bent (Bassington 1959),

Saturday 29 November 2008

Saturday 11 July 2009

Senior Research Fellow, All Souls

Alumni rugby and football matches

Roll event: Anniversary Lunch & Garden Party

College, Oxford, for services to

Saturday 21 Febraury 2009

Musicology

Geographical Society Dinner

Professor Dame Rosalyn Higgins QC will be the speaker.

Friday 27 February 2009

Saturday 11 July 2009

Executive Vice-President, Human

College event

College event

Resources, Rolls Royce, for services

Founders’ Memorial Lecture by Professor Henrietta Moore, the new William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology. She is a former Director of the Culture and Globalization Programme at the London School of Economics.

First Anniversary Dinner for the Girton Campaign.

to Business

Friday 17 July 2009

MBE

Thursday 5 March 2009 College event International Women’s Day. A seminar in London on the topic “Preferential treatment? Gender out of step”, at which Girton’s Visitor, Baroness Hale of Richmond, will be the keynote speaker.

19-20 March 2009

Mrs Margaret Gildea (Brierley 1973),

College event Second Anniversary Dinner for the Girton Campaign.

Hosted by the Mistress. Date t.b.c

21-27 March 2009 Girton alumni event in Hong Kong Hosted by the Mistress. Date t.b.c

Saturday 21 March 2009 MA Ceremony & Dinner

for services to Young People through the Fairbridge Society

Saturday 18 July 2009

Mrs Veronica Wootten (Cadbury 1951),

University Anniversary event

Trustee, Birmingham Royal Institution

Summer Garden Party for College & University Staff at the Botanic Garden.

for the Blind, and Chair of Governors,

Wednesday 22 July 2009

for services to Further Education

A major concert of Cambridge musicians and music in London. Ticket information is obtainable only through the University.

Saturday 12 September 2009 1979 Reunion Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the admission of men as undergraduates.

Saturday 19 September 2009 1984 and 1989 Reunion Dinner

Friday 3 April 2009 1994 and 1999 Reunion Dinner

Saturday 26 September

Saturday 25 April 2009

Roll Weekend & People’s Portraits Reception

Medical Reunion Dinner

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Friday 8 May 2009

College event

Sports Dinner in London At the Oxford and Cambridge Club

June 2009 The Mistress will host Girton alumni events in New York and Boston

Girton College Cambridge

Lady Dodds-Parker (Coster 1938),

Queen Alexandra College, Birmingham,

University Anniversary event

Girton alumni event in Singapore

Date t.b.c

OBE

Anniversary Celebration Concert at Goldsmiths’ Hall, City of London. To include musicians from College and the Chapel Choir, and the London Mozart Players.

18-21 November 2009 University Anniversary event Winter Light Finale with the City Council, featuring prominent University and College buildings.

Development Office Girton College FREEPOST ANG6880 Cambridge CB3 0YE +44 (0)1223 766672/338901 development@girton.cam.ac.uk www.girton.cam.ac.uk

Queen’s Birthday Honours 14 June 2008 CMG Mrs Karen Pierce (1978), UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York OBE Ms Elizabeth Hogarth (1969), Head of Women's Policy Team, Criminal Justice Group, Ministry of Justice MBE Mrs Jocelyn Rawlence (Finch 1940), for voluntary service to the community in Pulham Market, Norfolk


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