Investing in Teaching

by James Howell (2009)

Expressing gratitude to our benefactors is a vital part of the College’s DNA

Our name acknowledges two of our three founders, who are further commemorated in the courts that bear their names. Statues of Stephen Perse (1565) and Bartholomew Wortley (1671) still survey Tree Court. Gifts from William Drosier (1835), William Tapp (1877) and Comyns Berkeley (1883) are acknowledged in named Fellowships and Studentships and inscribed on the Benefactors’ Wall in the Great Gate.

Also in the Great Gate is the memorial to Francis Crick (1950) who discovered the structure of DNA. This year, Crick has been further celebrated by the completion of funding for a College Lectureship in his name. Three more lectureships have been funded and named for outstandingly distinguished Caians, Joseph Needham (1918), Tun Suffian (1936), and Iain Macpherson (1959). All of these Lectureships have been completed through the generosity of many contemporary benefactors.

More than 80 Caians contributed to the Crick Lectureship, which has also been supported by the Caius Fund and our telephone campaigns. The new Francis Crick Lecturer is Dr Julian Sale (1986) who works at the MRC Laboratory in Cambridge on DNA replication.

Tun Suffian (1936)

The Needham and Tun Suffian Lectureships began as geographically focused appeals. In March 2014, Nick Sallnow-Smith (1969) Lora Sallnow-Smith (2012), Ray Leung (1986) and Julia Ford (1995) helped to organise a magnificent dinner, attended by Professor Sir Alan Fersht (1962) and Dr Anne Lyon (2001), generously hosted by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Administrative Region of the time, CY Leung and his wife, Regina, at Government House. Proceeds from the sale of tickets for the dinner and an auction kick-started the funding for a lectureship to commemorate former Master, Joseph Needham (1918).

As recorded in earlier issues of Once a Caian… Needham’s fame in China has only increased since his death. He was the first international scholar to open the eyes of the West to China’s scientific and cultural achievements since ancient times. Following the Hong Kong launch of the appeal, further funds have been raised through the Caius Fund to complete the endowment of this Lectureship.

As Needham’s first academic discipline was Biochemistry, it is highly appropriate that the Joseph Needham College Lectureship has been awarded to Dr Helen Mott (2005), who teaches the Natural Sciences Tripos and researches the interactions of signalling proteins.

The proposal to set up a College Lectureship in the name of the eminent Malaysian lawyer, Tun Mohamed Suffian Hashim (1936) was first raised by Dr Cheng Teik Goh (1973) in 2004. Tun Suffian, who came from a poor rural community in Perak, won a Queen’s Scholarship to read Law at Caius. He married in Cambridge and went home with his wife after the war. He was the first Malay to become Solicitor General and went on to be Chief Justice and Lord President. He always kept in touch with Caius and his lifelong friend, Bill Wade (1936), who observed that ‘Among his many honours… none gave him more pleasure than his Honorary Fellowship of Caius.’

In April 2012, the proposal took a great leap forward, when Caesar Loong (1983) organised a Gala Dinner in Kuala Lumpur attended by HRH Tuanku Muhriz of Negeri Sembilan, Tunku Sofiah of the Tun Suffian Foundation, Sir Christopher Hum (2005), Dr Anne Lyon (2001) and the British High Commissioner, which raised more than £300,000. Gonville Fellow Benefactor, John Haines (1949), who died earlier this year, was born and grew up in Malaysia and met Tun Suffian when they both came back to dine at Caius. John made a further most generous donation to the fund, so that Tun Suffian’s exceptional qualities and achievements will continue to be remembered and celebrated at Caius in perpetuity.

Dr Kun-Chin (K-C) Lin (2012)

The holder of the Tun Suffian Lectureship is Dr Kun-Chin (K-C) Lin (2012), the College Lecturer in International Relations, a University Lecturer in Politics and Deputy Director of the Forum on Geopolitics.

Iain Macpherson (1959)

The Iain Macpherson Fund was launched in Iain’s lifetime by some of his former students, most notably Richard Chau (1987). Since Iain’s death in 2011, it has been boosted by donations from other Caians, many of whom were Iain’s tutorial students. For some time, this fund has financed two undergraduate bursaries, but as of this year it is also supporting Dr Victoria Bateman (1998), Iain’s successor as Director of Studies in Economics, as the first Iain Macpherson College Lecturer.

Another group of Caians came together to fund a Lectureship after returning to the College in 2013 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of their matriculation. (See photo on page 30.) The organising committee of the 1973 reunion, Andrew Reicher, John Sunderland, Howard Trust, John Nangle and Peter Beverley, chose to direct any funds raised by their reunion to endow in perpetuity the post of one teaching Fellow at the College. Dr Bronwyn Everill (2015), a historian who works on the role Africans have played in shaping ideas of humanitarianism, empire, and commerce in the modern era, has been appointed the 1973 College Lecturer.

Dr Jon Denbigh (1961) chose to commemorate his father, Kenneth Denbigh (1950). Jon funded his named Lectureship by setting up a Deed of Variation on his mother’s will, to divert his entire share of his mother’s estate to the College. This also reduced substantially the tax burden on other beneficiaries. Professor Axel Zeitler (2005) a chemical engineer who specialises in the non-invasive investigation of coating materials used in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries, has been appointed to the Kenneth Denbigh Lectureship.

All these lectureships have been funded in perpetuity, so a new Fellow will be appointed to each post when it falls vacant. Dr Arif Ahmed (2015) has taken over from fellowphilosopher, Professor Alex Oliver (1993) as the Nicholas Sallnow-Smith College Lecturer. Following the untimely death of Dr Richard Gibbens (1980) last year, Dr Timothy Jones (2017), a Reader in the Department of Computer Science and Technology has been appointed to succeed Richard as the 1956 College Lecturer.

In these uncertain times for university funding, guaranteeing the continuation of the Cambridge supervision system is a high priority for the Development Office and remembering the generosity of our benefactors will continue to be an integral part of College life.

Victoria Bateman (1998) was fortunate to have the legendary Iain Macpherson (1959) as her Director of Studies in Economics. Now, Victoria is continuing the Caius tradition of excellence in Economics as both Director of Studies and the Iain Macpherson Lecturer