Roll of Honour
Why we beg to differ
The following elections and awards have been made:
Asiya is my first cousin and we come from a very close family. When I was five my parents divorced and my mum went to university – I went to stay with my auntie, who raised me as a second daughter, until I was about 13.
Elizabeth Cherry Research Students’ Major Scholarship White, SLJ
Elizabeth Cherry Research Students’ Scholarship Wang X
E M Burnett Prizes on the Results of University Examinations Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic Bonner, A C Economics
Sethi, N
Law
Orphanidou, C Oskierski, J-T
Mathematics Gomes-Rosa, J P T Losi, M Monteiro, R J F Santos J E Solveen C Wang X Medicine
Simunovic, M P
Social and Political Sciences de Villiers B R Woodhead, J C
Helena Powell Prize for Religious Studies Schoettl, J T
New Fellows City Fellow
Mr Nigel Brown
Fellows
Dr Mary Buckley Professor Neil Mercer (May 2006) Research Fellows Dr Amit Bhave Dr Jennifer Bui Dr Michelle Moram Dr Natalie Plank Dr Sovan Sarkar Dr John Durrell
Hughes Hall Hughes Hall Cambridge CB1 2EW Tel: +44 (0)1223 334898 Fax: +44 (0)1223 311179 Email: contact@hughes.cam.ac.uk Web: www.hughes.cam.ac.uk The first graduate college of the University of Cambridge
Winter 2007
Issue 6
My family is very religious, and quite political as well. Asiya and I talked about the hijab and we would ask each other, ‘When you’re older will you wear the niqab and cover your face?’ I made the decision not to wear a scarf or a veil in the context of being a British Muslim. Wearing the veil is a personal and a political thing – it’s about identity. The question I had to ask myself was how did not wearing a veil impact on my being a good Muslim, and I concluded that I didn’t think it did. It’s easier in a nonIslamic country not to. I’m the only woman in my family who doesn’t cover her face, apart from my mum. I dress modestly though and wear
Learning the lingo
A man of many parts…
a headscarf at family occasions out of respect, and because it feels safe. But no one has ever forced me to cover myself. I love my family for the fact they follow Islam to a T, but in an environment of discussion and questions.
Seema Yasmin Hughes Hall medical student, and Senior Officer of the Cambridge Union Society for Easter term, 2007
Asiya and I have a lot of respect for each other and recognise that we both have our challenges, some similar, some different. It’s ridiculous to assume there would be conflict between us because she covers up and I don’t. For us it’s the very essence of tolerance. From an article by Anna Melville-James in The Guardian, Saturday December 9, 2006, in which she talked to three families divided by their beliefs.
© Guardian News & Media Ltd 2006.
thongs trousers ? stroller ? flip-flops ? pants pushchair ? buggy ? pram ?
The British, Australians and North Americans all speak the same language – allegedly! In fact, my friends and I have found language differences that cause confusion, mirth or incredulity. At the Hughes Christmas Dinner, I exclaimed, ‘Ah! they’ve got bonbons!’ Hearing this, my American friend was expecting ‘small balls of ice cream, roughly the size of a cherry, coated in chocolate’. But the rest of the table were perplexed because what they could see were Christmas crackers, not small wrapped sweets. When I arrived in Cambridge, I went looking for footwear to protect myself Joan Ko, pondering the oddities of our international against veruccas (and other such language. Joan is a Gates Scholar, studying for an unpleasantness) in the communal showers. MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development. After lots of amused smiles, I stopped asking for ‘thongs’ as we Aussies call them, and asked for ‘flip-flops’ instead. I learnt that I’d been asking for rather flimsy underwear. Which brings me to the biggest stumbling block – ‘pants’. An Aussie friend got a rip in his new trousers and took them back to the store. Imagine the shop assistant’s horror when he told her apologetically, “I’ve had an accident with my pants. Can I show you?’’. Apparently, ‘pants’ means ‘underwear’ here…
…and enormous energy. As well as being Chairman of NW Brown Group Ltd, the company he started in 1974, Nigel Brown is involved with thirteen (at last count) other organisations in various capacities. He has close links with classical music, art and the theatre. He continues to raise money for the purchase of fine stringed instruments for gifted players (beneficiaries include Nigel Kennedy, Steven Isserlis and Natalie Clein), and funds a music prize awarded by the Faculty of Music. He is also a keen sportsman – he plays real tennis and built an endurance motorbike race team around his son Benjamin.
Amazon – amazing! You can help Hughes every time you shop at Amazon. Go to the Alumni site (www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/hhs/), log on and click on the Amazon logo on the home page. If you’ve forgotten your password, just click on the link below the ‘login now’ box and we will forward you your login and password. Nigel Brown new City Fellow
What prompted you to set up your own company at 29? ‘I was always pre-disposed, but was pushed to it when my philosophy began to clash with my colleague’s. I wanted to give people the best advice whether or not it was of immediate financial benefit to me.’
How do you fit in so many interests and responsibilities? ‘I’ve always done lots of different things, even at school. I’m fortunate in having a very retentive memory and the ability to compartmentalise – I put everything into different ‘silos’ and focus on one at a time.’
What gives you most satisfaction in your work? ‘My golden rule is – business first, but it has to be fun! I get most pleasure from knowing that the firm is meeting the aspirations of its members. We try to be the best as defined by clients – mutual trust and good service.
Which of your many interests do you most enjoy? ‘Whichever one I’m doing! But probably music is the most important. I’m always amazed when I’m holding a Stradivari or Guarneri, and know this privilege is not given to many.’
What’s your main professional interest? ‘Getting early stage companies off the ground by helping with advice and funding.’
4% of the purchase price comes back to the College as a general donation – at no expense to you!
Hughes Hall is an Associate of amazon.co.uk
How do you relax? ‘Sleep occasionally! No, for me relaxation is as much about change – when I’m playing real tennis I’m not thinking about anything else.’
News from Hughes Winter 2007
Issue 6
Hughes for Hughes Professor Masatsugu Ohtake, Honorary Fellow, has generously donated to Hughes Hall a wonderful and unique collection of books by the late Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes. The Ohtake collection includes rare first editions of Ted Hughes’s works. Many of these are beautifully bound, numbered limited editions, often inscribed by Ted Hughes and other notable contributors. The collection represents the different stages of Hughes’s career, including his early collections of animal poetry, children’s books, translations of the Classics, and his later poetry. Ted Hughes was a prolific children’s author, and the collection includes books such as his popular fables How the Whale Became and The Iron Man. There is also a treasure trove of material relating to Ted Hughes’s life and work: newspaper cuttings and magazine articles, and many articles by Ted Hughes himself. Professor Ohtake has also donated other items to the College, including Siegfried Sassoon’s manuscript diary of his schoolboy reading.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, will be visiting India in January 2008. She hopes to meet as many Cambridge alumni as possible – and we hope that many of them will be from Hughes!
Research Fellow Nidhi Singal, who is in the working group planning the visit
Professor Ohtake with a sample from the collection
From the President
Calling all Hughesians in India
Please make sure we have your up-to-date contact details (email, telephone and postal address) and current professional engagement. And if you know any fellow students who may not be in contact with us, please send us their details too. Email Anna (am215@cam.ac.uk) in the College Alumni office.
Newsletter of the Hughes Hall Society
www.hughes.cam.ac.uk www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/hhs
News from Hughes is edited by Annemarie Young, with help from Anna Marino. Design by Andy Wilson (andy@andywilson.biz) Contact us with your news at Hughes Hall, Cambridge CB1 2EW; by email at development@hughes.cam.ac.uk; or on the web at www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/hhs Photographs courtesy Michael Derringer, Ray Godwin, and contributors Printed in England.
To all whom these presents shall come, Greeting! The opening salvo of the Royal Charter.
After 121 years of sometimes precarious existence, Hughes Hall has made the transition from ‘Approved Foundation’ to the status of full College of the University. This major achievement confirms that the University recognises us as a mature, efficiently run institution, fully worthy of the status of College within the University.
When I took up my new role as President last October I was returning to the University after 30 years away, spent working in British Embassies around the world. One thing which often struck me when I was overseas was the high regard felt for British higher education. Now back in Cambridge, at Hughes Hall, I can see why. This place has so much to offer, both to its students and those who teach them. The members of this college, of all ages, are clearly seizing the opportunities. Our students, who this year come from 63 different countries, seem well able to manage the traditional Cambridge balancing act between highly demanding course work and an equally demanding social, cultural and sporting life – with great achievement in all these spheres. As we develop we hope that, through this Newsletter, we can keep you, our wider membership, in touch with progress. I do hope that as many of you as possible will find your way back to see us. The President Sarah Squire
Winter 2007
Issue 6