Endowing Fellowships

To secure teaching excellence for future generations, Mansfield newly endowed three Fellowships in 2022/23: the Janet Dyson Tutorial Fellowship in Mathematics supported by Chris Foster (Maths, 1997), Anthony Dewell (Maths & Statistics, 2002) and other Maths alumni, the Michael Freeden Tutorial Fellowship in PPE supported by Guy Hands (PPE, 1978) and his wife Julia Hands MBE, and the Tony Lemon Tutorial Fellowship in Geography supported by William Jackson (Geography, 1983). Here our Fellows discuss their subjects and the importance of commitment to perpetuity.

Emeritus Fellow Dr Tony Lemon and Professorial Fellow Derek McCormack

Tony: In 1969, Mansfield decided to focus on four non-theological subjects – English, Law, History and Geography. My job was to develop Geography. Gradually Mansfield became known as one of Oxford’s leading Geography colleges, as it remains today. How does the endowment of this Geography Fellowship impact on Mansfield and on Geography within the College?

Derek: The endowment has had several impacts. For the College, it represents a major contribution to our efforts to put Mansfield on a secure financial footing. For Geography, the endowment is a marvellous opportunity to recognise the fantastic contribution you have made. I was delighted to be named as the Tony Lemon Tutorial Fellow.

Tony: Geography has changed hugely over the past half-century, but its focus on space, place and environment remains. It brings together natural science, social science and humanities in a way no other discipline does. How has the undergraduate course changed since 2010?

Derek: Since I arrived in Oxford (2006) the biggest change is that students have much more choice in their second and third years. We now have options on topics as diverse, and timely, as war, the Anthropocene, data science, and sustainability.

Tony: My impression is that Geography is a degree widely welcomed by many employers today. Why do you think that is?

Derek: Study involves the combination of literacy, numeracy, and understanding critical problems. The opportunity the degree affords to students to undertake a substantive research project is also attractive to employers – they learn project management skills and rigorous techniques of data collection, interpretation, and presentation. I also consider Geography to be a great degree for other reasons. It really does produce informed citizens of the world.

Tony: How have your research interests developed during your time in Oxford?

Derek: At first, I was especially interested in the cultural geographies of affect and emotion. I’m still interested in this, not least through the question of atmospheres as shared spaces (Mansfield, for instance, is especially good at generating atmospheres of inclusivity). I have also written about the elements (air, water, etc) as cultural spaces. What has not changed is my enjoyment of research-led teaching. I learn so much from the students.

Emeritus Fellow Dr Janet Dyson and Professorial Fellow Ian Griffiths

Janet: Tell me about your research.

Ian: I am interested in developing mathematical models to solve 21st-century industrial-applied-mathematical problems. Highlights include: models to predict the lifetime of arsenic-removal filters, which facilitated the deployment of 45 community-scale and family-home filters serving more than 150,000 people in India; and theories for glass manufacture, which are used in the making of Samsung bendable smartphone displays. Presently, I am tackling global cleaning challenges, such as how to capture microplastics before they are ejected into the oceans.

Janet: In your view, why is it important to have an endowed Fellowship in Maths at the College?

Ian: The endowed Fellowship means that the post is now secure in perpetuity. This provides the essential financial security to deliver world-leading personalised teaching to students, while placing a spotlight on Mathematics and its importance at Mansfield. The endowment also means we can allocate money to other important parts of our Mathematics team at Mansfield. Since this endowed Fellowship has been funded by Mathematics alumni, it reflects the value placed by them upon the teaching delivered by Mansfield’s Mathematics tutors.

Janet: What is special about Maths at Mansfield within Oxford?

Ian: Our Fellows and tutorial team form one of the largest mathematician groups in any of the colleges. This means we can offer expert tutorials in all the first- and second-year courses. We also have a sense of a family here, holding social events for tutors and students including boardgame evenings and an annual Mathematics dinner.

Janet: How has the teaching of Maths changed in recent years?

Ian: Janet, you set a standard for the Mathematics tutorials at Mansfield in which you not only provided high-quality tuition but also got to know the students personally. It is fitting that the endowed Fellowship is named in your honour. Many students now need to learn about machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data and modelling of industrial challenges, and we are continually responding to such needs as we shape our undergraduate course. However, many parts of the Mathematics course structure have stayed the same for centuries. I am excited to see what the future holds and with the security of the Janet Dyson Fellowship we can proceed with confidence.

Emeritus Fellow Professor Michael Freeden and Professorial Fellow Vanessa Berenguer-Rico

Michael: What is your view of the compatibility of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics as a single undergraduate degree, not least because most students prefer to specialise in two of them, at best with a minimal smattering of the third?

Vanessa: I think PPE is a very interesting degree, especially for students who want to understand the world, its societies and its people. Trying to comprehend the world by using Philosophy, Politics and Economics is a very enriching exercise. The three branches of knowledge are much interrelated in real life. It is true that within the degree each of these three branches is taught, more often than not, as separate units. So, usually, it is left to the student to make the connections between the three subjects. Nonetheless, I still think PPE is a highly enlightening degree. It gives students a great variety of (thinking) skills, which they can then use in their future lives and careers.

Michael: When I became the first Politics Fellow of Mansfield, back in 1978, I was given the scary responsibility for arranging teaching in Economics and Philosophy as well as Politics, in addition to organising admissions interviews for all three PPE subjects. Since then, matters have mercifully improved beyond recognition. What is your experience of managing the teaching of Mansfield Economics alongside your research programme?

Vanessa: First of all, I want to say that it is very impressive that you managed to arrange teaching and admissions in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (all of them!). This is certainly very different now. Since I arrived in 2014, Mansfield has always had two Economics Fellows. Moreover, we can also do teaching swaps with specialists in other colleges.

This means we can align our teaching and research interests. For instance, within PPE I teach three statistics-related subjects in Economics. It is no coincidence that my research is precisely in econometrics. I fell in love with the subject as an undergraduate and this drove me to pursue a career in econometrics. During my graduate studies, I started working on time-series analysis. My research in this area has focused on analysing, modelling and testing for non-linear relationships among nonstationary time series. More recently, I have been doing research on robust statistics. In particular, analysing the properties of statistical algorithms that involve outlier detection as well as developing new statistical tools to improve some of the available methodologies. I feel fortunate that Mansfield allows me to teach the subjects in PPE that are so closely aligned with my research interests.

Michael: Knowing, understanding, and interpreting –each employs different skills across the PPE spectrum. How does Economics balance those features?

Vanessa: I think those features are balanced by having a well-organised and clearly linked set of lectures and tutorials. Knowing starts in the lectures. Understanding and interpreting can also happen during the lectures. But deeper understanding and interpretation happens (i) with the work students put into the tutorial assignments (often set by the lecturers in Economics) and (ii) during the tutorial discussions with the corresponding tutor. To some degree, this is probably also true of Philosophy and Politics.

Michael: What does an endowed Fellowship add to the perceived robustness of PPE as a Mansfield subject?

Vanessa: It allows Mansfield to continue delivering high-quality teaching in a degree with more than 100 years of tradition at Oxford.