

The Record is a formal account of the year at Queens’ College. The 2023-2024 edition can now be read on the College website. We are encouraging alumni to read The Record online due to the rising cost of producing printed copies in the current economic climate and as part of our ongoing commitment to the environment. If old members would still like to receive a hard copy of The Record, please inform the Alumni & Development Office by sending your name, address and matriculation year, along with a £15 cheque (made payable to ‘Queens’ College, Cambridge’) to help cover production and postage costs. Thank you.
Visitor: The Rt Hon. Beverley McLachlin, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada
PRESIDENT
Mohamed El-Erian, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon), D.Univ. h.c. (American Univ. of Cairo).
HONORARY FELLOWS
The Rt. Hon. Sir Stephen Brown, G.B.E., P.C., M.A., LL.D.h.c. (Birmingham, Leicester and West of England), Hon.F.R.C.Psych..
Sir David Walker, M.A., LL.D. h.c. (Exeter), F.R.S.A.
Bernardo Sepúlveda Amor, Hon.G.C.M.G., LL.B., LL.D.h.c. (San Diego and Leningrad).
Professor of International Law, El Colegio de México
Nicholas Wills, M.A., F.C.A., F.C.I.M., F.C.T., F.R.S.A.
The Rt Hon. Lord Oxburgh of Liverpool, K.B.E., M.A., Ph.D.(Princeton), D.Sc.h.c. (Paris, Leicester, Loughborough, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Liverpool John Moores, Lingnan Hong Kong, Newcastle, Leeds and Wyoming), F.G.S., Hon.F.I.Mech.E., Hon.F.R.Eng., F.R.S.
Sir Martin Harris, C.B.E., D.L., M.A., Ph.D. (London), LL.D.h.c. (Queen’s, Belfast), D.U.h.c. (Essex and Keele), D.Litt.h.c. (Salford, Manchester Metropolitan, Leicester, Lincoln, Ulster, Manchester, UMIST and Exeter), Hon.F.R.C.P, Hon.F.R.C.S.E. Chairman of the Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited.
Michael Foale, C.B.E., M.A., Ph.D., D.Univ.h.c. (Kent, Lincolnshire and Humberside), Hon.F.R.Ae.S.
The Rt Hon. Lord Falconer of Thoroton, P.C., K.C., M.A.
Sir Richard Dearlove, K.C.M.G., O.B.E., M.A., LL.D. h.c. (Exeter).
Graham Swift, M.A., Litt D.h.c. (East Anglia and London), D.Univ.h.c. (York), F.R.S.L. Writer and Novelist
Stephen Fry, M.A., D.Litt. h.c. (East Anglia), D.Univ.h.c. (Anglia Ruskin Univ. and Sussex). Actor, Broadcaster, Director and Writer.
Awn Al-Khasawneh, M.A., LL.M., Istiqlal Order (First Class), Kawkab Order (First Class), Nahda Order (First Class), Jordan; Grand Officier, Légion d’Honneur, France.
Paul Greengrass, C.B.E., M.A. Film Director and Producer.
Michael Gibson, M.B.E., M.A.
Mohamed El-Erian, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon), D.Univ. h.c. (American Univ. of Cairo).
Sir Robert Chote, M.A., Chair of the U.K. Statistics Authority
Roderick Smith, M.A. (Oxon.), M.A., Ph.D., D.Eng., Sc.D., C.Eng., D.Sc. h.c. (Lincoln), D.Eng. h.c. (Sheffield), F.R.Eng., F.I.Mech.E., F.I.M.M.M. Royal Academy of Engineering Network Rail Research Professor of Railway Engineering, Imperial College, London and Chair of the Future Railway Research Centre.
Andrew Bailey, M.A., Ph.D., F.S.A. Governor of the Bank of England.
Naomi Segal, M.A., Ph.D. (London), Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, Professorial Fellow of Birkbeck College, London.
Amma Kyei-Mensah, M.A., M.B., B.S. (London), M.R.C.P., F.R.C.O.G. Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Whittington Hospital, London
Phillippa Wells, M.A., Ph.D. Physicist and Deputy Director for Research and Computing at C.E.R.N., Geneva
Emily Maitlis, M.A. D.Univ. h.c. (Sheffield Hallam). Journalist, News Presenter and Broadcaster Dame Alison Peacock, D.B.E., B.A. (London), P.G.C.E. (Warwick), M.Ed., D.Litt. h.c. (Brighton), D.L., F.R.S.A. Visiting Professor, University of Hertfordshire, Educator, Author and Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Sir Demis Hassabis, C.B.E., M.A., Ph.D. (London), F.R.S.A., F.R.Eng., F.R.S. Chief Executive Officer and Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist, DeepMind.
The Rt Hon. Lord Eatwell, of Stratton St Margaret, M.A., Ph.D. (Harvard), Doc. Pol. Res. & Prac. h.c. (Bath),.
Mairi Hurrell, R.G.N., S.C.M.
The Rt Hon. Sir David Latham, M.A., K.C., P.C. Former Lord Justice of Appeal and Chairman of the Parole Board.
Sir John Chisholm, M.A., F.R.Eng., C.Eng., F.I.E.E., F.R.Ae.S., F.Inst.P. D.Eng. h.c. (Bath, Southampton and Brunel). Former Chair of QinetiQ, of the Medical Research Council, of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts, of Genomics UK.
Sir Robin Millar, C.B.E., M.A., F.A.P.R.S. Businessman and Chair of ‘Scope’, the umbrella charity for those with disabilities.
Joanna Scanlan, M.A. Actress and TV screenwriter
Jane Osbourn, M.A., Ph.D. (John Innes Centre, Norwich), O.B.E., F.Med.Sci. Chair of Mogrify and Chief Scientific Officer of Alchemab Therapeutics.
Thomas Holland, M.A., F.R.S.L. Author and Historian.
Khalid Abdalla, M.A. Actor, Producer and Media Activist.
Grace Prendergast, M.A. (Massey), M.Phil., M.N.Z.M. Gold and Silver Olympic Medalist; World Champion Rower.
Professor James Maynard, M.A., M.Math., D.Phil. (Oxon.). F.R.S. Professor of Number Theory University of Oxford. Fields Medalist.
Dambisa Moyo, Baroness Moyo of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster, B.S., M.B.A., (American Univ. in Washington), M.P.A. (Harvard). D.Phil. (Oxon.). Economist, Author, Columnist and Commentator.
Catherine Thomas, M.A.
Shirley Day, Ph.D.
Mohamed El-Erian, M.A. D.Phil (Oxon)
Jamie Walters
Robert Cripps, Order of Australia
Sir Demis Hassabis, C.B.E., M.A., Ph.D. (London), F.R.S.A., F.R.Eng., F.R.S.
Nicholas Blain, M.A., F.C.A., F.C.S.I., C.F.A.
Chris Rokos, M.A. (Oxon.)
John Reece, M.A.
Tun Daim Bin Zainuddin, Ph.D. (Universiti Malaya)
Eugene Shvidler, B.Sc. (Gubkin Inst., Moscow), M.B.A. (Fordham)
Amir Bin Daim, M.A.
Naimah Khalid
Amin Bin Daim
Stephen Farrant, B.A.
Trevor Bradley, M.A.
Anthony Spearing, M.A., Litt.D., Ph.D. h.c. (Lund). Life Fellow; Emeritus William R. Kenan Professor of English, University of Virginia.
Brian Callingham, M.A., B.Pharm., Ph.D. (London), F.R.Pharm.S., F.R.S.B., F.Br.Pharmacol.S. h.c. Life Fellow; formerly Tutor and Fellow Librarian
James Diggle, C.B.E., M.A., Litt.D., F.B.A. Life Fellow; formerly Praelector. Emeritus Professor of Greek and Latin.
John Carroll, M.A., Sc.D., F.R.Eng. Life Fellow. Emeritus Professor of Engineering.
John Green, M.A., Ph.D. Life Fellow; formerly Senior Tutor.
Andrew Phillips, M.A., Ph.D. Life Fellow; formerly Tutor.
Robin Walker, M.A., Ph.D. Life Fellow; formerly Junior Bursar and Estates Bursar.
Andrew Cosh, B.A., Ph.D. Life Fellow; formerly Senior Bursar.
Richard Weber, M.A., Ph.D. Life Fellow, Emeritus Churchill Professor of Mathematics for Operational Research; formerly Vice-President.
Allan Hayhurst, M.A., Sc.D. Life Fellow. Emeritus Professor of Combustion Science.
James Jackson, C.B.E., M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. Life Fellow; Emeritus Professor of Active Tectonics.
Christopher Pountain, M.A., Ph.D., Hon.F.C.I.L. Life Fellow; formerly Tutor. Emeritus Professor of Spanish Linguistics, Queen Mary College, London.
Richard Fentiman, M.A., B.C.L. (Oxon), Doctor h.c. (Athens), LL.D. h.c. (Cyprus), K.C. h.c. Life Fellow, Emeritus Professor of Private International Law.
The Rt Hon. Lord Oxburgh, of Liverpool, K.B.E, M.A., Ph.D.(Princeton), D.Sc. h.c. (Paris, Leicester, Loughborough, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Liverpool
John Moores, Lingnan Hong Kong, Newcastle, Leeds and Wyoming), F.G.S., Hon.F.I.Mech.E., Hon.F.R.Eng., F.R.S. Life Fellow; formerly President.
The Revd Jonathan Holmes, M.A., Vet.M.B., Ph.D., M.R.C.V.S. Life Fellow; Keeper of the Records; formerly Dean of Chapel.
Peter Haynes, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S. Professor of Applied Mathematics. Assistant Director of Studies in Mathematics (Part II).
David Cebon, B.E. (Melbourne), Ph.D., F.R.Eng., F.I.Mech.E. Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
Hugh Field, M.A., B.Sc. (London), Ph.D.(Bristol), Sc.D., F.R.C.Path. Life Fellow, formerly Tutor. Elizabeth Hall, C.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D. (London), D.Sc. h.c. (Chichester). Life Fellow, Emerita Professor of Analytical Biotechnology; formerly Tutor and Vice-President.
Richard Prager, M.A., Ph.D., C.Eng., F.I.E.T., F.R.Eng. Professor of Engineering.
Roderic Jones, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon). Life Fellow; Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Science; formerly Tutor and Vice-President.
Anthony Lasenby, M.A., M.Sc. (London), Ph.D. (Manchester). Life Fellow. Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics and Cosmology.
Keith Priestley, M.S. (Washington), Ph.D. (Nevada). Life Fellow. Emeritus Professor of Seismology.
Christos Pitelis, B.A. (Athens), M.A., Ph.D. (Warwick). Life Fellow. Professor of International Business and Sustainable Competitiveness, University of Leeds.
Eivind Kahrs, Mag.art., Dr.philos.(Oslo). Life Fellow, formerly Tutor.
Andrew Gee, M.A., Ph.D. Professor (11) of Engineering. Director of Studies in Engineering and Financial Tutor.
David Ward, M.A, Ph.D. Life Fellow. Emeritus Professor of Particle Physics.
Jacqueline Scott, B.A. (Sussex), M.A., Ph.D. (Michigan). Life Fellow; Emerita Professor of Empirical Sociology.
John Allison, B.A., LL.B. (Stellenbosch), LL.M., M.Phil., Ph.D. Professor (11) of Public Law and Comparative Historical Jurisprudence. Armitage Fellow in law. Director of Studies in Law for LLM and MCL students.
Beverley Glover, B.Sc. (St Andrews), Ph.D. (East Anglia), F.L.S. Professor of Plant Systematics and Evolution; Director of the Botanic Garden. Niccoli Fellow.
The Rt Hon. Lord Eatwell, of Stratton St Margaret, M.A., Ph.D. (Harvard), Doc. Pol. Res. & Prac. (Bath), h.c. Life Fellow, formerly President; Emeritus Professor of Financial Policy.
Murray Milgate, M.Ec. (Sydney), M.A. (Essex), Ph.D. Life Fellow; formerly Senior Tutor.
Richard Rex, M.A., Ph.D., D.D. Professor of Reformation History. Polkinghorne Fellow in Theology, College Lecturer in History, Deputy Praelector.
Anthony Challinor, M.A., Ph.D. Bye-Fellow (Physics). Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics. Ian Patterson, M.A., Ph.D. Garden Steward. Life Fellow, formerly Tutor and Fellow Librarian. Clare Bryant, M.A., B.Sc. (Southampton), B.Vet.Med., Ph.D. (London), F.A.S.M., M.R.C.V.S., F.L.S.W. Professor of Innate Immunity. Tutor for Graduate Students.
Martin Crowley, B.A., D.Phil. (Oxon), M.A. (Nottingham). Professor (11) of Modern French Thought and Culture. Anthony L Lyster Fellow in Modern and Medieval Languages and Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages Part 1A and Part II).
Craig Muldrew, M.A. (Alberta), Ph.D. Professor of Economic and Social History. College Lecturer in History.
James Campbell, M.A., Dip.Arch., Ph.D., R.I.B.A., I.H.B.C., F.S.A. Professor of Architecture and Construction History. Seear Fellow in Architecture and Art History, Director of Studies in History of Art and in Architecture; Keeper of Pictures.
Howard Jones, M.A., Ph.D. Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Chemistry). Tutor for Graduate Students.
Martin Dixon, B.A. (Oxon), M.A., Ph.D., F.Ac.S.S. Professor of the Law of Real Property. Director of Studies in Land Economy, Stuart Bridge Fellow in Law.
David Menon, C.B.E., M.D., B.S. (Madras), Ph.D. (London), F.R.C.A., F.Med.Sci., F.R.C.P. Life Fellow; Emeritus Professor of Anaesthesia.
Andrew Thompson, M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D. Senior Tutor, College Senior Lecturer in History.
Julia Gog, O.B.E., M.A., Ph.D. Professor of Mathematical Biology. David N. Moore Fellow in Mathematics, Assistant Director of Studies in Mathematics (Part III).
Ashwin Seshia, B.Tech. (Indian Inst. of Technology, Bombay), M.S., Ph.D. (Berkeley, California), F.R.Eng.. Professor of Microsystems Technology. College Lecturer in Engineering.
Eugene Terentjev, M.Sc. (Moscow State), Ph.D. (Moscow), M.A. Professor of Polymer Physics. John Baldwin Fellow in Physics.
Graham Treece, M.A., Ph.D. Professor (11) of Information Engineering. Bye-Fellow (Engineering).
Ioanna Sitaridou, Ptychion (Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki), Licenciatura (Lisbon), M.A. (London), Ph.D. (Manchester). Professor of Spanish and Historical Linguistics. Tutor for Graduate Students; Director of Studies in Linguistics and Assistant Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages (Part IB).
Andrew Zurcher, B.A. (Yale), M.Phil., Ph.D. Bruce Cleave Fellow in English; Tutor and Director of Studies in English (Part I).
Ana Rossi, B.Sc. (Univ. Nac. del Sur, Argentina), Ph.D. Tutor and Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Pharmacology).
Jonathan Spence, M.A. (Oxon), D.L.. Senior Bursar.
Graham McShane, M.A., M.Eng., Ph.D. Tutor, Notley Fellow in Engineering, Assistant Director of Studies for MST (Construction Engineering) students.
Marie Edmonds, M.A., Ph.D. Professor of Volcanology and Petrology. Vice-President. Ron Oxburgh Fellow and Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Earth Sciences).
Howard Stone, M.A., Ph.D. Tata Steel Professor of Metallurgy. Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Materials Science).
Janet Maguire, B.Sc. (Bristol), Ph.D. (London), F.B.Pharmacol.S. John Eatwell Fellow; Director of Studies in Medical and in Veterinary Sciences.
Laurence Tiley, B.Sc. (Manchester), Ph.D. (Reading). College Lecturer in Medical and Veterinary Sciences (Pathology).
Tore Butlin, M.A., M.Eng., Ph.D. College Lecturer and Champion Fellow in Engineering.
Stephen Price, B.Sc., M.B., B.S. (London), Ph.D., F.R.C.S. Professor of Neurosurgical Oncology. College Lecturer in Neurobiology, Pick Fellow in Medicine. Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine.
Andrew Rice, B.A., Ph.D. Bye-Fellow. Professor of Computer Science.
Edwige Moyroud, B.Sc., M.Sc. (École Norm. Sup., Lyon), Ph.D. (Grenoble/Lyon). Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Genetics, Plant Sciences and Systems Biology).
Anna Paterson, M.A., Ph.D., M.B., B.Chir., M.Sc. (UCL/RCP), F.H.E.A. Pang Kam Ping Fellow in Medical Science, College Lecturer in Physiology, Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine.
Margaret Tait, M.A. M.Phil., Ph.D. Director of Academic Development.
Federica Paddeu, Abogado (Univ. Cat. Andrés Bello, Caracas), LL.M. Deputy Senior Tutor. Derek Bowett Fellow in Law, Director of Studies in Law (Part 1A).
Rowan Kitt, B.A. (Dunelm), M.A. (Birkbeck, London), PGCE. Director of Development.
The Revd Timothy Harling, B.Sci. (Southampton), M.A. Dean of Chapel and Head of Health and Wellbeing.
Sarah Haggarty, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Director of Studies in English (Part II).
Christopher Bickerton, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon), Dipl. d’Études Approfondies (Geneva). Professor (12) of Modern European Politics and Society. College Lecturer in International Relations, Director of Studies in Human, Social and Political Studies (Part II).
Mark Williamson, M.A., Ph.D., C.Eng., M.I.C.E. Bye-Fellow (Chemical Engineering).
Charles Brendon, B.A., M.Phil., D.Phil. (Oxon.). El-Erian Fellow in Economics; Director of Studies in Economics (Part I and Part IIB); Risk Officer.
Ramsey Faragher, M.A., M.Sci., Ph.D., C.Phys., M.R.I.N., M.O.I.N. Bye-Fellow (Computer Science). Director of Studies in Computer Science (Parts II and III)
David Parker, B.Sc. (Wales), Ph.D. Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (PDN and NNB).
Graham Denyer Willis, B.A. (Toronto), M.A. (Royal Roads), Ph.D. (M.I.T.). Professor (11) of Global Politics and Society. Chris Rokos Fellow in Geography, Director of Studies in Geography.
Ella McPherson, B.A. (Princeton), M.Phil., Ph.D. Anthony L. Lyster Fellow in Sociology, Director of Studies in Human, Social and Political Studies (Part I).
Claude Warnick, M.A., M.Math., Ph.D. Professor (11) of Mathematical Physics. Anthony L. Lyster Fellow and Assistant Director of Studies in Mathematics (Parts IA and IB).
Alastair Beresford, M.A., Ph.D. Robin Walker Fellow in Computer Science. Professor of Computer Security.
Andrew Marsham, B.A., M.Phil., D.Phil. (Oxon.). Professor (11) of Classical Arabic Studies. Tutor for Graduate Students. College Lecturer in Arabic Studies and Director of Studies in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
Gareth Atkins, B.A. (Dunelm), M.Phil., Ph.D. Tutor and Director of Studies in History and in Theological and Religious Studies.
Jamie Blundell, M.A., M.Sci., Ph.D. College Lecturer and Lyster Fellow in Biological Natural Sciences.
Tyler Denmead, B.A. (Brown), M.Phil., Ph.D. Director of Studies in Education, Dean of College.
Peter McMurray, A.B. (Harvard), M.F.A. (Brandeis), Ph.D. (Harvard). Aliki Vatikioti Fellow in Music.
Andrew Bainbridge, M.B.A. (Sheffield Hallam), Assoc.R.I.C.S., M.I.A.M., Tech.I.O.S.H., C.B.I.F.M. Domestic Bursar and Steward.
Timothy Eggington, B.A. (Wales), M.A. (Cardiff), M.A. (Manchester Metropolitan), Ph.D. (London). Fellow Librarian and Keeper of the Old Library; Director of Studies in Music.
Jane Garrison, M.A., Ph.D., Ph.D. (Warwick), M.Sc., P.G.C.E. (Hertfordshire). Director of Studies in Psychological and Behavioural Studies and Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Psychology).
Alison Bonner, M.A. (Oxon.), M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., F.S.A. Bye-Fellow, Director of Studies in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic.
Paul Bambrough, M.A., M.B., B.Chir., Ph.D., M.R.C.P. Bye-Fellow (Anatomy) and Assistant Director of Studies in Medical Sciences (Preclinical).
Christopher Clark, M.A., M.Eng., Ph.D. College Lecturer in Engineering.
Cristina Peñasco, B.Sc. (Univ. of Castilla-La Mancha), M.Phil. (Pontifica Comillas Univ. Madrid), Ph.D. (Rey Juan Carlos Univ., Madrid). College Lecturer in Politics and Director of Studies in Economics (Part IIA).
Neil Lawrence, B.Eng. (Southampton), Ph.D. Deep Mind Professor of Machine Learning.
Lucia Reisch, Dipl. Oec. (Hohenheim), M.B.A. (UCLA), Dr. Oec. (Hohenheim). El-Erian Professor of Behavioural Economics and Policy; Deputy Dean of College.
Gillian Fraser, B.Sc. (Glasgow), Ph.D. Assistant Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Pathology and Zoology).
Christopher Smith, B.Sc. (U.C.L.), M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. Bye-Fellow (Virology).
Challenger Mishra, M.Sc. (Indian Inst. of Science Educ. and Rsch., Kolkata), D.Phil (Oxon). Bye-Fellow (Computer Science); Director of Studies in Computer Science (Part IA).
Jasmin Jahić, Engin. Diplom (Tuzla), M. Robot (École Centrale, Nantes), PhD (Tech. Univ., Kaiserlautern). Bye-Fellow (Computer Science); Director of Studies in Computer Science (Part IB).
Susan Haines, M.A., M.Sci., Ph.D. Admissions Tutor.
The Revd Anna Jones, B.A. (Oxon.), M.A. (UCL), M.Phil., B.Th. Chaplain.
Elizabeth Weir, B.A. (Univ. of Southern California), Ph.D. Bye-Fellow (Psychology)
Nicholas Morris, M.A., A.R.C.O., AdvPgDip (Birmingham Conservatoire). Director of College Music and Bye-Fellow.
Mansur Boase, M.A., M.Math. Bye-Fellow (Mathematics)
Jeremiah Mitchell, B.Sc. (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Ph.D. (Northern Illinois Univ.). Bye-Fellow (Physics).
Dominic Orchard, M.Eng. (Warwick), Ph.D., PGCHE (Kent). Schmidt Climate Futures ByeFellow in Computer Science.
Christopher Edsall, B.Sc., M.Sc. (Canterbury, New Zealand). Schmidt Climate Futures ByeFellow in Computer Science.
Marla Fuchs, B.Sc. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., New York), M.Phil. Schmidt Climate Futures Bye-Fellow in Computer Science.
Eamonn O’Keefe, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon), M.Phil. Research Fellow (History of the British Army).
Hamish Symington, M.A., Ph.D. Research Fellow (Plant Sciences).
Katharine Hendry, M.A., M.Sci., D.Phil. (Oxon), PGCertUTL (Cardiff). Bye-Fellow (Environmental Geoscience).
Joe Perkins, M.A., M.Phil. (Oxon.), M.Phil. Bye-Fellow (Economics).
James Brenton, B.Sc., M.B., B.S., (UCH, London), Ph.D., F.R.C.P. Professor of Ovarian Cancer Medicine.
Mona Jebril, B.A. (Al-Azhar University of Gaza), M.Sc. (Oxon.), Ph.D. Bye-Fellow (Education).
Rajesh Bhagat, B.E. (Panjab Uni., Chandigarh), M.E. (Indian Institute of Science), Ph.D. College Lecturer in Mathematics.
Mairi Kilkenny, B.Sc., M.Sc. (Cape Town), PhD. College Lecturer in Biological Sciences.
Jennifer Cobbe, LL.B. (Hull), LL.M., Ph.D., F.R.S.A. (Queen’s, Belfast). College Lecturer and Fentiman Fellow in Law.
Michael Loy, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Bye-Fellow (Classics), Praelector.
Krisztina Ilko B.A., M.Litt. (Eötvös Loránd Uni., Budapest), M.Litt. (Central European University, Budapest), Ph.D. Research Fellow (History of Art).
Jonathan Tsay, B.Sc. (Northwestern Uni. Evanston), D.P.T. (Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Uni., Chicago), Ph.D. (California, Berkeley). Research Fellow (Neuroscience).
Lorena Escudero Sànchez, B.Sc., M.Sc. (Salamanca), Ph.D. (Valencia). Bye-Fellow (Mathematics).
Devon Indar, M.Eng., Ph.D. (Manchester). College Lecturer in Chemical Engineering.
Welcome to the latest edition of The Record. This past year has seen Queens’ go from strength to strength, achieving important milestones in all five of our strategic pillars while overcoming yet another new set of external challenges. However, it has also been a year of loss, as we mourn the passing of several beloved members of our community, including Emily Webster, an energetic and much-admired young academic with a promising future.
Our unwavering commitment to academic excellence shone through in our students’ impressive exam results, the research conducted by our Fellows, and the accolades earned by several members of our community. All this was achieved while enhancing our culture of inclusion, mutual support, collaboration, and friendliness.
In this edition, you will read about the continued growth of our Fellowship, which has deepened our academic expertise and expanded the breadth of areas we cover. Regarding our estate, we have embarked on the decarbonisation and modernisation of the Erasmus building, set to be completed by June next year. This will pave the way for the comprehensive revamp of Owlstone Croft. These exciting developments have been made possible by the generous support of our donors, for which we are extremely grateful. Your contributions have also enabled us to increase financial support for our students, fund more subject areas, offer summer research internships, expand sports funds, and much more.
The rationalisation of our committee structure, including the effectiveness of the new Education Committee, has helped to streamline our governance system and to enhance timely decision-making. We have also taken another step towards stronger financial resilience as the College continues to recover from a series of external shocks including Covid and the cost of living crisis. Like elsewhere, our community has also been navigating spillovers from the terrible loss of lives and livelihoods from conflicts around the world. We are grateful for the exceptional support provided by our Health and Welfare team.
As my term is scheduled to conclude in September of next year, the Governing Body has initiated the process of electing a new President. The decision to step down was the hardest of my professional life, given how deeply I cherish Queens’ and all it represents. My family and I are committed to continuing to strongly support the College in every possible way.
On behalf of the students, staff, and Fellows of Queens’, I extend my heartfelt thanks for your interest in and support of the College.
Wishing you all the best,
MOHAMED A. EL-ERIAN
Only four days into the Michaelmas Term on Saturday 7 October 2023, the SCR received the shocking news of the sudden death at home of Dr Emily Webster. Aged 38, she had been an Official Fellow and College Lecturer in Law since April 2022. It had only been announced in the summer of 2023 that her temporary appointment as an Assistant Professor in Environmental Law in the Department of Land Economy had been made permanent. She was Joint Steward of the SCR and served on several College committees. She had just taken over as Director of Studies in Land Economy. Blessed with a cheerful, warm, and outgoing personality, she was as happy to socialise with older colleagues as with her younger contemporaries, and in the brief eighteen months she had been with us had become a much liked and appreciated member at the heart of the Society. She was an expert in Climate Law and Governance and had been a Senior Research Fellow at the Transnational Law Institute.
A few weeks later, the College heard with great sadness that the Revd Dr Brian Hebblethwaite, Dean of Chapel for more than 25 years and a Fellow since 1968, had died peacefully at his home in Stretham, near Ely. Brian passed away on 27th October at the age of 84. He had been seriously ill for several months. He came to Queens’ as Chaplain in 1968 but was appointed Dean of Chapel a term later in succession to the Revd Henry Hart. He served the College as a Tutor and as Director of Studies in Theological and Religious Studies, and also in Philosophy. He was a University Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion at the Divinity Faculty. Brian took early retirement from the College in 1994 when his wife, Emma, was ordained and became Curate of Framlingham in Suffolk. He became a Life Fellow but continued as a Lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity for several years after that. Until recently he came frequently into Queens’ for meals, for the Thomae Smith Academia, and for social events.
Dr Manohar Singh Gill, Honorary Fellow, passed away on 15 October at the age of 87. Dr Singh Gill came to Queens’ in 1967 to study for the Diploma in Overseas Development Studies. He was hugely respected as the Chief Election Commissioner of India, a role he took on in 1996. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, for his “exceptional and distinguished service”. Later he represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, as a Member of the Indian National Congress Party, and served as Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport for India. He was elected an Honorary Fellow in 2001. The College extends its condolences to his family, especially his daughter Dr Kaveri Gill, who was a Fellow of Queens’ 2004-07.
A few days later the death of Richard Foulkes, Fellow Commoner, was announced. Richard was an undergraduate at Queens’, matriculating in 1964, reading Mathematics for Part I and
Economics for Part II. He had a very successful career with Schroders and served the College as a member of the College’s Investments Committee for 25 years. He was elected a Fellow Commoner in 2006 in recognition of his outstanding service to the College.
Towards the end of the Michaelmas Term, the death, on 18th November, of another of our Fellow Commoners, Andrew Pomfret, was announced. He came up to Queens’ as an undergraduate in 1979 to read Engineering and, after graduating, had a successful career first with Kleinwort Benson and then with Rathbone Brothers plc, the Investment Management and Wealth Management firm, at which he was Chief Executive. Andy had been a Fellow Commoner since 2006 and served the College as a Member of the Investments Committee for 15 years and also as Chairman of the Alumni Association.
On 18 February 2024, Professor Brian van Arkadie, a former Fellow and Assistant Director of Studies in Economics and Politics died in Cambridge aged 89. Brian was a Fellow 197175 whilst University Assistant Director of Development Studies and Director of the Centre for Latin American Studies. He went on to advise several governments in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe on macroeconomic and sector policies and assisted with preparation of public investment programmes. He also worked in the Hague, in Copenhagen, in Utrecht, and in Dar-es-Salaam, but always kept in touch with Queens’, coming back to the College occasionally, eventually retiring to the city. A development economist, Brian influenced many around the world during a career of teaching, researching, and providing guidance and technical assistance to developing countries.
Towards the end of August 2024 news reached the College of the death of another of our Honorary Fellows, the Rt Revd Dr Mark Santer, former Bishop of Birmingham and CoChairman of the second Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). An obituary will appear in next year’s edition of the Record.
In the spring, Queens’ heard the very sad news of the death of Adèle Thompson, Dance Artist in Residence at Queens’ 2006-2020. Adèle died aged 68 at her home in Ibiza and a Memorial Service was held there in April. She was a very distinguished dancer and choreographer and came to Queens’ to conduct dance classes and choreographic workshops in the Fitzpatrick Hall every Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms for 14 years. Following on from her predecessors, she always enjoyed arranging the annual Sprung! Show at the end of the Lent Term, featuring works from the Queens’ Contemporary Dance Society and other local dance groups. Adèle retired from Queens’ in March 2020 after organising Sprung! only days before the Covid pandemic restrictions overwhelmed the end of term.
Natasha Squire died in February in Cambridge aged 92. She was for many years Assistant Director of Studies for Russian at Queens’. She was one of the early Fellows and for many
years Senior Tutor at Lucy Cavendish College and is remembered for her style, elegance, good humour and diligence as a teacher of Russian.
At the end of April, Gerard Hurrell, husband of our Honorary Fellow and former College Nurse, Mairi Hurrell, died. He had been suffering from cancer but passed away peacefully at home in Greenock under Mairi’s care. Many will remember his quiet support of Mairi and her work at Queens’. He attended many functions and concerts, dinners and chapel services, performances and degree days at Mairi’s side. Many will cherish his memory.
Dr Rajesh Bhagat has been elected as an Official Fellow and College Lecturer in Mathematics. His background is in Chemical Engineering and his first degree was from Panjab University, Chandigarh, followed by a Masters degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He won a Commonwealth Scholarship to come to Cambridge to study for his PhD at the Department of Chemical Engineering and was a student at St John’s College. His particular field is interfacial flows and turbulent stratified and buoyancy-driven flows. He has made a major contribution to fluid dynamics, overturning a century-old theory about the origin of hydraulic jumps, leading to a new understanding of interfacial flows. His work has important applications for airborne disease transmission and ventilation in hospitals. In 2019 he moved to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics as a Research Associate. He became a Research Fellow of Darwin in 2021, held a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship and is currently a Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow at DAMTP.
Dr Mairi Kilkenny of the Department of Biochemistry has been elected as an Official Fellow and College Lecturer in Biological Sciences. Her research focusses on the molecular mechanisms of human DNA replication. Dr Kilkenny’s first degree was in Chemistry from the University of Cape Town. She followed this with an MSc from the Chemistry Department at Cape Town and then a PhD at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. From 2005-10 she was a Postgraduate Research Assistant at the Department of Structural Biology within the Institute of Cancer Research in London. From 2010 till 2022 she was a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Biochemistry in Cambridge and since 2020 she has been the Deputy Director of Teaching for the Department. From 2016 till 2022 she was a teaching Fellow and Director of Studies in Biological Natural Sciences and an undergraduate tutor at St Catharine’s College and has spent a year as a Fellow and postgraduate tutor at Churchill College.
Dr Jennifer Cobbe is joining the Law team at Queens’ as an Official Fellow and College Lecturer. She has been a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Computer Science and Technology since 2021 and is an Affiliated Lecturer at Computer Science. She also teaches students reading for the MSt at the Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge on AI Ethics and Society. Her research is primarily on legal responses to new technologies and focusses on interdisciplinary research on law, technology and society, including legal responses to automated decision-making and the development of legally compliant and
reviewable automated systems. It encompasses the socio-political power of tech companies, the impact of their business models on society, the structural conditions produced through new and emerging technologies, perspectives on law and regulation of technological infrastructure and ecosystems, the regulation of internet platforms and developments for facilitating legal and regulatory compliance. Her first degree was an LLB from the University of Hull. She then studied for an LLM on Law and Governance, followed by a PhD, in the Law Department at Queen’s University, Belfast. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She was a Research Associate at the Computer Science Department from 2019.
Dr Lorena Escudero Sànchez has been elected to a Bye-Fellowship in Mathematics. She teaches Mathematics for the Natural Science students at Queens’. Her background is in particle physics and she has been a Senior Research Assistant at the Department of Radiology at Addenbrooke’s since 2022. She concentrates on interdisciplinary research involving image analysis, big data, software development, pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence. From 2016-2019 she was a PDRA in the Department of Physics at Cambridge before moving to Radiology. 2021-22 she held the Borysiewicz Interdisciplinary Fellowship at Cambridge and since 2021 has also been a Turing Fellow at the Turing Institute, the U.K.’s national institute (based across several universities) for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. Her first degrees were BSc and MSc in Physics from the University of Salamanca in Spain. She then studied for a further MSc at Salamanca in Cosmology and Particle Physics before embarking on a PhD in Particle Physics at the University of Valencia, Spain. She was a PDRA at Darwin before transferring as a Rokos PDRA to Queens’ in 2022.
Dr Michael Loy has been elected as a Bye-Fellow. He was an undergraduate at Queens’ 2012-15, reading Classics, and won the University’s Wace Medal at the end of his third year. After an MPhil in Classical Archaeology at Churchill College, he embarked on a PhD at Pembroke College. From 2019 until 2022 he was the Assistant Director of the British School of Athens. He has been involved in a number of excavations at classical sites, most notably on the island of Samos. He has been a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Nottingham University but returned to Cambridge in 2022 as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow. Since 2023 he has been a Rokos PDRA at Queens’. From January 2024 he took over as Praelector and as Director of Studies in Classics.
Dr Krisztina Ilko has been elected to a Research Fellowship. She is a native of Hungary and a specialist in Medieval European Art, especially of the early Renaissance in Italy. She has a B.A. in History of Art and Classical Philology from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and two Masters degrees, the first in Medieval Art History awarded jointly by Eötvös Loránd University and the Universita degli Studi di Firenze, the second in Medieval Studies from the Central European University in Budapest. She continued her studies with a Ph.D. based at Pembroke College and the University of Cambridge Department of the History of Art on ‘The
Artistic Patronage of the Augustinian Friars in Central Italy 1256-c1370’. She has spent two years as a Predoctoral Research Fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She has supervised in both the History of Art and the Historical Triposes and has spent a year as a Teaching Assistant at the Department of the History of Art. She was elected as a Research Fellow for 2022 but deferred her appointment for a year. She spent the year as a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford.
Dr Jonathan Tsay was elected as a Research Fellow at Queens’ from October 2023. Originally from Taiwan, Dr Tsay’s first degree was in Theoretical Mathematics from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. He then undertook a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, specialising in clinical rehabilitation, before embarking on a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. His aim has been to try better to understand the computationallevel principles and neuronal mechanisms supporting skilled actions and in particular the influence of the cerebellum and proprioception in cognition. His ambition is to use a variety of techniques, including computational modelling, sensorimotor psycho-physics, neuropsychological testing and neuro-imaging to generate new insights into learning and memory, sensorimotor control and decision-making. He has already won an Outstanding Scholar in Neuroscience Award from the American National Institute of Health. Sadly for Queens’, Dr Tsay has been appointed to an Associate Professorship at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he has been tasked with setting up his own laboratory, and so resigned his Research Fellowship after less than a year. He left Cambridge in June 2024.
In January 2024 Dr Devon Indar became an Official Fellow and College Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology where he has been appointed primarily for his teaching. A native of Trinidad, he studied for an MEng at the University of Manchester before embarking on a PhD there in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science. He also has a Certificate of University Teaching form the Universities of Ontario and Trinidad and Tobago. Before coming to Cambridge, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago from 2016. Before that he was a Teaching and Laboratory Assistant at Manchester and a Tutor in one of the halls of residence. His research interests include heterogeneous catalysis, nanoparticle synthesis and characterisation, interface chemistry and the upgrading of lignocellulosic biomass into fuels.
Several Fellows have left the College. Dr David Butterfield resigned his Official Fellowship at the end of the calendar year for personal reasons. He has been at Queens’ for 12 years and, as well as directing studies in Classics, he served Queens’ as Archivist and as Praelector. He has organised the Thomae Smithi Academia (a forum for discussion for members of the SCR) for the last six years. He was renowned for his prowess on the squash court and his championing of the College Nursery. He has also resigned his post in the Faculty of Classics and he and
his family have returned to North-West England. He is now the Literary Editor of ‘The Critic’ magazine. Professor Mauro Guillén, Fellow of Queens’ since 2021, Professor of Management and Director of the Judge Business School, has, mainly for family reasons, reluctantly made the decision to return to the United States and resigned his Fellowship with effect from September 2023. In deepening links between the Judge Institute and Queens, Mauro contributed to efforts to expand our interdisciplinary activities. Dr Joanna Bellis has been a Bye-Fellow in English, specialising in medieval English, for five years, she is moving to an Official Fellowship in English at Christ’s College. She taught English Literature and its Contexts, Practical Criticism, and the Part II optional medieval papers for Queens’, and also helped out with Direction of Studies. She played a key role in identifying ways in which we can strengthen our HR policies. Dr Lisa Mullen is also moving to an Official Fellowship at another college: in her case Fitzwilliam College. She has been assisting with the teaching of English as a Bye-Fellow at Queens’ for the last year. She teaches Modern and Contemporary Literature as a Teaching Associate of the English Faculty. Dr Ilona Kater, who has been a Bye-Fellow in Ecology for nine months, is also moving on from Queens’. Her research is focused on Northern and Arctic ecology, examining the complex relationships between human activity, the physical environment, and the living environment. She stepped in at very short notice to help with Direction of Studies in Geography for 2022-23. Dr Lauren Davies has ended her bye-fellowship. She has been a Bye-Fellow at Queens’ for two years during her Leverhulme Fellowship and has been very supportive of our teaching in physical geography.
Three senior Fellows of Queens’ retired at the end of the academic year and all become Life Fellows.
Professor Richard Weber has retired from teaching and college office at the age of 70. He has been a Bye-Fellow for the last three years. He was born and initially brought up in the United States but came to the U.K. as a teenager with his parents and went to Solihull School. He was naturalised as a British citizen many years ago. He read Mathematics at Downing College before joining the Fellowship at Queens’ as a Research Fellow in 1977. He was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer (initially in the Department of Engineering) by the University in 1978 and was immediately promoted by Queens’ to an Official Fellowship, becoming Assistant Director of Studies in Mathematics. He became Director of Studies in Maths in 1985. He has supervised extensively for the College, notably on the mathematical fields of probability, statistics, and optimisation. His University teaching modules included Probability in Part IA, Statistics, Optimisation and Markov Chains in Part IB and Applied Probability in Part II. He was famous for supplementing work in supervisions on the standard example sheets with mind-stretching puzzles to help mathematicians develop their insight and intuition about the concepts in his specialist fields. In 1994 he was appointed Churchill Professor of Operational Research but happily chose to stay at Queens’. He was Director of the Statistical Laboratory within the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics from 1999 to 2009. His work in mathematics has centred on the mathematics
of large complex systems subject to uncertainty. He has also made contributions to the fields of stochastic scheduling, Markov decision processes, queuing theory, the probabilistic analysis of algorithms, the theory of communications pricing and control, and rendezvous search. He served the College for many years as an Undergraduate Tutor and latterly as a Postgraduate Tutor. He was Vice-President of Queens’ 1996-2007 and again 2018-20. He retired from the University and from his chair in 2017 but, as the Anthony L Lyster Fellow, continued to teach for Queens’ and undertake a variety of administrative posts within the College. He designed and implemented the last Presidential election process with his characteristic quiet efficiency. He lived in Queens’ for most of his 46 years as a Research Fellow and Official Fellow but has now moved to London, where he has owned a flat for many years. He will be much missed by the Society though it is to be hoped that his visits back to Cambridge will be frequent.
Professor Richard Fentiman has also retired and becomes a Life Fellow. He is an Oxford graduate and practised as a solicitor in London before his appointment as an Assistant Lecturer in Law by the University in 1981. He was elected an Official Fellow of Queens’ that same year. During the last 42 years, he has served the College in many important ways. Richard is one of our longest, if not the longest, serving Directors of Studies in Law. He took on the job in 1986 and has been in post ever since. In his early days at the College, he was also a Tutor. He was promoted to a full Lectureship, then to a Readership in Private International Law by the University. He became Professor of Private International Law in 2011. His research is concerned with all aspects of private international law in relation to civil litigation, with particular reference to issues relating to jurisdiction, cross-border injunctions, the proof of foreign law, and the analysis of risk in cross-border transactions and disputes. He has written two important textbooks: International Commercial Litigation (2nd edition, 2015), and Foreign Law in English Courts (1998), both published by O.U.P., and numerous articles on private international law and international commercial litigation. In the Faculty of Law he has taught the postgraduate course on International Commercial Litigation since its introduction in 1993. In 2014 he was awarded a Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching by the University. Between 2015 and 2018 he was Chair of the Faculty of Law. He was elected to the American Law Institute in 2007, and to the International Academy of Comparative Law in 1996. He has been extensively involved in law reform, nationally and internationally, in the areas of private international law and international civil procedure. He has given evidence to UK Parliamentary committees, and has advised the UK Government, the American Law Institute, the Financial Markets Law Committee, and the European Commission. In 2016 he gave evidence to the House of Lords EU Justice Committee on the implications of Brexit for civil litigation, which was extensively cited in the Committee’s Final Report, and in 2018 gave evidence to a committee of the European Parliament. He is a member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law. Richard is an Honorary King’s Counsel; he has been much involved in major transnational disputes and has appeared as an
expert witness on English Law in foreign courts. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates of Law by the Universities of Athens and of Cyprus. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, at Cornell Law School and at the Institute of Comparative Law, Tokyo. Latterly he has held the title of Arthur Armitage Fellow at Queens’. A Law Fellowship in his name at Queens’ has been endowed.
Professor David Menon has retired as Professor and Head of the Division of Anaesthesia at Addenbrookes Hospital, Principal Investigator in the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, and Co-Chair of the Acute Brain Injury Programme at the University. He has been a Professorial Fellow of Queens’ since 2001. He trained in Medicine, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the Jawaharlal Institute in India, Leeds General Infirmary, The Royal Free Hospital and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and was an MRC Research Fellow at the Hammersmith Hospital before coming to Cambridge. In 2006 he was also appointed to the British Oxygen Professorship at the Royal College of Anaesthetists. He is Co-Chair of the Executive Board of the European Brain Injury Consortium and a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He was the first Director of the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at Addenbrooke’s, where he established the first recognised training programme for specialist neuro-critical care in the UK. Protocols developed in the NCCU have been shown to improve clinical outcome in severe head injury and rationalise the management of acute intracranial haemorrhage. His research interests have included neurocritical care, secondary brain injury, neuroinflammation, and metabolic imaging of acute brain injury. He has also published on the physiology of coma and the vegetative state, and on mechanisms of anaesthetic action in the brain. He has long served as a mentor to the Queens’ clinical medical students and has been very supportive of the Medical Society. His long association with Queens’ will be commemorated in the inauguration of the Rokos-Menon Senior Research Fellowship. The first recipient of the award will come to the College in October 2024. In the King’s Birthday Honours in June 2024, Professor Menon was awarded the C.B.E. for services to Neurocritical Care. The award recognises David’s transformational research on traumatic brain injury, the foundation of the globally respected Neurosciences Critical Care Unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and his work as Head of Anaesthesia in the Department of Medicine.
The Vice-President, Professor Marie Edmonds, has been on sabbatical leave this year; Professor Julia Gog has been Acting Vice-President in her stead.
Dr Tyler Denmead has been appointed Dean of College to replace Professor Dixon. Professor Lucia Reisch took over form Dr Janet Maguire as Deputy Dean of College in the summer of 2024.
Dr Cristina Peñasco has been granted two years special leave in order to pursue an opportunity at Banque de France.
Professor Alastair Beresford has been appointed Head of the Department of Computer Science. Professor Martin Dixon became Head of the Department of Land Economy on 1 January 2024.
In October Dr Christopher Clark was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering. He has therefore been upgraded from a Bye-Fellowship to an Official Fellowship. In November Professor Howard Stone was elected to the Tata Steel Chair of Metallurgy.
Professor Christopher Bickerton has been promoted to a full Professorship (Grade 12) and has taken the title Professor in Modern European Politics and Society. Dr Peter McMurray has been promoted to an Associate Professorship (Grade 10).
Late in August it was announced that Professor Julia Gog has been awarded the Hedy Lamarr Prize by the Institute of Mathematics and its Application. Professor Ashwin Seshia has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. FindAPhD.com has announced Dr Tyler Denmead as their National PhD Supervisor of the Year for 2023. This award recognises a PhD supervisor who goes out of their way to give their students an outstanding experience. Professor James Jackson is to be congratulated on his election as a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens. He shares this honour, which has to be approved by the Prime Minister of Greece, with Professor James Diggle. Dr Ramsey Faragher has been awarded the Dennis Gabor Medal from the Institute of Physics “for distinguished contributions to the application of physics in an industrial, commercial or business context”. His innovations in the fields of new signal processing and sensor fusion techniques for GPS receivers have also won him the Harold Spencer Jones Medal from the Royal Institute of Navigation. Dr Inigo Martincorena, Fellow Commoner and former Research Fellow of Queens’, has been awarded the prestigious Dr Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award 2023 for his pioneering research in understanding mutations in healthy tissues and their effect on the development of cancer.
Dr John Wilson has been appointed as a Fellow Commoner for three years to provide expert advice to Queens’ on the ongoing decarbonisation projects. Qun Yang has also been made a Fellow Commoner whilst she is the ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ through the auspices of the Entrepreneurship Society.
This year’s Rokos Postdoctoral Research Associates, who become members of the SCR, are Javier Aguilera-Lizarraga (Pharmacology), Francisco Berkemeier (Pathology), Sara de Felice (Neuroscience), Sarah Down (Land Economy), Matthew Hines (German), Catherine Klesner (Archaeology), and Francesca van Tartwijk (Chemical Engineering). Paul Lohmann (Economics), Joana Nascimento (Social Anthropology) and Dr Peter Ochieng (Computer Science) have been renewed as Rokos PDRAs for another year.
It has also been agreed to offer all the postgraduate research associates who work in the team of Professor Lucia Reisch, El-Erian Professor of Behavioural Economics and Policy, at the Judge Institute of Management or at the Institute for Climate Change should be offered membership of the SCR. The current PDRAs in these two fields are Dr Jack Atkinson, Dr Tianzhang Cai, Dr Laura Cimoli, Dr Surbhi Goel, Dr Filipa Goncalves, Dr Tom Meltzer, Dr Henry Moss, Dr Roly Perera, Dr Paul Richmond and Dr Marion Weinzierl
Apart from the former College Nurse, Mairi Hurrell, and the former President, Lord Eatwell, no Honorary Fellows have been elected for more than five years. Over that period seven Honorary Fellows have died. Early in 2023 the College set up a small committee to consider nominations from the Fellowship for Honorary Fellowships. The Committee recommended that ten of those nominated should be invited to accept the honour and all ten have done so. Therefore, the following have been elected and admitted as Honorary Fellows of Queens’:
The Rt Hon. Sir David Latham (1960) read Law at Queens’. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1964, became a Bencher in 1989 and was appointed Q.C. in 1985. He served as a Recorder 1983-92. He was made a High Court Judge in 1992 and was the Presiding Judge for the Midlands and Oxford Circuit. In 2000 he was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal. He had a considerable reputation as a judge who was trusted to resolve the most sensitive and challenging of cases. As Vice-President of the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, he was the country’s second most senior judge in Criminal matters, and, on retirement in 2009, was appointed by the Government as Chairman of the Parole Board. He was a high profile and highly respected Chairman, notable for defending the Board’s independence. He retired from the Board in 2012. He is a loyal supporter of Law at Queens’, and a regular attender at College activities with a great interest in the younger generation of lawyers. He has frequently spoken at student events.
Sir John Chisholm, read Mechanical Sciences (Engineering) at Queens’, matriculating in 1965. He worked for General Motors, Scicon Ltd and CAP Scientific Ltd before becoming Managing Director of Sema Group Ltd. In 1991 he was asked by the Ministry of Defence to organise all their research organisations into a single entity, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). Much of DERA became a private company, QinetiQ, and John became CEO, from 2005 Executive Chairman. He has been President of the Electrical Engineering Association and of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institute of Physics. He was knighted in 1999. In 2006 he took over as Chair of the Medical Research Council, serving until 2012. He was Chair of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts 2009-2016. He was Executive Chairman of Genomics UK 2013-19. During his tenure the 100,000 Genomes Project was completed (to sequence and study the role our genes play in health and disease) making the UK a world leader in genomic medicine and bringing huge potential life-changing benefits to NHS patients. He has been a strong supporter of Queens’ Entrepreneurial Society since its inception.
Sir Robin Millar read Law at Queens’, matriculating in 1970. Even then his eyesight was poor and deteriorating and he lost his sight completely over the next few years. Undeterred and relying on what Boy George described as “the best ears in the business”, he became one of the world’s most successful record producers with over 150 gold and platinum discs and 44 No.1 hits to his name. He was a pioneer of digital technology. He is a Fellow of the Association of Professional Recording Services and an Honorary Professor of the London College of Music. He produced the Atlanta Olympic Games opening ceremony in 1996. He also co-founded Blue Raincoat Chrysalis Group, of which he became Executive Chairman, specialising in music publishing, record releases and artist management (with over 200 artists on the books). He was a Founding Director of the Institute for Apprenticeships. He is now the Chair of ‘Scope’, the umbrella charity for those with disabilities. He was awarded the CBE in 2010 and knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to disability. He is a music artist and guitarist in his own right with both solo albums and albums as a member of a band to his name.
Joanna Scanlan is a distinguished actress and TV screenwriter, best known for her roles in programmes such as The Thick of It, Getting On, Little Britain, Puppy Love, The Larkins, No Offence, Black Ops and Doc Martin. She read History at Queens’, matriculating in 1980. After graduation she lectured in Drama at Leicester Polytechnic and at the Arts Council of Great Britain. She began a career as a professional actress aged 34. She was nominated for 3 BAFTA TV awards for Getting On, one for Best Actress in a Comedy and two for Best Screenwriting. She was also nominated for a screenwriter’s award at the Royal Television Society Awards and won the Writers Guild of Great Britain Best Television Comedy for the show. In 2022 she received the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film After Love. She has appeared on stage and has had roles in over 20 films, ranging from Girl with a Pearl Earring to Kinky Boots, The Other Boleyn Girl to Hot Hot Hot, The Invisible Woman to Bridget Jones’s Baby, as well as in more than 35 television shows.
Dr Jane Osbourn, OBE, FMedSci, is eminent in the world of Biotechnology – her most important contribution to medical sciences has been in the generation of antibody-based medicines in the Biotech and Pharma industry. She matriculated at Queens’ in 1984 and read Natural Sciences, specialising in Biochemistry, and went on to a PhD at the John Innes Centre for Plant Science Research in Norwich. She moved into medical research when she became a PDRA at the Department of Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. At Cambridge Antibody Technologies she contributed to the invention of several important drugs and was then a key member of the MedImmune team at Astra Zeneca that delivered Durvalumab, Moxetumumab, Broadalumab, Benralizumab and influenza vaccines to the market. These drugs have been of enormous benefit to human health. She has been Chair of the Bioindustry Association and remains on the Board. Also, she has been a Director of Cambridge Enterprise and of Babraham Bioscience Technologies and is an Honorary Fellow of the Cambridge Business School. She is currently Chair of Mogrify, a Cambridge-based therapy
company, and Chief Scientific Officer of Alchemab Therapeutics (which she co-founded), a pioneering biotech company that harnesses the body’s natural immune responses to develop novel antibody therapeutics for hard-to-treat cancers, neurodegenerative conditions and infectious diseases. She was awarded the OBE in 2019 for services to Human Monoclonal Antibody drug research, development and technology. She is married to Professor John Richer (Queens’ 1984, a former Fellow).
Tom Holland matriculated in 1986 and read English. Over the last twenty years he has become one of the UK’s leading public historians. His non-fiction books, such as Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic (2003; Hessell-Tiltman Prize, 2004), Persian Fire (2005; Runciman Award, 2006), Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom (2008), In the Shadow of the Sword (2012), Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar (2015) and most recently Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (2019) and Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age (2023), have enjoyed very wide sales and highly favourable reviews. He has also presented a number of TV documentaries and has been politically active in a number of causes, most notably in urging greater concern for the fate of the Yazidi people. He is currently the co-presenter, with Dominic Sandbrook, of a popular and wellrespected podcast, The Rest is History. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and is married to Queens’ Alumna Sadie Lowry (1986).
Khalid Abdalla is a British-Egyptian Actor and Producer and Media Activist. He read English at Queens’, matriculating in 2000. He starred in both the Academy Award nominated and BAFTA winning movie United 93 and the film Green Zone (both directed by Paul Greengrass, Honorary Fellow). Other credits include The Kite Runner, Fortunes of War, The Crown (playing Dodi Fayed), Hanna and Moon Knight. He was among the protesters in Tahir Square in Cairo in 2011. He became a founding member of the Mosireen Collective in Cairo, a group of revolutionary filmmakers and activists dedicated to supporting citizen media across Egypt in the wake of the Arab Spring and acted in the award-winning documentary The Square about the Cairo protests, playing himself. He has been on the Board of the National Student Drama Festival. He is married to his Queens’ contemporary Cressida Trew
Professor James Maynard read Mathematics at Queens’, matriculating in 2005. After Part III, he went to Oxford for his D.Phil. After post-doctoral research at Montreal, Berkeley and Princeton, he returned to Oxford and was appointed a Research Professor at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, in 2017. He is currently Professor of Number Theory and a Fellow of St John’s College at Oxford. He has won a number of distinguished mathematics prizes, but in 2022 it was announced that he had won a Fields Medal (often seen as on a level with a Nobel Prize as there is no Nobel Prize for mathematics). His research, and the work that his Fields Medal recognises, is in analytical number theory, and the result he is best known for relates to the gaps between prime numbers, particularly showing there are infinitely many pairs of primes N apart. James reduced N from 70 million
to 600. In 2023 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and has also won the New Horizons in Mathematics Award.
Grace Prendergast, who matriculated in 2021 at Queens’ to read for an MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration in the Department of Land Economy, is one of the world’s leading female rowers. With her partner Kerri Gowler, she won Gold, rowing for New Zealand, in the Coxless Pairs at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (held in 2021). She also won a Silver Medal in the Eights competition. She has been World Champion in the Pairs or Fours competitions five times, the last at the World Rowing Championships in 2022 in Racice, Czech Republic, whilst a student at Queens’. She holds 15 New Zealand National Premier titles as well as World Best Times in both the Women’s Pair and Fours. She rowed for Cambridge in the 2022 Boat Race. In 2019 she was the highest ranked female rower in the world. She holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Business Studies from Massey University and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours. She is, of course, the College’s first ever Olympic Champion.
Dambisa Moyo, Baroness Moyo is a leading economist and thought leader who is also an active corporate board member and an advisor to governments in the UK and abroad. Born in Zambia, she attended the American University in Washington (BS, MBA), Harvard (Master of Public Administration) and St Anthony’s College, Oxford (DPhil). She worked at the World Bank for two years and, in 2001, joined Goldman Sachs. She became Head of Economic Research and Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa and left the firm in 2008. She then joined the boards of several major companies. She is also a well-known commentator, public speaker and columnist. She is perhaps best known as the author of five bestsellers that have shaped conversations and focussed attention on several important issues. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa was published in 2009, followed by How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead (2011), Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World (2012), Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth – and How to Fix It (2018) and finally How Boards Work: And How They Can Work Better in a Chaotic World (2021). She is on the Bretton Woods Committee and is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Global Economic Imbalances. She was made a Life Peer in 2022 and sits for the Conservative Party. She became associated with Queens’ as an early participant in the Angevin Talks and is keen to act as a mentor for our students as well as to give talks on topical economic and political issues.
JONATHAN HOLMES
This academic year the Thomae Smithi Academia bade farewell to Dr David Butterfield after six successful years as Secretary: the mantle has passed to Dr Gareth Atkins. In view of the untimely death of Dr Emily Webster in the Michaelmas Term, there was only opportunity for a meeting that term, so there have been four during the year. As is traditional, these were held in the Old SCR on Monday evenings at 8.45p.m. and comprised a fifteen-minute presentation on a topic of interest and an hour’s free-ranging discussion.
The first three papers were all on subjects of current interest. In November, Dr Jonathan Dowson reflected on ‘Mental health and mental Illness: current concepts and their consequences’. In February, Dr Federica Paddeu took her hearers through the intricacies of international law regarding reparations: ‘Confiscating Russian Central Bank assets: some legal and policy questions’. And in March, Dr Michael Loy explained the problems surrounding archaeology-as-intellectual-property: ‘“You can’t own the past!” Copyright and cultural heritage in (and out of) Greece’.
The year concluded in May with the annual wine meeting, when Dr Andrew Thompson spoke, in a sequel to last year’s theme, on ‘The Southern Rhone’.
GARETH ATKINS
The early career researchers from Queens’ College SCR and from Trinity Hall hosted reciprocal research presentation evenings. The first gathering took place at Queens’ on 20th July 2023 in DD47, followed by a second meeting at Trinity Hall on 7th September 2023. Each event consisted of flash talks showcasing research from both colleges, followed by informal discussions with a light buffet dinner. Flash talk presentations from Queens’ included contributions from Bye-Fellows, Junior Research Fellows, and Postdoctoral Research Associates on a wide variety of topics ranging from autism in children to the behavior of bees to volcano disaster response. These facilitated many interesting cross-disciplinary crosscollege discussions. We aim to repeat this event with Wolfson College in the forthcoming academic year.
TAMSIN SPELMAN
FELLOW 1968-2023
Brian Hebblethwaite was elected a Bye-Fellow and Chaplain of Queens’ in 1968. The following January, after the then Dean, the Revd Henry Hart, had told the Governing Body that he wished to relinquish some of his college offices, he became Dean of Chapel and an Official Fellow. In 1973 he was appointed a Lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity and taught Philosophy of Religion until he took early retirement from the University in 1999. He was a Tutor and Director of Studies in Philosophy and also in Theological and Religious Studies for many years. He married in 1991 and when his wife was ordained and appointed to a curacy in Framlingham in Suffolk, which meant, of course, that he would have to move there with her, he felt the time was right to take early retirement from Queens’. He became a Life Fellow in 1994. He died on 27th October 2023 at the age of 84.
Brian was born on 3rd January 1939 in Bristol, the only child of Cyril and Sarah Anne Hebblethwaite. His father, usually known as ‘Alderman’ Hebblethwaite, was very active in local politics and was later a Justice of the Peace and Lord Mayor of Bristol 1966-67. However, when Brian was very young, his father deserted the family and he was thereafter brought up solely by his mother. His life nearly came to a premature end when an incendiary bomb came through the roof onto the landing outside Brian’s bedroom during the Bristol blitz. Mrs Hebblethwaite managed to wrap the bomb in some old carpet and throw it in a bath of water kept for just such an eventuality. He was a pupil at Clifton College Preparatory School and then at Clifton College, Bristol, and excelled academically. At the age of 9 he first became friends with Brian Thorne (in later life Professor of Counselling at the University of East Anglia) at school. Brian T remembers, “Every Christmas Eve we two boys would huddle round his small radio set to listen to the Carols from King’s. His eyes would glisten with pleasure at the exquisite music, and he would be particularly attentive to newly commissioned carols or pioneering descants. Then there were the long summer days spent at Gloucestershire’s cricket ground in Bristol watching the likes of the great Wally Hammond and Len Hutton. Brian loved cricket with its ritualistic processes, its elegant skills and postures, its civilised customs”. Choral music and cricket were leitmotifs of the rest of Brian’s life.
Brian went up to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1958 to read Literae Humaniores (Classics). After graduating in 1961, he came to Cambridge to train for the Anglican priesthood at Westcott
House, Cambridge. The first two years of his training were spent at Magdalene College reading for a B.A. in Theology. Magdalen told Magdalene that he was “not very clever [but] his conduct is blameless”. It fell to Cambridge to witness not only his large capacity for fun, but also his impressive philosophical inquisitiveness and dedication. Before he was ordained, he also spent two semesters at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, perfecting his German and furthering his theological studies, particularly into the fundamental principles of dogmatics and theological ethics, conspicuous by their absence in Cambridge. He was ordained deacon in 1965 and priest in 1966, spending three years as Curate of All Saints, Elton, a district of Bury in Lancashire, in the Diocese of Manchester. Then in 1968 he was appointed as Chaplain and as a Bye-Fellow of Queens’. It was perhaps fitting that his introduction to Queens’ undergraduates was at a cricket match. He arrived to take up residence in time for the traditional Long Vacation Term ‘Fellows and Staff versus Students in Residence’ cricket game at Barton Road. On being introduced to the assembled students, which included his future colleague Jonathan Holmes, he exclaimed, “Call me Brian!”. In a more deferential age, his great good humour, warm, friendly and informal manner rapidly endeared him to the college undergraduate community and enabled him to weather, rather more successfully than some of the older Fellows, what Henry Hart always referred to as “The Nightmare Years” of the student revolution of the late sixties/early seventies. Epitomising a new generation of dons, he was equally at home joining the students for a drink in the bar as he was socialising with the Fellows in the SCR. His general ‘bonhomie’ failed, however, to penetrate some of the fustier corners of the Fellowship. At that time breakfast was provided for Fellows in the SCR. Coming down one morning early in his first term he espied the Vice-President, Professor Harold Kirkaldy, reading a newspaper in an armchair. “Good morning, Harold”, Brian exclaimed. Professor Kirkaldy looked up from his paper, fixed Brian with a steely glare, and said, “Good morning, good morning, good morning –let that suffice for the whole term”, before resuming his reading.
Bright and breezy as a young Chaplain and Dean, he would encourage students with cries of “splendid” or admonish them with a cheery “monstrous”. He made many friends, especially in these early years, and particularly amongst members of the Chapel Choir, which lasted a lifetime. To those who only knew the more august and staid Dean of later years, it is perhaps difficult to imagine the dynamic young man who climbed one night up to the cab of a large crane during the building of Cripps Court for a dare. He presided genially over the annual Chapel house parties (first at Bishop Woodford House in Ely, then at Hengrave Hall in Suffolk). No evening was complete without a reading from Winnie the Pooh and an excursion to the local hostelry (“Time for a little something”, Brian would exclaim when it was time for a trip to the pub). Another annual highlight was the Choir carol singing after the dinner following the Carol Service. Brian had a very good voice and could often be persuaded to sing a solo in such classics as “Three kings from heavenly lands afar”. The party games could be uproarious.
Queens’ quickly realised it had not only an effective Chaplain but also a serious scholar of great academic potential on its hands and so, when Henry Hart announced that he wished to
retire as Dean of Chapel, the Governing Body had no hesitation in appointing Brian as Dean of Chapel (Henry continued for a while as Dean of College) and also as a Tutor and upgrading him to a full Official Fellowship from January 1969. In October 1973 he was appointed by the University as an Assistant Lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity. He taught, in particular, Philosophy of Religion. In 1977 he was upgraded to a permanent Lectureship and served the University in that capacity until he took early retirement in 1999. He is remembered for his healthy approach to Faculty summer away days, wearing a fetching sunhat which concealed a radio for essential access to Test Match Special. He was appointed Director of Studies in Philosophy at Queens’ in 1973 and took over from Henry Hart as Director of Studies in Theological and Religious Studies as well when Henry retired in 1979. He also took over the D Society in 1969, renaming it the E Society. The Society met several times a term. Academics from the College or the wider University would give a talk on their particular speciality but designed to be open to a general audience. All students and dons were welcome to attend and lively discussion of the topic in hand invariably followed. He was a great supporter of the Fellows’ discussion group, the Thomae Smithi Academia, even in the years after he retired. Anyone who visited Brian’s rooms could not fail to be impressed by the large piles of books in the process of being read beside his armchair. The piles never got any shorter, but there was a regular turnover of the books as they were finished. His rooms were lined to the ceiling with bookshelves, and he read widely and avidly.
In the early 1970s Brian purchased a moped. This led to the writing of an affectionate ditty about him, ‘The Entry of the Queen of Deans’, to be sung to the tune of the Entry of the Queen of Sheba by Handel. The opening lines were, “Hebblethwaite’s a celibate, who’s never late, because he’s gone and bought himself a mustard-coloured moped…”. Almost everyone from the Choir from that era remembers the words. “Monstrous”, no doubt Brian exclaimed on first hearing it, but he appreciated the joke. Perhaps Brian had the last laugh, because a summer or two later he drove the moped overland to India, a “prodigious” accomplishment, as he would have said. This trip led to a life-long love of India. Brian championed the Delhi Brotherhood and encouraged his fellow clerics to visit Delhi and stay at St Stephen’s House. He also raised money for Goodwill Children’s Homes which cares for destitute children and orphans across India. In the academic year 1983-84 he visited India to deliver the Teape Lectures in Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore. There was also a memorable visit some years later to his friend Ant Newman (a former member of the Choir, rumoured to be the author of ‘The Entry of the Queen of Deans’) who had become a Headmaster in Sri Lanka. Brian used the opportunity to attend several England v Sri Lanka Test Matches.
Brian’s political views were known to be left leaning. On one occasion, during Sunday Evensong, the title over the door to his rooms was changed, by a mischievous Chapel Clerk, to ‘The Red Dean’. Dr John Green had by then become Dean of College, and the title over his door, also on Essex staircase, read, ‘The Green Dean’. Brian later became one of the earliest members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) (later merged with the Liberals to
form the Liberal Democrats). By the time of the merger, he had rejoined the Labour Party. Always fond of fine wine and good food, he lost few opportunities to attend a good dinner. He was one of the founders of the short-lived Francis Master Society dining club (named after a seventeenth century Fellow frequently admonished for ‘loose living’) and even joined Ye Cherubs. On the other hand, he was also particularly partial to a Kentucky Fried Chicken, usually stopping for one on his way back from any visit to London, and he insisted that rice pudding be made available at every high table lunch.
Brian developed a great interest in church architecture and became something of an expert on its obscurer details. He liked nothing better than to potter round an area of the countryside in his car, armed with the relevant volume of Nikolaus Pevsner’s ‘The Buildings of England’, ‘pevsnerising’ a district. He assiduously collected the books which were published over the years county by county. In due course there was only one county, Essex, yet to come out. Brian pestered Penguin so much that they sent him an advance copy well before the official publication date. He summoned all his friends to a ‘Pevsner Completion Party’, “an evening of malt whisky and Wagner”. As well as Wagner, Brian was especially fond of the operas of Benjamin Britten. He built up a large collection not only of recordings but of videos of operas, recorded from the television over the years. When told that the College nurse was the sister of Ronnie Barker, he looked blank. “One of the two Ronnies on the TV”, his informant tried. “Oh, I only ever watch opera on the television”, replied Brian. This is perhaps a classic example of self-parody – Brian certainly watched news, current affairs, cricket and other programmes on television, but no-one would ever have accused him of keeping himself au courant with popular culture. He kept in touch with Richard Hickox, the organ scholar when he arrived at Queens’, and delighted in keeping track of his career as a conductor. Brian always made a point of attending Covent Garden productions which Richard was directing, and also visited him at home, getting to know his family, when on holiday in Cornwall (which, of course, offered many interesting ancient churches to explore).
Almost all his life Brian enjoyed walking in the hills and mountains, usually in the Lake District. Sometimes he joined the larger parties of Queens’ dons, students, and Old Members on the ‘Hart Walks’ (organised by Henry Hart and then later by Charles Moseley). More often he preferred to go on walking expeditions by himself or with one or two colleagues from the College, perhaps on occasion with two or three students. Few things gave him more joy than a long day out on the hills followed by a good dinner and a convivial evening in the bar. Especially when he was younger, he also had a great interest in bird watching and possessed a good library of books on ornithology.
He bought a small, thatched cottage in the village of Wetherden, near Stowmarket in Suffolk. He would retreat there for the first part of the weekend in termtime and in the vacations to read, think and write in the quiet and peace of the countryside. He later upgraded to a bigger cottage in the same village which he purchased from Iain Wright, the Director of Studies
in English at Queens’. From time to time, he entertained selected friends and colleagues or the Choir or his theological students to tea or to fish and chips from the local emporium, perhaps followed by a visit to the local hostelry.
Brian had some assistance with the running of the Chapel and the pastoral work, notably in the mid-1970s from Sister Rosemary Dawn (Dawn Watling), a Member of the Chapel Choir when a Theology student at Newnham College. Later she was among the very first batch of women to be ordained. In October 1977, Queens’ appointed a full-time chaplain to help Brian with his chapel duties. The Revd Christopher Tuckett, an Old Queensman, was Chaplain 1977-79 and was followed by the Revd John Sharp. Their presence allowed Brian to take his full quota of sabbatical leaves and to concentrate more on his academic work. During this period Brian wrote a number of important books. Evil, Suffering and Religion was published in 1976, The Problems of Theology followed, together with Christianity and Other Religions: Selected Readings (written jointly with John Hick), both in 1980. The Adequacy of Christian Ethics came out in 1981, The Philosophical Frontiers of Christian Theology: Essays presented to D.M. McKinnon (jointly edited with Stewart Sutherland) in 1982 and The Christian Hope in 1984. On the strength of his publications, Brian applied for and was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) by the University in 1984. This degree, with its distinctive black hood, is nowadays very rare at Cambridge and is only awarded after a rigorous assessment of academic credentials. From 1977 through to 1998 he served as Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Manchester. In 1982 he was also appointed Canon Theologian of Leicester Cathedral (a post which he held until 2001).
After John Sharp left Queens’ (he eventually became a Roman Catholic) at the end of 1982, the College did not have the resources to support a full-time Chaplain. Brian therefore asked Dr Jonathan Holmes (a long-standing member of the Chapel congregation, the Chapel Choir and the Christian Union who was a University Lecturer in Veterinary Anatomy) to help him in Chapel. This was formalised in October 1983 when Jonathan became Lay Chaplain. Over the years, and especially after Dr Holmes was ordained and became full-time Chaplain in 1989, Brian felt able to leave almost all the day-to-day Chapel administration, even the selection of chapel officials and organ scholars, and most of the pastoral work to Jonathan. He retained the selection of preachers for Sunday Evensong and, of course, continued to take his turn presiding at and delivering a short homily at Sunday morning communions (only every third week after the Revd Dr John Polkinghorne arrived as President). He had a portfolio of short homilies suitable for all the Sundays that fell in termtime for all three years of the lectionary. Brian also continued assiduously to attend Morning Prayer at 8.15 a.m. and Evening Prayer at 7.00 p.m. on weekdays in termtime. Every Wednesday Brian and Jonathan met after Morning Prayer to discuss the affairs of the Chaplaincy over breakfast and each week he presided over the ‘Chapel Committee’, which included the Organ Scholar and the Chapel Clerk, to select hymns, finalise the music, etc., for the following Sunday’s services.
He also, of course, preached once a term at Choral Evensong. In 1985 he published a selection of sermons, Preaching through the Christian Year. His sermons were densely argued and on occasion tricky for non-theologians to follow. They certainly made you think, and one often wanted to read them through again and again to consider each well-chosen phrase and well-balanced point to follow his argument. He was never afraid in his sermons to tackle quite controversial subjects such as evil and suffering in God’s world or other religions or the possibility of hell or universal salvation or even Conservative higher education policy. He was an early champion of the ordination of women and preached to that effect on several occasions (once at the annual Christmas visit of the Choir to the College living of Hickling, Nottinghamshire – unbeknown to Brian the Rector there was a vehement opponent of admitting women to the priesthood but, perhaps fortuitously, he missed Brian’s sermon when his wife had an accident and they had to go to A&E). In 1984 the JCR President stunned the Governing Body by asking, out of the blue, that the College allow mixed sharing. Brian was down to speak in Chapel the following Sunday and decided, perhaps a little unwisely, to preach on the subject. He pointed out that the College had some residual duties to the parents of students and that many Old Members would not be happy if mixed sharing was allowed. His principal argument against the idea was that such arrangements would be a hostage to fortune, should a relationship break down, and could result in major pastoral problems. He took particular pains to say he was not so old-fashioned as to argue against sexual relationships between students. Brian ended his sermon, “So mixed sharing in Queens’ just isn’t on. So there. Amen”. Unbeknown to him there was a ‘mole’ from Varsity, the University student newspaper, in the congregation. “Dean against Sex”, proclaimed the banner headlines, accompanied by an unfortunate picture of Brian outside Chapel in a rather elderly, shapeless raincoat and sporting a beret. The following week the story was in all the national papers. In the event the Governing Body allowed mixed sharing where there were separately lockable bedrooms and the controversy soon died down, but for several years thereafter all official JCR documents were ended with the words, “So there. Amen”.
In 1984 Brian’s colleague at the Divinity Faculty Don Cupitt, the Dean of Emmanuel College, published his highly controversial book, The Sea of Faith. Brian produced a response in 1988 entitled The Ocean of Truth: A Defence of Objective Theism (playing on the famous quote of Sir Isaac Newton, “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”). Brian was also one of the contributors to ‘The Truth of God Incarnate’, edited by Canon Michael Green. Though Brian and Don Cupitt got on well as friends and colleagues, Brian refused point blank ever to invite him to preach at Queens’. He also published The Incarnation in 1987. Divine Action: Studies inspired by the Philosophical Theology of Austin Farrar (edited jointly with Edward Henderson) followed in 1990. The Essence of Christianity: A Fresh Look at the Nicene Creed came out in 1996 and Ethics
and Religion in a Pluralistic Age in 1997. Throughout the period 1980-97 Brian was Editor for Ethics of the Theologische Realenzyklopädie; this involved many trips to Heidelberg to consult colleagues and the writing of a raft of articles for the encyclopaedia (necessarily in German, of course). Brian was President of the Society for the Study of Theology 1989-91. Professor Douglas Hedley, the present Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at Cambridge, has written an appreciation of Brian’s theology which is printed immediately after this article. Despite his great distinction in his field, Brian never showed any interest in preferment, either within the University or in the Church. He even quietly dropped the title Canon when he retired from Leicester. He was content to devote himself to his scholarship and to let his published work speak for itself.
Brian loved the cadences of the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible. Although, during the years the Church of England was producing experimental liturgies, especially for Holy Communion – Series I, II, III, etc. – he permitted the use of the new services by way of experimentation, he always preferred, throughout his years as Dean of Chapel, that services in Chapel be in ‘thee/thou’ language. When modern services were finally standardised in ‘The Alternative Service Book’ in 1980, Queens’, under Brian’s direction, used ‘Rite B’ for Holy Communion – the new liturgical order but in the old language. From time-to-time Brian had, slightly grumpily, to put up with more modern language services – at University confirmations, for instance. When it was Queens’ turn to host the service, Brian arranged for the modern liturgy to elide into Rite B Communion for the second half of the service. Unfortunately, the Bishop of Huntingdon was taken ill and replaced by the retired Archbishop of Uganda who was blind and had only memorised the modern language Rite A. For daily morning and evening prayer and, of course, Evensong on Sundays, Brian continued to insist on the use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer liturgies. In terms of churchmanship Brian was determinedly middle of the road. However, he allowed his chaplains free rein. When John Sharp put up stations of the cross in Chapel and introduced many Anglo-Catholic practices, he said not a word. Likewise, when Jonathan Holmes experimented with ‘informal’ late evening communions with choruses accompanied by guitar more to the taste of Christian Union members, Brian left him to it – he attended once, sat at the back, and made no comment.
An important feature of his tenure as Dean was Brian’s love of church music and consequent encouragement of the Chapel Choir. In the mid-1980s two decisions served to push the Choir towards increased professionalism. The first was the election of a second organ scholar, freeing the Senior Organ Scholar to concentrate more on conducting. The second was the introduction of a mid-week full cathedral-style Evensong. On Sundays the congregation was still encouraged to sing the responses and the psalm along with the Choir and there were three hymns. On Wednesdays the Choir could spread its wings. Choir tours had been introduced as early as 1974 and the growing reputation of the Choir led to more ambitious music and more external visits to sing services or put on concerts. If a concert was local, for instance at Sutton-in-the-Isle, where Brian’s great friend David Galilee (a frequent visitor to
Queens’ to preach – the hymn which included the line, “O Sabbath rest by Galilee…” was compulsory) was Vicar, Brian would occasionally come along to lend his support. In 1985 he even came on the choir tour to Germany, driving a minibus. One of the venues was Brian’s beloved Heidelberg and he took great delight in introducing choir members to the places and people who meant so much to him. At a joint service of the Old Catholic Church and the English Church, Brian showed off his ability to preach in German. It is a sad reflection of the times that in Queens’ as in most Cambridge colleges, as the Choir waxed, so the numbers of students and Fellows attending Chapel services waned.
Brian always ensured that the chapel services were well-ordered and efficiently run. He liked things to be just so, and, if plans went awry, or, say, the Chapel had been left untidy or an essay was late or a student was being particularly obtuse, he could become quite tetchy. Fortunately, his naturally equable disposition would soon reassert itself and his grumpy moods rarely lasted long. Brian was a well-known figure in Heffers – the staff there tell a story that he once enquired after a book about the philosopher Wittgenstein but was directed by the receptionist to the foreign travel section. “This woman knows nothing”, wailed Brian in a loud voice to be heard throughout the store. Brian no doubt had a characteristic footfall and, when Professor Ron Oxburgh was President, his morning walks to Chapel for Morning Service were invariably accompanied by and disturbed by, as he walked along the wall of the President’s Garden in Walnut Tree Court, frantic barking from the Oxburgh’s small dog on the other side of the wall. This irritated Brian so much that when the Governing Body was interviewing John Polkinghorne as a potential President, and each Fellow was allowed to ask a single question, Brian’s question was, “If you came to live in the Lodge, would you be bringing any pets with you?”.
By the late 1980s, Brian seemed to have grown into the persona of the archetypal bachelor don in an ivory tower (it helped that his rooms were in Essex right at the top of the staircase), surrounded by his books, steeped in scholarship, sustained by the liturgy and music of the Chapel services, content with the society of his fellow dons and the rhythms and rituals of the academic year. Then he met Emma. Brian’s name had been associated with two or three young women over the years, but nothing had ever come of those relationships. Emma Disley was a research student in Divinity at Corpus Christi College, the daughter of John Disley (one of the founders of the London Marathon) and Sylvia Cheeseman, both former British Olympic athletes. Despite a considerable age gap, Brian and Emma fell in love and they were married in St Botolph’s, followed by a reception at Queens’, in July 1991. Emma took Brian in hand. His somewhat portly figure was dramatically slimmed down, the old mac was replaced by a stylish gabardine, the beret with a fashionable trilby. The cross moods became less frequent. His previous indifference, even antagonism, to the world of pets, was replaced by a love of all things feline. He had a new, jaunty spring in his step. In 1993 his daughter Alexandra was born. His marriage and residence outside college meant inevitably his slow withdrawal from the centre of college life, and in 1994, after Emma’s ordination and
appointment to be Curate of Framlingham in Suffolk, he decided to take early retirement from the College after more than 25 years’ service as Dean of Chapel and an Official Fellow. He became a Life Fellow of Queens’.
When Emma’s curacy at Framlingham came to an end, she was appointed Chaplain of King’s College. She and Brian and Alex duly moved back to Cambridge to King’s College accommodation. Brian hugely enjoyed the opportunity to attend choral services at King’s and revel in the music. He also joined the University’s proctorial team, serving from 19972000, and was Senior Proctor for the academic year 1998-99, a position which he greatly enjoyed. He had decided to retire early from his University Lectureship in 1999 in order fully to concentrate on his academic writing. Meanwhile he and Emma had arranged to move to and create a family home in a large, converted barn in the village of Stretham on the A10 a few miles south of Ely and within easy commuting distance of Cambridge. A few days before they were due to move house, out of the blue Emma told Brian that she was leaving him and would not be coming with him to Stretham and that she was going to move in with Stephen Cleobury, the Director of Music at King’s.
Brian was devastated by the sudden and totally unexpected collapse of his marriage. He told more than one concerned friend at the time that he was surviving “on whisky and prayer”. Perhaps fortunately he had a lot to do sorting out the new house and unpacking all his books. He also had his proctorial duties and was very busy with academic work. There was a room at the Old Barn for Alex, of course, and over the next few years she stayed with him often –he loved being a parent. However, even without Emma, there was not enough room for all Brian’s books in the house. He had to convert part of the garage into an overflow library and visitors to Stretham were bemused to see that there was only room for half of Brian’s muchloved Volvo estate car under cover. In due course he settled back into a bachelor lifestyle and his life returned to some sort of equilibrium. He threw himself into his academic work and the early years at Stretham were very productive. Brian and Emma still had the joint responsibility of bringing up Alex, of course, which necessitated dialogue and discussion. Over the years and thanks to what Brian Thorne has called Brian Hebblethwaite’s “astonishing generosity of spirit”, a profound reconciliation came about. Brian and Emma, and Stephen Cleobury too, became again very good friends. He often spent holidays such as Christmas with them and Stephen and Emma’s two daughters became much cherished stepdaughters. Meanwhile Brian had the great joy of watching his beloved daughter Alex growing into an attractive, accomplished, and successful young woman. After a degree in Philosophy and History of Art at University College, London, she currently works in the art and design world in London. She is Assistant Curator & Executive Director Assistant at Cluster London.
Brian’s work as ethics editor of the multi-volume German Encyclopaedia of Theology, Theologische Realenzyklopädie, finally came to an end with the publication of the last volume in 1997. Whilst still living in Framlingham Brian published The Essence of Christianity in 1996.
Ethics and Religion in a Pluralistic Age appeared in 1997. The early 2000s saw the publication of a number of important books: a revised edition of Evil, Suffering and Religion, which came out in 2000, Philosophical Theology and Christian Doctrine in 2004, In Defence of Christianity in 2005, The Human Person in God’s World (edited jointly with Douglas Hedley) in 2006, and The Philosophical Theology of Austin Farrer in 2007. A new edition of The Christian Hope came out in 2010. He was the Gifford Lecturer at the University of Glasgow in 2001 and the Hensley Henson Lecturer at Oxford in 2002. Brian’s great friend Julius Lipner edited a fine Festschrift: Truth, Religious Dialogue and Dynamic Orthodoxy: Essays in Honour of Brian Hebblethwaite in 2005. In 2006 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University.
Brian’s great interests of cricket and opera continued and, after his retirement from Queens’ and then from the University, he was a frequent visitor to London, especially to attend Lords or Covent Garden. His base was the Athenaeum where he was a long-standing and much valued Member. He served on the Talk Dinner Committee there from 2004 until 2010. In recent years, however, his visits to the capital have been much less frequent and he contented himself with a subscription to Sky Sports so he could watch cricket on TV. He often visited the Lake District, sometimes joining his predecessor (occasionally joined also by his successor) as Dean of Chapel on the ‘Hart Walks’. There were also many trips to Cornwall and Suffolk and North Wales and elsewhere to walk, to visit old friends, to attend operas, to enjoy the countryside and the architecture.
As a Life Fellow at Queens’ from 1994 Brian was quite frequently to be seen at the College. He came into Cambridge regularly to visit the Faculty of Divinity and the University Library, on Wednesdays picking up John Polkinghorne to bring him into lunch at Queens’. He usually came to the termly Fellows’ Dinner and other social occasions and frequently attended reunion events, especially when old friends were scheduled to be there. He would also often spend summer mornings at Fenner’s, enjoying the cricket and what has been described as “the higher gossip” with the group of like-minded, mostly retired, dons who frequented the cricket ground. He attended Evensong in Chapel from time to time, especially when he knew the preacher but was much more often seen at Evensong in his old undergraduate college, Magdalene. He briefly acted as Chaplain of Magdalene in 2004 during an interregnum between chaplains. There, where there is still a tradition of Fellows coming to Chapel and dining in afterwards, he enjoyed the conviviality of meeting up with old colleagues and friends. On Sunday mornings he became a regular member of the congregation at Ely Cathedral. From time to time, he represented Queens’ and Lord Eatwell at University Sermons. From about 2013, however, as his health started to decline, his visits to Cambridge and to Queens’ became less and less frequent. One of his last trips to Cambridge was to attend the Memorial Service at King’s for Sir Stephen Cleobury in March 2022 – old friends at Queens’ were shocked by how unwell he looked. He managed, however, to get to the admission of new Fellows and subsequent dinner following the group photograph of the President and Fellows at the start of the Michaelmas Term 2022.
Late in February 2023 he collapsed and was blue-lighted to Addenbrookes Hospital. He spent a couple of very uncomfortable weeks in intensive care. By the time he was discharged he had decided that he did not want ever to return to hospital. He was entirely confined to his home and the lymphoma from which he had suffered for some time was clearly progressing as the summer wore on. His Christian faith was steady and sure and there was a real sense that he felt his work was finished. Many old friends were able to visit. Alex was there for a couple of days each week and helped to arrange carers. He was sustained by endless hours of cricket on his TV screen (with the annoying commentary turned down). He made great use of access to live-streamed services from various cathedrals and colleges. The familiar cadences of the liturgy, especially 1662 Evensong, and the wonderful choral music nourished and sustained him. He was kept company by his faithful cats Mimi and Musetta (like all his feline companions down the years named after famous opera characters). His sense of humour did not desert him, and his conversation was peppered with often hilarious anecdotes and many stories from the past. By the end of September, he was bedridden, and he died peacefully on 27th October 2023. It was perhaps fitting that it was Emma who happened to be visiting when the end came and was able to sit with Brian until he died.
At his own request his funeral was held in Queens’ Chapel on 1st December and was very well-attended by many friends, especially from Queens’ and from the Divinity Faculty. The service was led by the Dean of Chapel, the Revd Tim Harling, and the Chaplain, the Revd Anna Jones. His daughter, Alex, read a poem, ‘The Choir Invisible’ by George Eliot, and Emma read an excerpt from Brian’s book ‘The Christian Hope’. The Revd Dr Jonathan Holmes read a lesson from the Book of Revelation and the Revd Canon James Reveley from Ely Cathedral gave a short address. Brian had asked that there be no formal Memorial Service, so the service included a personal tribute from his lifelong friend Professor Brian Thorne and a eulogy on his academic work (published below) from Professor Douglas Hedley, the current Professor of the Philosophy of Religion. And, of course, there was plenty of music from the Chapel Choir.
Brian composed a short piece in the Blackwell Companion to Philosophy of Religion, entitled The Anglican Tradition, and one could describe his philosophical thought as characteristically Anglican. His most important mentors were Anglican philosopher-theologians, Austin Farrer and Donald McKinnon, figures who straddled the borderlands of philosophy and theology. We edited a volume together on Farrer and Brian was visibly amused when I moved to Parker Street, next to the old dwelling of his erstwhile mentor, McKinnon. And beyond them, Brian was the heir of Joseph Butler and John Henry Newman as a defender of the reasonableness of Christianity against the challenge from its cultured despisers.
The philosophy of religion is dialectical. It rests upon the ancient sic et non of the Western university. On the one hand, the intelligibility of the universe is one of the most remarkable and mysterious facts about it. That supports the prologue of the beloved disciple: in the beginning was the Divine Reason or Logos. On the other hand, the problem of evil and suffering is a stumbling block for believers and ammunition for the atheists. Indeed, Brian was conscious, like Butler and Newman, of the complex nature of rational assent, and he was sensitive to the interweaving of faith and reason, the heart and head. His prose was limpid and elegant, and one could sense his deep love of English literature, especially Shakespeare. As with an earlier generation at Oxford, such as Farrer and C.S. Lewis, Brian was one of those Christian thinkers who defended the Christian Faith in an increasingly hostile cultural and intellectual climate. He was convinced that Christianity cannot retreat into an intellectual ghetto. ‘Christian theologians, he once wrote, have nothing to fear, and everything to gain, from allowing their subject matter to be discussed and scrutinized in such an open context’. Without a robust sense of truth, Brian maintained, the apologetic task is futile. This was one reason for his rejection of anti-realism, especially in his public debates with his friend Don Cupitt, and Brian’s aversion to ‘theory’ or ‘post-structuralism’: such was Brian’s shunning of ‘continental’ philosophy. It certainly was not a rejection of European thought and culture tout court. He had studied at Heidelberg and was proud to be the editor of the Theologische Realenzyklopedie. He more than once recounted the tale about once skipping Gadamer’s weekly lecture, only to be informed that Heidegger had unexpectedly and unannounced turned up and spoken to the assembled students. Along with the self-deprecating humour was a genuine regret that he had missed the Sage of the Black Forest. I remember vividly driving to the European Society for the Philosophy of Religion in Kassel in Brian’s Volvo estate, with Wagner’s The Ring at full volume, only to be interrupted by the cricket scores. On the way back, we stopped at the beautiful city of Bruges to admire the Pietà of Michelangelo, and have a splendid dinner at Charles de Gaulle’s favourite restaurant in the Flemish town. Brian was an Englishman, indeed, but not insular. Equally at home with Proust as with Trollope, in the grandeur of Rome as in his beloved Cornwall.
Brian was one of the last of a group that Coleridge called the ‘clerisy’, a caste of ordained scholars and intellectuals, for whom the priestly and intellectual vocation were intertwined. And he was a college man. He was not yearning for preferment in the Church nor advancement in the University, but curious about the ocean of truth, attuned to the beauties of the natural world and the great cultural achievements in art, music, and literature, and committed to the sovereignty of Divine goodness.
Brian was a Christian philosopher and Christian doctrine was of critical importance for him. The Anti-Trinitarian and anti-incarnational tendencies in The Myth of God Incarnate were subjected to his critique. Bristol, historically, is the great centre of British Unitarianism. A Bristol man himself, Brian was a stout defender of Trinitarian, incarnational theology. In Cambridge, when the debate around the Myth of God Incarnate was raging, Brian was quietly, but sturdily, upholding the key Christian doctrines, notwithstanding the melancholy, long,
withdrawing roar of the Sea of Faith. These doctrines, Brian wrote, “are the result of centuries of reflection and debate by bishops and teachers committed to the Christian faith and schooled in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures”. Yet Brian, while orthodox, was not uncritical of many standard tenets in the Academy, ancient and modern; he distanced himself from the impassible and timeless God of Classical Theism, defended a version of substance dualism in his anthropology, and had a clear sympathy for the doctrine of universal salvation. Brian lectured in India and actively engaged in comparative religion and was sensitive to the questions about the relation of Christianity’s truth claims to those of other religions.
Brian was influenced by Austin Farrer’s concept of ‘Double Agency’ as a theory of Divine action, whereby an event or act can be deemed both the effect of a finite agent and the work of the Divine. Brian was convinced of the opaque nature of the ‘causal joint of finite and infinite’ as part of a relational ascent of human to the Divine. The paradigm of friendship is the pivotal analogy, especially to illustrate the reciprocal quality of the life of faith, between the believer and God. Those of us who knew Brian as a friend, with his warmth, humour, and generosity, came to see his steady and deep faith, his humour and kindness, and his searching intellect, as a Glass of Vision – as a faithful witness of the goodness of the Great I AM proclaimed from Mount Sinai; and attesting to the incarnate, crucified, and risen Lord of Christianity.
DOUGLAS HEDLEY Professor of the Philosophy of Religion
FELLOW 2022-23
Dr Emily Webster had only been a Fellow of Queens’ for 18 months, yet, in that brief period, she had endeared herself to almost everyone in the Society at the College with her enthusiasm, warmth, friendliness, good humour and outgoing personality. She was as happy to socialise with older Fellows as with her contemporaries and she was a much liked and appreciated addition to the Fellowship. She joined the Fellowship as an Official Fellow in Law at the beginning of the Easter Term 2022 as an expert in Climate Law and Governance. She had a temporary appointment as an Assistant Professor in Environmental Law in the Department of Land Economy. During the summer of 2023 it had been announced that her appointment at Land Economy had been made permanent. She was already serving on
several college committees and was Joint Steward of the SCR and, at the start of the Michaelmas Term, she took over as Director of Studies in Land Economy. She supervised in both the Law and the Land Economy Triposes. The announcement that she had been found dead in her flat, aged only 38, on 7 October 2023 came as a huge shock to everyone.
Emily was born in London but brought up in Newent in Gloucestershire. She was very enthusiastic about the animal world and loved her pets, including cats, dogs and guinea pigs. She learnt to ride and liked nothing better than to go out horse riding with the family –they once went on a family pony trek in Wales. This love of animals was very much still a part of her life at Queens’. She particularly enjoyed joining Tim Harling, the Dean of Chapel, on his afternoon walks with his little dog and often took the dog out herself or looked after her, if Tim was busy. As a youngster she was a talented drawer and painter, played the piano and violin and took great photographs, though these activities fell by the wayside when eventually her academic work took priority. She had a passion for music of all varieties (with the one exception of jazz which she could never bring herself to enjoy). She enjoyed acting and in adult life was an enthusiast for the theatre, especially musicals. She did well at school but in her mid-teens she was struck down by M.E., diagnosed eventually as chronic fatigue syndrome. Her brother remembers the courage she showed when she could do little but lie in bed. She kept going and used her time to read widely and voraciously. By the time she felt able to attempt her ‘A’ levels by distance learning, she was very broadly educated and extraordinarily well-read.
In 2012 she obtained a place at the University of Bournemouth to read Law. She still had not completely recovered and lived with her mother in Poole but gained in strength as her studies progressed. Tiredness never entirely left her and had to be factored into activities throughout her life. She graduated LLB in 2016 with distinction. She then moved to King’s College, London, to study for an LLM in Transnational Law, working hard in a variety of part-time jobs to pay for her studies. This led on to a PhD at King’s. In her first year she was self-funded, so had to live at home with her mother, commuting to London and back when required. However, she secured a competitive LISS-DTP scholarship at the end of her first year of doctoral work and moved to London. She focussed on the decarbonisation of the private sector using perspectives from company law, transnational law and environmental law. The title of her thesis was, “Decarbonisation, the State and the Fossil Fuel Sector: A Transnational Law Analysis”. Good at multi-tasking and with a great ability to focus, she wrote her thesis in two months. Despite the time constraints and a pandemic, she passed
her PhD without corrections. Whilst at King’s, Emily taught environmental law and tort and was a much-valued member of the teaching team there. She was a very empathetic, approachable, and supportive teacher. During her years teaching at King’s, London, she was nominated by her students for the Teaching Excellence Award. She had made some research contributions to the Transnational Law Institute‘s Transnational Law Summit as early as 2016.
One of her fellow PhD students at King’s, London, has written, “Emily was so modest, downto-earth, friendly and so approachable. She was always ready to give a helping hand. While academia can be quite competitive – especially at the end of the PhD – Emily was always offering to help with job applications and giving advice. She had this ability to think outside the box, which made her a great scholar, and to make connections between disciplines, no one had made before. She was such a bright and brilliant scholar.” King’s held a Memorial Event in October after news of her death reached London.
Emily was an active and committed member of the environmental law academy, serving as a member of the Hughes Hall Centre for Climate Engagement, a Research Fellow for the Earth System Governance research project, and as a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. Her exceptional research and teaching contributions will serve as a lasting testament to her unwavering dedication to furthering our understanding of the law and its role in fostering a sustainable planet. She was very passionate about her work. In February 2021 she came to Cambridge as a Senior Research Fellow at Hughes Hall, researching in the field of private law and climate change. She also had some research experience in the fields of cities and inequality, in climate litigation and on the regulation of environmental information disclosures in different jurisdictions within the G20. She was a member of several climate change and early career researcher groups and had participated in the European Environmental Law Forum in 2020. In October 2021 she was appointed as an acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Land Economy at Cambridge and taught, in particular, National, European, International and Comparative Environmental Law. She was elected an Official Fellow of Queens’, to join the Law team, in April 2022. Within the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, Emily was a regular attendee of Academy Colloquia, and will be remembered as a genuine and warm colleague who was always willing to exchange ideas and welcome new scholars.
Since 2017 she had also been heavily involved as Managing Editor with the Transnational Legal Theory Journal, co-ordinating a team of student authors and editors and running the administrative side of the Journal. Editorial colleagues remember her humour and contagious laughter which made their work so much more enjoyable. And when they were not laughing, Emily was putting her shrewd understanding of transnational law, torts and the environment to work to offer considerate, thoughtful and constructive editorial remarks on the pieces that had been received.
She jointly edited two books, Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change (Routledge, 2021) and Transnational Food Security (Routledge, 2020). With Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli, she contributed chapters on ‘Atmospheric Aerosol Loading’ in Duncan French and Louis Kotze (eds) Research Handbook on Law, Governance and Planetary Boundaries (Elgar, 2021) and, of course, she wrote a number of articles published in learned journals.
Friends at the Transnational Law Institute describe her as curious and alert, very clearheaded and down to earth, quick on her feet and wonderfully collegial and funny. Academic colleagues at Hughes Hall and in Land Economy and friends at Queens’ alike remember her characteristic laugh, her ethic for hard work and her sense of responsibility and care for and support of others. Her PhD supervisor, Professor Peer Zumbansen, has written, “She embodied this fine human quality of someone who is aware of others, pays attention to them and never takes herself too seriously”.
Her funeral was held in Great St Mary’s in November. The Queens’ Dean of Chapel, the Revd Tim Harling, and Chaplain, the Revd Anna Jones, led the service and there were tributes from each of her parents, Sylvia and John, and her brother, Jack. There was a well-attended formal Memorial Service in Queens’ Chapel in June 2024. Tributes were paid by Dr Miryam Gicquello, a fellow doctoral student at King’s, London, Emily Farnworth, the Director of the Centre for Climate Engagement at Hughes Hall, and Professor Martin Dixon, Fellow of Queens’ and Head of the Department of Land Economy. The Revd Anna Jones gave an address and the Chapel Choir contributed two moving anthems: ‘And the Swallow’ by Caroline Shaw and ‘And I saw a new heaven’ by Edgar Bainton.
At the time of her death, she was engaged in several important academic projects. Her colleagues have pledged to complete these papers and books and see to their publication. A prize to be awarded by the University for performance in the Land Economy Tripos has been endowed in her memory. Similarly, there will be an Emily Webster Prize in Land Economy at Queens’.
HONORARY FELLOW 2001-2023
Dr Manohar Singh Gill died in Delhi on 15 October 2023 at the age of 87. In 1967 he was selected to represent the Indian Administration Service nationally and so came to Queens’ to study for the Diploma in Development Studies. He later returned to the College for a year 1974-75 whilst on sabbatical leave to write a book about agriculture in the Punjab. He was elected an Honorary Fellow in 2001 in recognition of his outstanding service as Chief Election Commissioner of India 1996-2001 and the contributions he had made during his tenure to strengthen democratic institutions in India and elsewhere in the Commonwealth. After retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in 2001, he joined the Indian National Congress party and represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, for two successive terms from 2004 to 2016. During this period, he held the portfolios of Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Manohar Singh Gill was born and brought up in Indian Punjab and attended St George’s School in Mussoorie. As a teenager he witnessed the partition of India and Pakistan. He read for a BA Honours in History, Political Science and English Literature, and MA Honours in English Literature, at Government College of Ludhiana, before embarking on a PhD in Development Studies at Punjab University. In 1958, he passed the Indian Civil Services Examination with distinction and joined the Indian Administrative Service in the Punjab cadre and soon established a reputation as a man of sharp intellect and plain speaking. His various postings in Punjab in the early years included Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Mahendragarh district, Deputy Commissioner and Collector of the Lahaul-Spiti district in 1961/62, during the Indo-Chinese War, and Deputy Commissioner and Collector of Ambala and Jalandhar districts. He worked extensively on rural development, agriculture improvement, population control and literacy improvement, especially for women.
In 1966 Punjab was divided into three to carve out the separate states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Dr Gill later lamented that many of the places where he had worked were now in different states. Mahendragarh, for instance, became part of the new state of Haryana and the Lahaul-Spiti district was allocated to the new Himachal Pradesh. The area was subsequently plagued by disputes over river water. Dr Gill blamed the trisection of Punjab for these problems and argued that the disputes between the newly created states were better resolved by dialogue than by resort to the courts. “The division”, he insisted, “was unfair with many Punjabi-speaking areas going to Haryana, and our riparian state was given a raw deal and forced to share its river waters.” In 1967 he was given a scholarship to go to Cambridge for a year and came to Queens’ to study for the Diploma of Development Studies to further his understanding of the issues affecting developing countries such as India.
On his return, he continued to work in Punjab, becoming very concerned about the degradation of the soil and water in the Punjab due to the chemical intensive agriculture practises that had been followed after the ‘Green Revolution’. His book, Agriculture Cooperatives: A Case Study of Punjab, was written during his study leave in Cambridge in 197475 and showcased his enduring interest in and deep understanding of agricultural issues and rural development. The book was republished as An Indian Success Story: Agriculture and Cooperatives in the Punjab in 1993. From 1977 till 1980 he was the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Punjab. He became the Managing Director, National Cooperative Development Corporation, overseeing the Cooperative Movement in all states of the Union.
In 1981 he was invited by the World Bank to lead one of their largest projects ($500m over five years) in Nigeria, spending four years heading up the Bank’s Sokoto Agriculture Development Project. On his return to India in 1985 he was for two years the Development Commissioner of Punjab. It was on his watch that the concept of Apni Mandi, or farmers’ markets, were introduced by the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board in February 1987 to provide an opportunity to small farmers to sell their produce to consumers directly without the aid of middlemen. Dr Gill later reminisced that the Mandis were based on the concept of the ‘Saturday Markets’, that he had seen during his time in England.
Having caught the attention of the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, by his dynamic personality and energetic pursuit of developmental work in Punjab, he was brought to Delhi in 1988 as Secretary of the Department of Chemicals, Petrochemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Union Ministry of Industry, moving in 1992 to be Secretary of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives. In 1993 he joined the Electoral Commission of India and in 1996 he was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner. He held the post till 2001 and his tenure was considered a great success. In particular, he is credited with the widespread introduction of Electronic Voting Machines, modernising the counting of votes from the vast electorate and greatly reducing the scope for election fraud and malpractice. He supervised three Parliamentary Elections, in 1996, 1998 and 1999, along with the elections for President
and Vice-President of India in 1997, as well as numerous state legislature elections. During 1998-2000, the entire electoral roll was computerised, and photo identity cards were promoted. It was under his stewardship that the Commission won international recognition and its members were invited to provide expertise and technical assistance to countries such as Nigeria, Indonesia, Cambodia, South Africa and Bhutan. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of the Republic of India, given for exceptional and distinguished service, for his contributions to Indian democracy as the Chief Election Commissioner. He was also one of 80 prominent Sikhs awarded the Order of the Nishan-eKhalsa to mark the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa, a tradition initiated in 1699 by the tenth guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh.
On retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in 2001, he joined the Indian National Congress party and in 2004 was nominated by his party as a member of the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of Parliament) for the Punjab. In 2008 he was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on his appointment as Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. He had led the Indian contingent to the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 and so had some experience in this sector. Following the victory of the Congress party in the 2009 general election, he was reappointed, this time as a minister of Cabinet rank as Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. During his tenure India hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. In January 2011 he was moved to be Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation but resigned this post in July 2011. He was not above defying his party on issues such as capital punishment to which he was vehemently opposed and which he regarded as a “barbarian concept”. He was the first to propose a statue to celebrate the 100th birthday of the freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh, insisting he be depicted wearing a turban. The statue, made by Ram Sutar, was unveiled in 2008 and stands just outside Parliament House, New Delhi. He wrote a book Putting the Bhagat Singh Statue in Parliament about the campaign to install the statue, published in 2021.
He retired from the Indian Parliament in 2016, leaving a rich legacy of projects, especially in the border districts of Punjab, that were funded from his share of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLADS) fund of Indian Rupees 50 million per year. There were more than 1600 projects, ranging from girls’ education, to bridges and roads, crematoria, astro-turf and sports facilities in poor villages, warehouses and storage facilities, job centres and much else. Indeed, in this exercise, too, he implemented the innovation of matching fund projects, so that local communities had a stake in what they were jointly funding and creating.
Dr Gill loved the mountains and trained under Everest hero Tenzing Norgay at the Himalayan Institute, Darjeeling, in 1960, climbing up to 20,000 feet in the Parbati Valley in Kulu. He was President of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute for six years from 1992; he was also President of the Himalayan Club, Mumbai, and continued as its Emeritus President. His stint as Deputy Commissioner of Lahaul and Spiti and his mountaineering training underscored
his abiding passion for the mountains and love of the remote and captivating landscapes of Himachal Pradesh. He wrote two books about the region, Himalayan Wonder: Travels in Lahaul and Spiti and Tales from the Hills: Lahaul’s Enduring Myths and Legends
Dr Gill was a prolific writer and scholar, researching a variety of topics close to his heart, particularly those related to Punjab. He was awarded several honorary degrees, including Honorary Doctorates of Literature from the Universities of Madras, Guru Nanak Dev in Amritsar, and Guwahati in Assam, and Honorary Doctorates of Science from Punjab Agriculture University, Haryana Agriculture University and the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He completed the memoirs of the first half of his life in Punjabi, Yaadan, just weeks before he passed away, edited by Sansal Dhami and published by Autumn Art publishers, Patiala, in 2023. He was a regular contributor to The Tribune and Indian Express newspapers, as well as Illustrated Weekly and Outlook magazines, among other Indian publications. He was also an accomplished photographer, and an exhibition is being prepared of his work.
He is survived by his wife Vinnie and daughters Natasha, Gauri and Kaveri. He was very proud of his daughters and would always say, “not to have sons is unfortunate, but not to have daughters is a disaster”. The eldest, Natasha, graduated with a BA in Economics from Girton College, Cambridge, in 1990, going on to a prolific global career in finance, based in Switzerland. She is currently Managing Director at Swiss Re, heading their Leadership, Talent and DEI practice. Gauri, who works with marginalised Indigenous and rural communities, is one of India’s most prominent photographers, exhibiting around the world. She won the prestigious Prix Pictet award in 2023. Professor Kaveri Gill is a political economist and was a Bye-Fellow at Queens’ 2004-07. When she was elected, it was the first instance of a father and daughter both being Fellows of the College. By invitation, she served as the Principal of the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education, Bengaluru (2021-2022), returning to Head the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi, before stepping down recently to be ordained as a monastic with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. She continues her academic pursuits as Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Centre for Excellence in Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar University.
JONATHAN HOLMES AND KAVERI GILL
FELLOW COMMONER 2006-2023
Richard Foulkes was elected a Fellow Commoner of Queens’ in 2006 in recognition of his outstanding service to the College, most notably as a long-standing member of the Investments Committee. He died on 21st October 2023 at the age of 77.
He was born in 1945 in Portsmouth, the son of Mary, a Girtonian (née McCallum), and John Foulkes, a consultant surgeon. The family moved to Hastings and Richard won an academic scholarship to Lancing College, where he first showed his mathematical aptitude as well as enjoying many sports including Eton Fives. His fluency in French came from a gap year at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
He arrived at Queens’ in 1964 to read Mathematics Part I, before switching to Economics Part II. He was a strong sportsman, gaining a Half Blue in Eton Fives as well as captaining the College table tennis team and becoming a member of the Hawks Club. He was also a keen member of the St Margaret Society. On graduation in 1968 he joined J Henry Schroder Wagg as an investment analyst.
For his first job as an international fund manager in his 37-year career with Schroders he was sent to Beirut in 1975 to establish a joint venture with the Asseily family. It was a volatile time in Lebanon and, shortly after his arrival in the country, civil war broke out, forcing Richard and his wife and new-born son to flee from the fighting in a rapid and hazardous exit. This fleeting taste of investing outside the UK, a spell in the research department focussing on Europe, and a number of European secondments, all stood him in good stead when he became a founder member of Schroders Capital Investment Management (SCMI) in 1979. This new team had been established to manage non-US international assets for US institutional clients. Richard was a pioneer in global investing in equities – now mainstream, but then very forward thinking at a time when most investment was domestic. He became a regular pundit on a US TV business channel, answering questions live on a phone-in investment programme. What better epithet is there than that expressed by the Los Angeles Times in 1997, “World Beater: How Foulkes Uses Growth Investor’s Tools to Extraordinary Effect”. Americans loved him and frequently described him as a Renaissance man when hearing of his life-long love of and interest in opera.
The presentation of the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in 1993 was a highlight. SCMI was the first investment management company to receive this award and Richard could justifiably claim the lion’s share of the credit for it – he had been there from the start, winning much of the business and achieving excellent investment performance. The success of SCMI in the 1980s and 1990s powered much of Schroder’s growth and made it into the global business it is today. By the time that Richard retired in 2005, he had served as Chief Investment Officer and had been for five years Vice Chairman of SCMI.
He had married Rosemary Dorman in 1973 after they had met as flatmates. Sadly, she died suddenly of viral myocarditis in 1977, leaving their two sons Alexander and Edward without their mother. This was a terrible blow, but to his great credit Richard managed, with the help of devoted nanny, Judy Waldie, to raise the two boys. Alexander is a consultant neurologist in West Hertfordshire and at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square. Edward is a GP in Sevenoaks, and between them they have six children.
Richard had first met Celia Richards in 1969 and renewed their friendship in 1998. They married in 2005 shortly after he retired and moved from Roehampton to Hambleton, Rutland. Even in retirement, his investment expertise continued to be put to good use in several entrepreneurial and charitable situations. He became a non-executive Director of Schroder Pension Trustee Limited and Credit Renaissance Fund. He was a member of the Investment Committee of the Royal Opera House Pension Scheme, he became a Governor of Oakham School, and he was Chairman of the Investment Committee of St John Ambulance, subsequently being awarded the Order of St John. He served on the Investments Committee at Queens’ for over 25 years and was a frequent visitor to the College. He continued to pursue his lifelong love of music, especially opera, and golf, horseracing and skiing remained strong passions.
As his sons, Alexander and Edward, said at his funeral, “He was a force, an incredible force of life and positivity, always making the best of things whatever life threw at him, even through deep tragedy, and by the same token he always found the best in other people. He was a wonderful, kind, generous and gentle human being; a friend and mentor to many; and an adorable, dependable father and granddad.”
DAVID THORP AND CELIA FOULKES
FELLOW COMMONER 2006-2023
Andrew Pomfret died on 18 November 2023 aged 63. He had been a Fellow Commoner since 2006, elected in recognition of his distinguished service to Queens’, first as Chairman of the Alumni Association, a role he took on in 2002, and then as a Member of the College’s Investments Committee for 15 years. His advice to Queens’, especially on financial matters, over many years has been invaluable. His extensive experience of working in the financial services sector and with UK listed companies both as an executive and nonexecutive director made him a key member of the Committee. He was a generous donor to Queens’.
Andy was the son of the Revd Albert Pomfret who lectured at Dartford College of Education (and was later Principal Lecturer and Admissions Tutor at Thames Polytechnic) and was educated at Dartford Grammar School, where he was School Captain. Outside school he was responsible for stage lighting for the Dartford Youth Theatre. He came up to Queens’ in 1979, following in the footsteps of two uncles – James Pomfret (1941) and Frederick G Smith (1943) –to read Engineering. Towards the end of his first year, he was elected JCR Secretary and so was in post when the first women were admitted to Queens’ in October of that year. He was President of the JCR 1981-82. In his third year he specialised in the management studies option within the Engineering Tripos. He played squash, was involved in theatre productions and represented the University at croquet against Oxford. Friendly, open, easygoing, personable, endowed with great common sense and considerable administrative ability, he was a popular student with a wide friendship group and was liked and respected by everyone at Queens’. He graduated in 1982 and went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG).
He then spent over 13 years with Kleinwort Benson (now Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein) as a corporate financier, venture capitalist and latterly Finance Director of Kleinwort Benson Investment Management and Private Banking division. He was appointed to the Board in 1999. He then moved to Rathbone Brothers plc, the Investment Management and Wealth Management firm, as Finance Director. He was responsible for all financial reporting and management together with executive responsibility for acquisitions. In 2004, at the age of
44, he was appointed Chief Executive of Rathbones. In 2009 he was Chairman of both the Executive Committee Group and the Social and Environmental Committee. He retired from Rathbones early in 2014.
From 2002 he was also the senior independent Director of Beazley Group plc and chaired the group’s Audit and Remuneration Committees. In 2007 he joined the Wealth Management Association. He became a Director of the Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (APCIMS). After retirement from Rathbones, Andy took on non-executive directorships of a number of public and private companies, including Sanne Group plc, Aberdeen New Thai Investment Trust plc, ICG Enterprise Trust and Old Mutual Wealth Management Ltd. He was appointed Chairman of Miton UK MicroCap Trust plc. He was also a director of PIMFA (the Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association) and a founder member of the Prudential Regulation Authority Practitioner Panel. He was appointed Non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Sabre Insurance Group plc in February 2018 and Chairman of the Company in September 2020.
He and his wife Carole had two children, Helena and Nicholas. Helena E J Pomfret came up to Queens’ in 2012 and read Geography.
JONATHAN HOLMES
FELLOW 1971-1975
Brian van Arkadie died in Cambridge on 18 February 2024, aged 89. He was elected a Fellow of Queens’ when he was Assistant Director of Development Studies for the University and Director of the Centre of Latin American Studies. Whilst a Fellow he served as Assistant Director of Studies in Economics. A friendly and collegial person, many students and dons from that era remember him fondly. He resigned his Fellowship in 1975 when he moved to the Netherlands to take up an academic post in The Hague. He eventually retired to Cambridge and enjoyed occasional visits to Queens’. He also had homes in Tuscany and in Dar es Salaam, where he had spent many years as a teacher and researcher, becoming an expert on the economy of Tanzania, amongst a raft of other nations.
Brian was descended from the ‘burgher’ community of mixed Dutch, Portuguese and British heritage settlers in Sri Lanka. His first degree was a BSc in 1955 at the London School of Economics, this was followed by an MBA from the Duck School of Business at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in 1957 and a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963. He then had a number of assignments in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and a spell at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, before coming to Cambridge.
After leaving Cambridge he was for many years a Professor at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. He was Professor of Economic Development and served as Deputy Rector of the University and Dean of Studies. As a Development Economist he was active in many developing countries around the world as a teacher, researcher and provider of guidance and technical assistance. In a truly international career, other posts down the years included: Acting Director of Research at the OECD Development Centre in Paris, Professor of Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Senior Policy Adviser at the African Capacity Building Foundation, Harare, Zimbabwe, Senior Adviser, Economic and Research Foundation, Dar es Salaam, and Senior Adviser to the Globalization Research Project. He was also Chief Policy Adviser for Carl Bro International in Copenhagen and Chairman of CDP Consultants, based in Utrecht.
Brian worked on development policy issues first in Africa, for over 20 years in Vietnam, and in several countries of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. He authored and co-authored a number of books including Studies on Economic Accounting and Development Planning (1969), Benefits and Burdens: A Report on the West Bank and Gaza Strip Economies since 1967 (1977), Shocks and National Policy Making: Tanzania in the 1970s, The Role of Institutions in Development – The World Bank Economic Review (1989), Good Governance, Markets, and Donors (2003) and Tanzania Growth: Policy Challenges Facing the Third Phase Government He was one of the authors of Tanzanian Development: A Comparative Perspective (2018). With Kjell Havnevik he wrote Domination or Dialogue?: Experiences and prospects for African Development Co-Operation (1996), and, with Raymond Mallon, Vietnam – a Transition Tiger? (2012). There was also a study on the Baltic States, Economic Survey of the Baltic Republics
As a consultant, Brian advised many governments in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe on macroeconomic and sector policies and assisted with preparation of public investment programmes. He had great experience in countries undergoing economic reform and transition. He also assisted several donor agencies and development banks with programme design and evaluation. He will also be remembered for his strong empirical grounding and emphasis on sustainably improving policy making firmly anchored on data.
He is survived by his wife Beatice and children Amy and Raphael. Brian and his wife spent his last years living with Amy and her three children in Cambridge. Raphael works on grassroots youth projects in Bristol. Needless to say, he enjoyed travel, making many trips to Africa
and the United States. He loved to play chess, Scrabble and Risk and he also loved food, both eating it and preparing it. He will long be remembered for his great hosting skills and his ability to make everyone feel welcome round his table. Since his death was announced many people from all over the world have paid tribute to his work. For instance, Haroon Akram-Lodhi wrote, “Brian van Arkadie’s… work in Tanzania in the 1970s and Vietnam in the 1990s always put people first”. Jayati Ghosh commented that he was not just “a brilliant and insightful economist”, but also “such a lively and engaging human being”.
Adèle Thompson’s died on 5th February 2024 at her home on Ibiza. She was 68 years old. She was Dance Artist in Residence at Queens’ from 2006 until 2020, commuting to Cambridge to take classes in contemporary dance and choreographic workshops every Friday and Saturday in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms. Through her collaborations with Kenneth Tharp, she had been associated with dance at Queens’ since 2002. Following in the tradition of her predecessors, she arranged and orchestrated an annual dance show in Queens’: ‘Sprung!’. She retired from the College after the 2020 Sprung! which was also a farewell dance event for Lord Eatwell on his retirement as President. She was joined on this occasion by Sara Matthews and Kenneth Tharp, the first two Queens’ Dancers in Residence as well as alumna, dancer and choreographer Katie Green from whom a dance work had been commissioned for the event. Adèle very much enjoyed her association with the College and a generation of dancers from Queens’ and the wider University benefitted enormously from her skill, enthusiasm, expertise and devotion to dance in its many forms.
Adèle studied at Cambridge University and went on to train at London Contemporary Dance School before launching into a stellar career. She worked for many years with London Contemporary Dance Theatre’s Education and Outreach team and danced in the arena
operas Carmen, Tosca and Aida in England, Europe and Japan. She was a founder member of STOMP’s European touring company, performing in the Oscar-nominated short film Brooms (1996) and their sell-out season at London’s Royal Festival Hall, as well as touring extensively with the company and leading STOMP workshops across the UK and in Europe, from the London Contemporary Dance School to Syddansk Universitat, Denmark, and at schools and colleges throughout the U.K.
She was also a much renowned leader in the field of contemporary circus, incorporating dance, abseiling, aerial and stilt work into her works. She was Head of Movement, Music and Equilibristics for the New Millenium Experience Company, training all the performers of the Central Show in the Millenium Dome, and also part of the team which wrote the first ever degree course in Circus Arts for Circus Space (now the National Centre for Circus Arts), based in East London. She went on to become part of the core artistic team at the Millenium Dome as assistant choreographer, resident director and stilt coach whilst also performing in the show itself. From there, she was invited to devise, direct and perform in an aerial entertainment for Manumission in Ibiza, the biggest club in the world.
She choreographed extensively for stage, television and community. Commissions included work for Woking Dance Festival, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Dance East, Hampshire Youth Dance Company, Amani Ngoma National Dance Company of Zanzibar, Artswork Tyne-Tees Television, performance poet John Hegley, and a variety of other companies, not to mention two short films for the Royal College of Art. She was part of the artistic team leading the National Youth Dance Festival in 2006 and worked on the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Channel 4 documentary Ballet Changed My Life: Ballet Hoo! in the same year. She co-directed Sadler’s Wells Youth Dance Company with Kenneth Tharp for six years and created six works for them.
She ran her own project-based company of dancers, circus artists, musicians and other artists, ‘Barking Dog Dances’.
She was a passionate and much-loved dancer, choreographer, abseil-dancer, stilt artist and teacher. Many dancers who had the great pleasure of learning from Adèle will remember her “infectious energy”, as the Times Educational Supplement once described it, and her incredible rhythm. All those who knew her will have experienced Adèle’s extraordinary range of choreographic ideas – cascades of brooms and poles, tin cans and bin lids, a room filled with white balloons, stilt-walking through cities, Scottish-dancing style jigs, dancing with hand bells in the snow, the abundance of hand-made costumes in rainbow colours –all held together beautifully by Adèle with her sensational resonating voice. She regularly guest taught not only in the U.K. and Europe but also in Japan and Africa and also led communication and team-building courses for corporate businesses world-wide.
JONATHAN HOLMES, based on a tribute from the Musicians Union.
It has been another busy year for our staff members at Queens’. As ever, people come and go, and during the year we have said goodbye to Ben Murray (Sportsground), Ivana Coganova (Housekeeping), Marcin Plazuk, Luke Moy, Karol Koda, Antonio Haboc, Mark Thornton, Manolo Lagana, Robin Gillan, Seth Castro (Catering), Louise Jacobs (Bursary) and Eleanor Medcalf (Alumni Office).
Of course, a number of new faces have appeared: Abii Proudfoot, Emily Walsh, and Natalia Klugiewicz in the Alumni Office together with our new Deputy Director of Development, Louisa Trivett. Cathy Wardle has arrived to work in the Tutorial Office. The Catering department has seen the arrival of Jurate Katiniene, Antonio Da Costa, Marcin Plazuk, Shaun Stacey, Agata Majewska, David Iglesias Cascallar, Jack Newbury-Lamb, Marc McMaster, Emanuela Messerville, Marian Sandu and Shelina Burford. Anna Piper-Thompson has joined the Library staff and the new post of College Archivist has been created for Noemi Ortega Raventos. Terry Karapatsias and David Ruby have joined the Porters’ team and Josh Little has started work at the Sportsground. There are two new gardeners: Neil Warmsley and Charo Costa Canovas. Lynda Turner and Mick Turner augment the Hospitality team of the catering and Housekeeping Division and Helen Winter has come to work in the Bursary.
It is with sadness that we have to report the death of Peter Balaam, former Head Gardener of Queens’, who passed away peacefully on 12 June 2024. Peter joined Queens’ as Head Gardener in December 1979 and retired at the end of March 2012.
The Sports and Social Club are busy organising social events, including a traditional seaside trip to Brighton, a theatre trip to London, and, of course, the pantomime at the Arts Theatre. Staff in the Porters’ Lodge have been busy organising events too with a golfing day and a Staff vs Fellows cricket match at the Sportsground.
This year Paul Knight, the College Boatman has celebrated an extraordinary 40 years working at Queens’. Bev Harris in the Tutorial Office and Jo Hogg in Human Resources have been working for Queens’ for 10 years.
LORRAINE M LOFTUS
Bursars’ Assistant
The Erasmus Building refurbishment project has been a significant focus this year, with the goal of modernising the facility and enabling it to be heated using heat pumps rather than the existing gas-fired boilers. This is an important step in the decarbonisation of the College’s Silver Street site. The refurbishment of the Erasmus Building will cost £8.6 million. A single alumnus donation of £5 million, including £1.25 million in Gift Aid, has enabled this project. After receiving planning permission in August 2023, the College successfully secured a Government Salix Grant to support our decarbonisation objectives. The shortfall of approximately £1.5 million, accounting for grants, has been addressed through an additional fundraising campaign. The project will commence in July 2024 and is scheduled to be completed by June 2025. The aim is to complete all disruptive work by the end of the Easter Vacation in 2025, ensuring minimal disruption during the examination and revision periods next year.
One of the biggest challenges of this project is accommodation displacement. During the refurbishment, undergraduates will be displaced to Owlstone Croft, with most secondyear undergraduates accommodated in Blocks A and B (approximately 100 students). The purchase of 12-14 Grange Road (the former Margaret Beaufort Institute) in January 2023 has provided 32 additional rooms. This property is vital in managing our student accommodation during major refurbishment works, reducing our dependence on external accommodation and minimising disruption to postgraduate accommodation levels.
Overall, significant progress has been made this year in advancing plans to decarbonise the estate. The Erasmus Building refurbishment is now being well-positioned for completion in 2025.
Following the purchase of 12-14 Grange Road, a feasibility study for converting the chapel at the site was concluded in November 2023. This identified a viable plan for long-term archive storage. However, significant funding is required of about £1 million. Temporarily, the non-sensitive archive material will be relocated to the chapel from Owlstone Croft and Silver Street stores, where it will be sorted and catalogued. Further funds will be needed for a new home for the special historical collection which needs a controlled environment.
It was reported last year that the Owlstone Croft project was refused planning permission in January 2023. This followed a protracted planning review process, which, at the time of submission, had gained the full support of the City Council Planning Officers, but, despite being put forward as recommend for approval, the local councillors refused the application. After successfully presenting the scheme at a Planning Appeal in September 2023, the College was granted full planning permission in November 2023 by the Secretary of State. This includes the refurbishment and decarbonisation of A and B blocks and the construction of four new postgraduate housing blocks (13 homes for 60 students). A Salix application has also been secured, funding the decarbonisation objectives of the refurbishment elements. The project progresses onto detailed design, needed for the new-build elements to meet
planning obligations. Parallel to this, work on the next stage towards tendering continued, with three major contractors expressing strong interest. Plans will soon be submitted to the City Council, aiming to discharge planning conditions within statutory timescales, so that construction can start in the summer of 2025.
The project relocating the nursery to 26 Barton Road, a joint venture with Pembroke College, and an enabling project for the Owlstone Croft masterplan, commenced construction in May 2024, with completion expected by January 2025. The total budget is £2.7 million with a government Salix Grant funding of £68k.
In May 2024, the refurbishment of the Fisher Building was confirmed as the next major capital project after Owlstone Croft, with approval to proceed with Project Briefing (RIBA Workstage 1) and a budget of £60k for this work. The appointed team will prepare a project execution plan, with RIBA Stage 1 to be presented in December 2024. The construction start date is proposed for July 2027. Additionally, infrastructure and heat source proposals for the ‘light-side’ of College are being developed as part of the Fisher Building briefing exercise.
Work progresses on the sundial, with the new stonework installed during the Lent Term 2024. This will now rest for a year, while the face of the dial is mapped and sun tracked. The newly painted face is due for decoration in 2025.
The Cripps Kitchen underwent a major project to replace the original walk-in fridge and freezer, expanding capacity and addressing issues with the layouts. Works began in September 2023 and were concluded by Easter 2024 and included the replacement of the roof over the Western section of the kitchen, overlooking the loading bay.
Following the need to underpin one section of wall at Maids Causeway, the buildings underwent a complete refurbishment as part of the 2023 summer maintenance programme; this included new bathrooms, kitchen and improvements to the bedrooms.
ANDREW BAINBRIDGE
Climate change continues to provide challenges for the gardens. Last year, 2023, was the second warmest year on record in the UK, narrowly behind the previous record year, 2022. Temperatures in the gardens ranged from a minimum of -8.4°C on 22 January to a high of 32.2°C on 9 September. The overall average was 9.8°C, and the total hours of sunshine were 1507.6. It was a wet spring, too, with 107.8mm of rain in March (against an average of 84.9mm), putting it in the top 20% of wet Marches; April was even wetter, with 111.4mm of rainfall, way above the seasonal average of 71.9mm. Altogether the total rainfall was 615.7mm. A consequence of all the rain was an extended period of weed growth, along with the leaching of nutrients from the soil and an increased spread of fungal diseases.
Another problem, this time a man-made one, was the scaffolding on the roof garden and Cripps Court lawn for all of 2023 while the Cripps Hall lantern was being refurbished. After the work was finally finished, in early 2024, we took the opportunity to replant and refresh areas of the garden with some new herbaceous plants. The battered lawn was levelled and reseeded. The Cripps roof walkway also needed repair work, which necessitated the removal of all the planters, and of the fountain, for which a new home has yet to be found.
In the autumn of 2023, we undertook extensive bulb planting (crocus in Cripps and the Fellows’ Garden) but unfortunately most of the bulbs were dug up and eaten by squirrels which severely limited the spring 2024 display. Squirrels are not the only pests the gardens and gardeners have to contend with: our box hedges come under attack from box moth even earlier in the year than they used to, and we lost the box tree in the Round to box moth caterpillar damage. We manage to keep control elsewhere by regular spraying of a biological insecticide containing a natural, potent strain of the microorganism Bacillus Thuringiensis Another perennial problem, the chafer grubs that feed on the roots of our lawns, has also been curtailed by annual insecticide spraying.
Verena Downes redesigned and replanted the rose border in the President’s Garden with a more varied plant selection. Plants included: Rose ‘Susan Williams Ellis’, Dwarf Spirea, Astilbe, Geranium Brookside, Digitalis Carillion, Dwarf Japanese Anemone, and Penstemons.
The large olive trees had to be moved from their place under Erasmus to make way for works on the building; they were moved over to the Round which should become their permanent home, helping to make the Round an even more attractive and welcoming entrance to the College. The rose pots from the Fellows’ Garden were also moved, this time to the Walnut Court side of the chapel where they too will become a permanent feature. The chapel borders continue to be planted with seasonal displays to produce interest throughout the year. Including last winter’s display of colourful stemmed Cornus sibirica with under planting of Cyclamen and Hellebores.
Over the last two years as a department, we have been moving away from our old, noisy petrol-engine equipment and, with the purchase of two battery-powered cylinder mowers
late in 2023, almost all our machines are battery-operated which has enabled us to continue working during noise-sensitive times within the college without creating disturbance. Every five years we carry out a tree survey, and this was the year we did the latest one. It flagged up several problem trees that either had died or were in decline and will need maintenance work. Any existing bracing was also inspected and increased or replaced as needed.
We gained two new team members during the year: Charo Costa Conovas started in March 2024, replacing Robin Gillan at the main college site, and Neil Warmsley joined us when the College purchased the new site on Grange Road in 2023. I offer my thanks, and the thanks of the College, for all the dedicated and imaginative hard work of the whole gardens team, who do so much to make Queens’ a pleasant place to live and work.
IAN PATTERSON, GARDEN STEWARD, AND STEVE TYRRELL, HEAD GARDENER
Some people are surprised when they ask how old the current Chapel is and hear it dates (only) from the late nineteenth century. There are reasons, of course, that Queens’ built a new Chapel then on a larger and grander scale than the old one dating from four centuries earlier, and there are reasons too that the present one looks as it does, which is very much of its time. But our visitors’ reactions perhaps betray a general expectation about chapels that they are places that are somehow timeless: not really belonging to any particular age, not subject to change like the rest of the world around (though architecturally they can be among the most distinctive period pieces), all of which contributes to their charm.
If Queens’ Chapel itself seems solid and immutable, then the ministry that’s exercised within and around it, and the work of chaplaincy more broadly certainly aren’t. These are by their nature responsive to context, and there have been many internal and external prompts to follow over the past year, generated by a wide range of local, national and international events.
The core business of the Chapel is, of course, to offer daily worship and to sustain a regular pattern of prayer, in term and out, and the value of this offering has been brought home time and again through the vicissitudes of the year. After a trial over the Long Vacation, we adopted a new pattern of Morning Prayer, beginning with 25 minutes of communal silence at 8am, followed by the morning office at 8.30. The offer of shared silence wasn’t only available to early risers, as the midday Julian Group continued on Mondays, and a silent vigil for peace was held in the Faith Centre on Fridays throughout the year.
Choral Evensong on Sundays at 6pm continued to be a focal point of the week for the College community, especially as we considered the two statutory themes of Education and Prayer in sermons across the Michaelmas and Lent Terms (preacher details below). The Chapel Book Group met in Michaelmas to consider Timothy Radcliffe’s thought-provoking essay, What’s the point of being a Christian?, and during Lent we convened to listen together to and discuss the BBC Radio 4 Lent Talks over lunch in the Faith Centre. A ‘School of Prayer’ exploring different methods of praying in the contemplative tradition was offered during the Lent Term.
A fuller account of the Chapel Choir and its activities is given elsewhere in these pages by Mr Nick Morris, Director of Music, but no review of the Chapel would be complete without reference to the consistently excellent and devoted contribution it has made to worship during the course of the year. Choral Compline on Fridays proved yet more popular than previously, fuelled by a regular supply of doughnuts and allergy-friendly alternatives. Joint Evensong services brought the Chapel and its worship to the attention of much wider congregations, and we benefited from the opportunity to take our music and prayers to other places, including Peterborough Cathedral (for Choral Evensong in the Michaelmas Term), and St George’s, Hanover Square before Christmas (Alumni Carol Service).
It was a delight to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the death of Queens’ alumnus Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) a month on from the actual date with a come-and-sing Evensong service in Chapel followed by a dinner in Old Hall, both attended by special guest speaker and Stanford expert Professor Jeremy Dibble (Durham University). The combined choir of 50 singers, including current students and alumni from every decade back to the early ‘60s was a joy to hear and behold, and a firm testament to the life-long benefits of choral singing.
The regular liturgical year includes a number of special services, such as All Souls’, Remembrance Sunday and Ash Wednesday, and special mention must be made of the contributions of the Graduate Choir, who again provided music on two key occasions at Evensong in November, and for eucharist on Ascension Day. Fisher House Catholic Chaplaincy held a mass in Chapel on 29 April, which was well attended, and graced by voices from the Schola Cantorum.
Among the life events held in Chapel during the academic year, there were four Church of England weddings, one Roman Catholic wedding liturgy, and three wedding blessings (following civil ceremonies) for alumni of the College. A grandson of Professor Rex was baptized by the Dean of Chapel, and the Chaplain offered thanksgivings for the gift of a child for two families of Queens’ members. The College community gathered in number on two more sober occasions, for the funeral of the Revd Dr Brian Hebblethwaite, former Dean of Chapel, on 1 December 2023, and for a memorial service for Dr Emily Webster on 14 June 2024.
Serving the whole College community means that we must be both attentive and sensitive to events across the globe from which our members come. News of the Hamas attacks on Israeli targets on 7 October, and the subsequent unfolding of events in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East, with their ripple effects far beyond, has been a dominant theme throughout the year, in our prayers, in our pastoral support, and especially in our activities in the Faith Centre (FF8, Cripps Court) where we seek to provide hospitality and welcome to all. In moments of tension and through times of despair and confusion, the presence of another space in College where people are encouraged to “pursue all that makes for peace and builds up our common life” is a precious thing indeed. Thanks be to God that we have these resources at our disposal.
“For all that has been, thanks, for all that is to be, yes!” [Dag Hammarskjöld]
The following preached in Chapel at Evensong during the year:
In the Michaelmas Term 2023 (theme: ‘Education’): Dr Anna Abram (Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology), The Rt Revd Graham Kings (Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide), the Revd Alison Kennedy (Anglia Ruskin University), Dr Daniel Moulin-Stozek (Jesus College Cambridge), Fr Edward Green (Little St Mary’s Church, Cambridge).
In the Lent Term 2024 (theme: ‘Prayer’): The Revd Canon Jutta Brueck (Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge), Sr Dr Ann Swailes (Fisher House Catholic Chaplaincy), Fr David Sheppard (St Mary’s Buckden with All Saints’, the Offords), The Revd Canon Dr Gordon Giles (Rochester Cathedral), Michael Habashi (Queens’ College), The Revd Imogen Nay (St Paul’s Church, Cambridge).
In the Easter Term 2024: The Revd Dr Karin Voth Harman (St Andrew’s, Cherry Hinton), The Revd Dr Philip Lockley (St Andrew’s, Chesterton), The Revd Nigel Uden (Downing Place Church, Cambridge), The Revd Sophie Schuil-Brewer (Holy Innocents’, Kingsbury), The Revd Professor Jeremy Begbie (Duke University Divinity School).
ANNA JONES Chaplain
This academic year has seen much activity and progress in a wide range of areas, not least with the installation of magnificent new lighting in the WML (1st and 2nd floors), a new Instagram account, a series of exciting WML and Armitage book displays, additional study areas, ‘Date with a Book’ initiatives, as well as substantial ongoing work in Information Skills provision and collection development (electronic and print). With regard to the latter, I am pleased to report that the usual collection selection work undertaken in collaboration with Directors of Studies has been augmented by the increasing number of acquisition requests we receive each year from undergraduates and graduates (around 180 this year). Overall we added over 1,500 printed items to the collection, as part of our continual drive to serve undergraduate needs for all papers, and also to support graduate and Fellows’ research.
Inevitably, lack of WML shelf space is an ever-present concern. Despite enthusiastic adoption of e-books within our collection development policies, and drastic weeding of printed books over recent years, WML shelf space is continually full. A primary focus this year has been to develop new storage spaces in which to transfer lesser-used WML books. At the same time, our Reader Services Librarian has undertaken the colossal task of upgrading and improving catalogue records of books as they are relegated from the WML to reserve, so that students can more easily find them and request to see them via iDiscover. For books in the WML Store, reader requests can usually be fulfilled within minutes, whilst requests for books in the Owlstone Store require less than 24 hours.
A new ‘Collections’ feature on iDiscover has proven to be a useful navigating aid for those seeking to access and browse our individual collections. (Search ‘Queens’ College Collections’ on iDiscover to access concise collections descriptions and records for books in each collection). This has assisted members of the new Oriental Collection Reading Group, a most welcome initiative led by PhD student Jonas Wieschollek, and our Graduate Trainee Librarian Anna Piper-Thompson. The group aims to encourage, facilitate and energise discussion of the Oriental Collection through talks from specialists in the subject, hands on sessions, group discussions, and opportunities for student research presentations. A particularly popular event in Lent, that brought together staff, students and researchers from across the University, was held in collaboration with the Cambridge Bibliophiles. We welcomed Scott Mandelbrote and Michael Terry, who spoke about our unique and rare Hebrew books, and the Hebrew cataloguing project currently underway in the Old Library. Work also continues in the WML to catalogue the Theatre History Collection (bequeathed by Queens’ alumni Henry Burke (1953), and Bruce Cleave (1953)), as a result of which we are receiving increasing numbers of requests from interested student readers. Well over half of the collection is now catalogued.
We believe that good library classification is key to unlocking a world of intellectual discovery, allowing students to stumble across works on specific and related subject areas as they peruse the library shelves. It is with this in mind that we have in recent years been improving and updating all of our classification in the WML. Those utilising the music and MML sections will have noticed some considerable improvements in this regard of late. Our Graduate Trainee Librarian ran two very successful Blind Date with a Book initiatives this year (on Valentine’s Day, and during the Summer Vacation). With over 100 students and Fellows taking part, this brought about increased interest in, and expansion of, our recreational General Collection (WML) and Armitage Room Collection. Regular WML and Armitage Room displays have included selections relating to the U.K. General Election, academic skills, the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Black Atlantic Exhibition, Cambridge Literary Festival, LGBT history month, and much more. Our Graduate Trainee has also implemented a Book of the Week display, focussing on current affairs and topical issues relating to Queens’ and beyond.
As ever we are most grateful for book donations we have received. Donors include Claire Coleman (1996), Simon J. Kew (2001), Alan Ereira (1962), Professor Bryan Winchester (1960), Ralph Hanna, Martin Crowley, Dr Aaron Graham, Phoebe Blackburn and Stewart Lyon.
The Old Library has been a hive of activity over the past year, owing in part to the ongoing Old Library Manuscripts Cataloguing Project. Generously funded by a gift from Nigel Farrow (1958), the project will create a new printed catalogue of the college’s medieval, oriental, and early modern manuscripts, along with a general interest history of the library, all of which will greatly enhance our contribution to teaching and learning, as well as allow the global research community significant access to our collections. As a substantial curatorial project, this endeavour continues to occupy a considerable proportion of the Old Library team’s time, in particular that of the Rare Books Curator. The ten or so specialist scholars contracted to work on the project have required extensive assistance and support, not least in terms of locating, foliating, and identifying every single manuscript volume and fragment in the Old Library (for instance, the Old Library Team have played an essential part in discovering and recording over 200 medieval manuscript fragments in the Old Library as well as two early modern manuscript volumes which had been believed lost since the early twentieth century, and much else). With all manuscript volumes and fragments now, for the first time ever, located, identified and numbered, a complete re-systemisation of the Old Library safe room has been possible. This is a considerable once-and-for-all achievement that greatly enhances our ability to curate and realise the significance of our internationally important manuscript collections. The need to undertake this essential work has not prevented continued progress
with our ongoing project to catalogue our entire collection of early printed rare books, 54% of which are now catalogued on iDiscover.
The past twelve months have seen considerable activity in terms of exhibitions. In June 2023 we opened 500 Years of Maths at Queens’. This showcased the history of Queens’ College as a place of mathematical learning through a selection of books used at the college during its long history. From sixteenth-century humanist translations of ancient Greek texts, to Charles Babbage’s proposition of an ‘Analytical Engine’, these books documented the development of seminal theories, ideas and discoveries. Included were ground-breaking works by Archimedes, Euclid, John Napier, René Descartes, Pierre Simon Laplace, Jacob Bernoulli and many others. Of particular interest were four first editions of key works that had recently been donated by Queens’ alumna Tara Symeonides (2001). I was particularly grateful to Prof. Claud Warnick for his assistance with the exhibition. In Michaelmas we opened an exhibition entitled Theatre of Insects: Entomology in Queens’ Old Library, curated by Emma Sibbald (acting Rare Books Curator) with Prof. David Sattelle (1964 and Fellow Commoner). The initial purpose of the exhibition was to accompany an international conference organised by Prof. Sattelle at Queens’ in September, focusing on ‘Control of Human Disease Vectors, Pests and Parasites’. Exhibits included works by notable scientists and natural philosophers, such as Carl Linnaeus, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Francesco Redi and many more. As well as tracing the history of Humanity’s fascination with the miniature worlds of insects in Queens’ historic print collections, the exhibition sought to reflect a variety of related cultural, political, and scientific developments from the Renaissance to the present day.
Finally, in Lent Term we launched an exhibition focusing on the collection bequeathed to us by Queens’ scholar and Tudor statesman, Thomas Smith (1513-77). Entitled Reading for a Perfect Society, the exhibition was opened with a highly entertaining and well attended lecture by its lead curator, Alexander Laar (who at the time of writing is in the final stages of completing his investigations into Thomas Smith, at Queens’ Old Library in partnership with New College, Oxford). The outcome of groundbreaking new research, the exhibition focussed on the complex system of annotations and doodles to be found in Smith’s books, through which Smith had appropriated ancient Greek and Roman learning into his highly influential statement on English politics and statecraft, De Republica Anglorum (1583). Forming part of the Festival of Cambridge, the exhibition was a huge success, attracting well over 500 visitors.
TIM EGGINGTON Fellow Librarian
Queens’ College Old Library and Special Collections is happy to announce that a new College Archivist, Noemi Ortega Raventos, commenced her role at the beginning of this academic year, working part-time with Peterhouse College. Ms. Ortega Raventos is a professionally accredited archivist who joins us from the British Library in London, where she worked as a content specialist archivist for many years. At Queens’, she has begun long-term, and long awaited, projects to organise, catalogue, preserve, and provide access to the College’s archival records, the first such attempt in many years. This exciting initiative will allow the careful preservation of the exceptionally valuable heritage collections, that tell the story of Queens’ from 1448 to the present day.
This year, the Archivist’s principal task has been to survey various departments, meet with College staff, and assess current storage conditions, fully to understand the scope and condition of the collection, from ancient medieval charters to twentieth-century porters’ notes. She has already begun the process of transferring historical records to archive storage, where they can be preserved, catalogued, and stored in accordance with rigorous archival and preservation standards. Although the collection is generally in very good condition, some volumes will require conservation efforts due to historic damage. These can then be made accessible once the appropriate access period is reached, allowing scholars, College Members, and interested parties full access to this fascinating resource. Some departments have already initiated the transfer of their records to the archives, and the Special Collections team looks forward to sharing the Archivist’s myriad discoveries in due course, as she works to create a digital catalogue.
In and amongst this very busy process, the Archivist has already begun to assist readers and answer enquiries, allowing the Library, for the first time, to provide broad access to the College’s wide range of archives. She has recently located and inventoried most of the surviving club and society minutes and accounts. Several date back to the nineteenth-century, including the records of the Queens’ College Boat Club, which document the development of rowing at the college from 1831 almost to the present day. The primary users of the archives are academic researchers and students, but the archive has also served writers, filmmakers, and genealogists. We look forward to welcoming new readers in due course.
The Archivist has also put together some displays and exhibitions in the Old Library for a variety of occasions. In April, archival documents relating to Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) were presented to visitors taking part in the College’s centenary commemoration day to celebrate the famous English composer. Stanford had been an organ scholar at Queens’ before his migration to Trinity, and the display was a highly engaging insight into his brief time at Queens’, tracing the evidence of his matriculation and funding, his involvement with the College Choir, and even his choices in the Dining Hall (stewed pears were a particularly favourite!).
Throughout the next academic year, the Archivist will aim to begin cataloguing records into an archive management system, making them searchable online for the first time. These
efforts will significantly enhance our understanding of the College’s rich history, and we look forward to the future possibilities that the Queens’ College Archives will open up for research and public engagement.
NOEMI ORTEGA RAVENTOS
This year, the College again attracted high numbers of strong undergraduate applications from the UK and overseas, with the admissions round running smoothly as in previous years. In common with the majority of Cambridge colleges, the interview stage of the admissions process remains online at Queens’. Our application assessment strategy will stay under review as the collegiate University monitors and discusses the potential use of artificial intelligence in higher education.
In October 2023, the first cohort of Queens’ students studying on the University’s Foundation Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences joined the College. We are looking forward to welcoming the next group in October 2024. The Foundation Year is fully philanthropically funded and is intended to provide a preparatory route into a degree for students who have experienced educational disadvantage or disruption. Appropriate achievement in the programme allows students to progress to one of 18 Cambridge undergraduate degree courses at the start of the following academic year.
We have increased the number of schools we have engaged with in our Link Areas of Bradford, Havering, Kent and Medway to over 120. We continue to work closely with IntoUniversity in Bradford and to develop relationships with other third sector organisations, such as The Brilliant Club, to support students in gaining access to the most competitive universities. Recently, we welcomed thousands of prospective undergraduate applicants and their supporters to Queens’ for the main University open days, with a further opportunity for them to visit us in September as they make final preparations for their university applications.
At the time of writing, the process of making offers to postgraduate applicants hoping to join us from October 2024 is almost complete, and the College’s postgraduate studentships for next academic year have been awarded; this dedicated financial support continues to enable academically outstanding students to continue their studies as part of the Queens’ community.
SUSAN HAINES
Women’s badminton at Queens’ has had an exciting year. We have played over the year in Division 2 and have enjoyed many matches cross-college as well as regular practice sessions. Owing to issues with numbers, we merged with Robinson Women’s Badminton to ensure enough players for matches. Some of the recurrent players from Queens’ have included Alice Archer, Paige McAvoy, Saanya Verma and Jessica Peck. Unfortunately, owing to low attendance and the lack of a captain for next year, the Women’s Badminton Team will be disbanding until a new captain can be found to restart it.
The Open Team has had a successful year, consolidating its position in Division 2 of the league and narrowly missing out on promotion in the Michaelmas Term. With some University players graduating last year, this year’s success is largely attributable to the new members of the first team: Adam Hu and Faron Molla, who played singles 1 and singles 3 respectively. With the unbeaten pairing of last season Samyak Jain and Amey Madkaikar not quite firing as they did last season, Faron Molla was swiftly called up to play doubles 1, with Samyak Jain filling in for doubles 2 with club veteran Vaibhav Malhotra. Club captain Amey Madkaikar completed the lineup at singles 2. Notable mentions must also go to Arya Labroo and Michael Lin who played some crucial matches in the singles across the year.
The club benefited greatly from College funding, using it to run weekly training sessions at Kelsey Kerridge, undoubtedly contributing to the successful results in the league.
With the first team stalwart Vaibhav Malhotra bowing out after four years of devoted service to the Club, and other members’ dreams of a 4th year Master’s degree hanging by a thread, the Club will be on the lookout for new talent in its continued battle for promotion back to Division 1.
Women’s Captain: Saanya Verma
Men’s Captain: Amey Madkaikar
The 2023-24 season was a fun challenge for a fresh Queens’ Basketball Team. With all previous Queens’ team members graduating, the year was focussed on building team chemistry and learning how to play together. There was a modest uptake of freshers joining the team, however, as the year continued, more players were recruited. We continued to play as a joint team with Fitzwilliam College, which proved to be a good strategic decision and a source of new connections.
We started the year in the deep end as our new crew tried to fill the shoes of last year’s successful team. After just one training session to introduce new members, we fought valiantly against St John’s. This resulted in our first loss of the season but was a great opportunity to scope out the opposition. In November, we played against Lucy Cavendish and Hughes Hall. Both opponent teams were full of taller players, which forced us to change our tactics. These matches also ended as losses on the score board but wins in team spirit. We ended the Michaelmas Term with a match against Christ’s. Due to the unavailability of some key players, we were low on substitutes, and this resulted again in a loss.
Over the winter break, we used some funding to purchase a set of jerseys for the club. This was a much-needed improvement over playing in yellow vests. Evidently this made a difference because, after a close match with Pembroke, we had our first victory. In a dominant match over Trinity, we scored 35 to 18, winning by a significant margin. The Team was starting to communicate and work together more fluidly, and this was showing. The rest of Lent Term saw a couple more close games against strong teams. However, the team spirit was much improved by the uniting jerseys.
With the inter-college league completed, Easter Term had one key event – a friendly match against our sister college, Pembroke College, Oxford. During a sports day organised by previous Sports & Societies JCR Officer, Max Krefting, we hosted our Oxford guests. The match was high in energy, fast paced and fun. It ended with a strong win for Oxford which they were all too pleased about! Afterwards, we had dinner in the Queens’ buttery and made more new connections.
Special commendation goes to Aditya Kalra and Anthony Ceponis, who both scored astonishingly well in both of their respective first appearances on the team. Thanks are also due to Aman Ahmed who played in almost every game. Looking back on the season, despite our losses and position in Division 4, I would call it a great success. We have a new, energetic, caring team which has shown an unyielding spirit and resilience. We look forward to taking this team to the next level next year.
Captain: James Goh
Vice-Captain: Peter Zeng
Team: James Goh, Peter Zeng, Aditya Kalra, Anthony Ceponis, Aman Ahmed
This year has once again been a busy one for QCBC. The Michaelmas Term began with our Freshers’ BBQ, which saw over 100 novices join the club. Unfortunately, due to a term of bad weather, finding water time was a huge challenge for our Lower Boats Captains but the novice boats still had some great races, with NM1 reaching the final of Emma Sprints. W1, W2, M1 and M2 also had a successful term of racing with strong results across Autumn Head, Uni IV’s, Winter Head, and The Fairbairn Cup.
QErgs was a huge success this year, with over a thousand competitors racing in the Fitzpatrick Hall in an action-packed day. Five Queens’ crews took part, amongst one hundred crews from different colleges and CUBC. The QCBC senior team didn’t have much luck in their division, with the erg chain snapping in their last 500m sprint – however, they managed to finish the relay despite this! East Anglia Youth Rowing partnered with us for the second year running, allowing students from local state schools to compete in a youth division, before touring the college grounds. We were hugely fortunate that the whole event was sponsored by ‘Strength Level’ and ‘Rowing Level’ this year (founded by QCBC Alumnus, Michael Clark). The event was organised by the QErgs sub-committee: Tim Robson, Heramb Modugula, Emily Self and Joshua Prince.
Michaelmas Term ended with the traditional Fairbairn’s cocktail evening, which was enjoyed by all. The next morning, we had one entry into the Christmas Head – a IV+ formed of members of the W1 crew from May 2023, who were the fastest women’s IV+ of the day!
Following a busy Lent Term filled with races and events such as ‘Rowmance’, Lent Bumps quickly arrived. After another term riddled with yellow and red flags (meaning restrictions on which, if any, crews can boat), this year the Lent Bumps lower divisions and Gettingon-Race were sadly cancelled. As a result, the Queens’ entry for bumps was much smaller than we have become used to in recent years, with M3 and W3 unable to race. Though it was not our most successful Bumps in terms of quantity, the quality of the bumps achieved certainly made up for it. W1 achieved the first over bump in the Lent’s First Division in 5 years on day three, and M2 demonstrated fantastic improvement throughout the week – from some unfortunate crabs on day 2 to an incredible bump on day four. The club celebrated, as usual, with Lent Bumps Boat Club Dinner with a memorable speech, as always, from Dr Robin Walker
Both M1 and W1 also gained some wonderful Tideway experience at the start of 2024. For many of the crews this was their first time racing off-Cam and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the races. W1 finished third in the Club W8+ category at Hammersmith Head, whilst M1 placed in the top 200 at HoRR after a strong row.
During the Easter Break, we welcomed back several Alumni for the Boar’s Head Dinner, kindly organised by Charlotte Harrop (2014). It was a lovely evening, offering a chance for alumni and students to thank Paul Knights for 40 years as Queens’ boatman. The next day, derigging began for our annual training camp in Reading. Despite being met with some galeforce winds on the first day, the week was a success for both sides (just under 50 rowers attended across the week). Every crew made great progress both thanks to the facilities available and the excellent coaching from Rob Jeffrey, Matt Hunt and Alex Tocher. After busy days involving three water sessions, training camp was also the perfect opportunity for some team building activities – the bowling night was a particular highlight!
We had three Queens’ rowers representing Cambridge in the Men’s reserve boat, the Women’s reserve boat, and the Lightweight Men’s race in this year’s boat races. Brett Taylor was in the 6-seat of the victorious Goldie boat. Beanie Spain was in the 5-seat of Blondie, after learning to row at QCBC. Ben Harding, who also learnt to cox at Queens’, coxed the Lightweight Men’s boat to victory over Oxford. We are enormously proud of all the Queens’ trialists for all their effort this year.
In June, we held the boat naming ceremony for our new women’s first boat, The Spirit of ’95. The event allowed current students to meet and thank some of the donors for their generosity, and it was lovely to hear from one of the principal donors, Alex Stout, who hoped that the name of the new shell would continually remind us that alumni are our biggest fans. The purchase of the Filippi F54 was made possible entirely due to donations and the shell has already had a hugely positive impact – the entirety of the club is enormously grateful to those who made it possible. We hope to be able to continue to improve our fleet in the near future.
It was also great to see so much QCBC Alumni support on the bank at the annual May Bumps Garden Party, which this year was organised by Joshua Prince (QCBC Alumni Officer) and Josh Moore (Junior Treasurer). Despite the rain, hearing the noise of the QCBC supporter’s whilst rowing past First Post Corner was a highlight of the week. May Bumps wasn’t as successful as we might have hoped this year, with W1 getting our only bump of the week on day one. However, in what has been a big turnover year for the Club, we are all looking forward to more success in the next few years as both the men’s and women’s side continue to build momentum!
President: Abi Smith
Junior Treasurer: Josh Moore
Senior Treasurer: Dr Christopher Clark
Fellow Commoner: Mr Rob Jeffrey
Secretary: Heramb Modugula
Men’s Captain: Gus Molyneux
Women’s Captain: Leena Mueller-Koegler
Men’s 1st Mays VIII: Cox: Brian Cuce, Stroke: Jou-Myu Wijnholds, 7: Rone Newitt, 6: Christian Scott, 5: Gus Molyneux, 4: Heramb Modugula, 3: Joshua Prince, 2: Vince Csajbok, Bow: Josh Todd
Women’s 1st Mays VIII: Cox: Leena Mueller-Koegler, Stroke: Ana Mavra, 7: Anna Jowett, 6: Méabh Toal, 5: Orla Mantle, 4: Erica Morgan, 3: Erika Mawer, 2: Gigi Pezier, Bow: Freya Watts
In a competitive field, the Queens’ chess team managed to come 7th in the college league this year with four match points and 13.5 game points. The team showed great character, not afraid to take risks and always quick to come back from defeats.
Captain: Riyaan Yesudian
Team: Guy Flint, Freddie Reid, David Chemaly, Viktor Miykov, James Bainham, Matthew O’Donnovan
Queens’ Climbing Club (QCC) has had another successful 12 months, growing year on year in tandem with the sport we love so much. Our weekly Sunday evening bouldering sessions at Rainbow Rocket climbing centre have been a favourite of many, and having climbing meets at The Castle Climbing Centre in London helped maintain our enthusiasm for the Club during the vacations. (Perhaps) the best thing about bouldering is how easy it is to get into, especially thanks to QCC’s funding from Queens’ which allows us to alleviate some of the high costs that come with the sport.
Following last year’s successes, QCC is pleased to have placed 2nd in the inter-collegiate Cuppers competition this year, with Jude Carter (1st year) taking 3rd place in the Men’s category. With almost 100 people in our WhatsApp group chat, QCC boasts, yet again, being the largest and most active college climbing club (according to us at least)! As well as this, Alex Maltby (2nd year) has competed for the University in national climbing competitions. The Cambridge University Mountaineering Club (CUMC) competition team has been very successful this year, retaining their title at the London University Bouldering Events, and placing highly in other competitions.
Our renowned merch, with our mathematical bridge and vaporwave designs, allowed QCC members to be easily recognised at our local climbing wall, Rainbow Rocket, and having the gym filled with our T-shirts and vests was a great sight to see. We also enjoyed our social gatherings at the legendary “Gardies” (The Gardenia) with other college climbing clubs, held in both Michaelmas and Lent Terms.
We trust that QCC will continues to be a friendly and welcoming and successful club in the coming years. As a sport that continues to become increasingly popular, QCC allows its members to connect with other climbers, and most importantly have fun!
President: Guy Flint
Vice-President: Alex Maltby
Social Secretary: Eren Ozturk
Committee Members: Conall Moss and Oscar Selby
Queens’ fielded a strong cricket squad this year, featuring a capable and diverse bowling attack supported by some handy batsmen. In Cuppers, we found ourselves in a challenging group alongside Caius, Fitzwilliam & Lucy Cavendish (Fitz-Lucy), Sidney Sussex, and Clare & Corpus Christi (Clare-Corpus) Colleges.
The season began with a narrow loss to Fitz-Lucy, in which the stand-in captain for the day, Anshu Attavar, scored a valuable 30 runs in a low-scoring affair. Despite our total of 99 runs being chased down in the 18th over, our bowling attack put in a commendable effort, with Angus Chisholm leading the way by taking three crucial wickets. Missing some of our key players, this closely contested game was a promising start for Queens’.
In the next match, we faced Caius, the defending champions. We posted an impressive total of 160 on a difficult pitch, thanks largely to a mammoth 91 run knock by James OnleyGregson, supported by handy partnerships with Noah Chamberlain, Gabriel Moore, and Freddie Reid. Our bowlers then put in a stellar performance against Caius’ strong batting lineup, with Cam Hair, Angus Chisholm, James Onley-Gregson, Ben Brown, and Aditya Kalra bowling effectively in tandem to secure a memorable victory.
With qualification for the knockout stages within reach, we came up against an exceptionally strong Sidney Sussex team, a match scheduled at short notice during exam season. Despite our best efforts and an incredible 71-run inning by Tom Hinton, we ultimately fell short, leading to our elimination from Cuppers.
Although we did not achieve the desired result, Queens’ Cricket showed significant promise this season, providing a strong foundation for future successes. We remain hopeful and excited for what lies ahead.
Captain: Aditya Kalra
After losing two of the best players to have graced Queens’ playing fields in recent memory at the end of last year, this season looked potentially to be a struggle for survival for the Boars first team. However, with a new crop of freshers providing co-captains Ben Sutton and Cameron Hair with some improved squad depth for the 2023/24 campaign, the First XI have managed a steady season in the Premier League and mounted a Cuppers run. A highlight of
the season was a triumphant victory on penalties against Churchill, before the Cuppers run was inevitably ended by the college football giant that is Fitzwilliam in the quarter finals.
A rocky start for the Boars Second XI, led by co-captains Stefan Titus-Glover and Oscar Selby, saw an early cup exit and a battle against relegation to the throes of Division 5 quickly befall the squad. However, two crucial victories against mid-table opposition as well as a hard-fought draw to spoil the perfect win record of the league leaders have brought about a late resurgence in form for the Seconds as they have fought to pull off a great escape from the relegation zone and retain their fourth division status.
Captain: Ben Sutton and Cameron Hair
Squad: Ben Sutton, Cameron Hair, Toby Clark, Ben Brown, Moritz Pryzbilla, Freddie Reid, Ben Harvey, Élie Kouzmenkov, Gianfranco Grillo, Max Talberg, Luca Matta, Ben Grace, Oscar Drury, Wes Barrett, Louis Charvill, Isaac Morley, Konstantin Hemker
The Greens have quickly become the fan-favourite Queens’ side this year, and rightfully so. Captain Abby Hallett together with Head Coach Gary Reynolds (scouted for the job from our own Porters’ Lodge) have masterminded a much-improved campaign in both the League and Cuppers this year. Whereas last year a loss by less than five goals was cause for celebration, this year our Women’s and NB team have tasted that winning feeling on multiple occasions, even matching the Cuppers run of the Boars into the last eight. Even though
Greens Captain: Abby Hallett
QCAFC committee:
President: Toby Clark
Vice-President: Vivian Wang
Senior Patron of Football: Dr Mohamed El-Erian
Senior Treasurer: Prof. Julia Gog OBE
Junior Treasurer: Emmie Savory
Events Officer: Salomé Sivignon
Communications Officer: Cameron Hair
Blues: Moritz Przybilla
HOCKEY
promotion may not be a possibility for the rapidly developing squad this year, the Greens can be incredibly proud of the team spirit and love for playing the game that has been fomented in the group throughout the season. Despite a majority of other colleges having to combine with up to three others just to put out an XI, our Greens have managed to assemble a side solely drawing from our own ranks week in week out, establishing Queens’ as a pioneering college in promoting the beautiful game for everyone; a principal goal and source of pride for our club.
This has been an amazing year for QCM (Queens’/Clare/Magdalene) Mixed Hockey! Turnout was low last academic year, and we often landed at the bottom of our division. By Lent Term this year, we had won all but one of our games, qualifying for Division 1, scoring 25 goals within the term and topping the table. Highlights included an 8-1 victory over the Vet-Med squad, a 4-0 win over Chowning and a hard-won 5-1 victory over St. John’s-Newnham. Unfortunately, we suffered an early elimination from Cuppers, but we are excited for the
challenge of Division 1 and next years’ Cuppers. Special mention must go to Oskar Stone, our captain, and Toby Holmes, our fantastic goalkeeper!
Captains: Oskar Stone (Overall + Clare), James Hardy (Magdalene), James Kirkpatrick (Queens’)
Regular players: Toby Holmes, Rohan Marker, Abigail Green, Erin Lansley, Charlotte
O’Brien, Oskar Stone, James Kirkpatrick, Ciara Boaden, Nick Barclay, Aidan Beaumont, James Hardy, Charles Varcoe, Alex Armer
Over this year, Queens’ Netball has truly flourished in both the mixed and ladies’ divisions. We have welcomed a number of new faces to the teams and continued to build a strong passion for, and community surrounding, netball in Queens’.
We came top of Ladies Division 1 during the Michaelmas Term – a massive achievement, and then came second during the Lent Term – another fantastic result. Our mixed team continued to rise through the divisions. It began Michaelmas Term in Division 4, and then went on an unbeaten run to top the league and move up into Division 3. In Lent Term the team came third, which was a great result for our mixed side, especially as some of the games were played without a full team.
However, the year wasn’t without its setbacks, having been knocked out of Ladies Cuppers at the group stage based on points difference. We were placed into an extremely competitive pool but we are not bitter about this in the slightest! One major triumph came during the yearly ‘Varsity Match’ against Queen’s, Oxford, which our ladies team won 46-2. This victory was an incredible showing of grit, determination and netball prowess by the Queens’ ladies.
Captains: Bissie Shupo and Milly Dunne
Ladies Team members: Bissie Shupo, Milly Dunne, Rosa Humphreys, Kate Godsmark, Laura Hurn, Eve Maylor, Abbie Burton, Erica Morgan, Martha Lucas, Emily Downes, Frieda Dickson, Isabelle Tear, Georgia Piper, Abbie Evans, Izzy Beaumont, Cat Poddi
Blue: Rosa Humphreys
Half-Blues: Kate Godsmark, Abbie Burton
The past year has been a great year for the Queens’ Stand-Up Paddleboard Society’, which operates in rather an unusual manner within College. Unlike other clubs, the Queens’
SUP Society runs more like a College facility maintained by the Society President than a social society and this has operated with great success. Early in the year, through College funding, we were able to purchase another paddleboard increasing the current fleet to 4. Additionally, we carried out several repairs and replacements as well as gaining a buoyancy aid to reassure any unbalanced potential paddlers. Advertising through several posters displayed around College, many students have been able to book and take the boards out onto the river, a task made far easier with the use of the electric pump, despite it having a bit of a mind of its own and occasionally going on strike. We encourage people to take the boards up towards Grantchester and get on board in the Mill Pond and despite the slightly dull weather in Easter Term, they have been taken out and enjoyed by many. The most used periods were during the unseasonably warm start to Michaelmas Term 2023 in October (temperatures reached 25 degrees) and, as always, post exams. Overall, it has been a very successful and fun year for the Queens’ SUP Society, with very little unintentional sogginess.
President: Rachael Price
RUGBY
This season has been a busy one for QCRFC. With a strong first year intake at the beginning of October to reinforce our numbers, we began our league campaign, playing alongside Jesus. Having stumbled in our first round against Caius and Downing, we comfortably dispatched Robinson and old enemies Trinity-Christ’s to gain momentum. A win against
Pembroke-Girton and a draw with Fitzwilliam-Sidney followed. Our final league game of the Michaelmas Term against St John’s was, however, prematurely ended by an injury to James Rowbottom (who has thankfully recovered) at which point John’s were a mere 2 points in the lead. A 50 point win against Trinity-Christ’s in Lent term was enough, however, to leave Queesus 2nd in the League this year.
Despite fielding a strong team against Robinson for our first Cuppers match, we came up just short of the mark. In our second match, against St Catharine’s-Homerton, low numbers and several early injuries left us with only 10 men for the rest of the match. Despite the odds Queens’ rallied and ran in four consecutive tries to make the halftime score 20-17 to our advantage. The substitution of 5 University players for Catz-Homerton, however, took the game back out of our control. Despite our best efforts, Queens’ were pushed down into the Shield, games for which will be held in early April. We hope to win our first game and secure a spot on Cuppers finals day at Grange Road.
On the social side, the Queens’ Old Boys match was held halfway through Lent Term this year, with the Old Boys putting in a strong performance, but falling to a stronger college turnout. The now traditional halftime port preceded an evening filled with curry and merriment. This was followed several weeks later by the Club Annual Dinner in Old Hall, at which James Rowbottom was awarded the Van Der Lander Cup for Player’s Player. The AGM was held after the exams.
There was further success for Queens’ in the Varsity Matches this year, with Ella Heathfield scoring the only try against Oxford at StoneX, and James Onley-Gregson appearing in his second consecutive Rugby League Varsity Match.
A special mention must also be given to Rowan Kitt, the Club’s Fellow Patron, who supported us with the administration of the club throughout the year, and to Robert ‘Chopper’ Gall for his generous and continued support for the club.
Captain: Alec Doherty
President: Toby Nee
Fellow Patron: Rowan Kitt
Vice-Captain: Noah Chamberlain
Social Secretary: Alex Brooke
Women’s Representative: Ella Heathfield
First Team Players: Aidan Beaumont, Alex Bartram, Alex Brooke, Aidan Collins, Alec Doherty, Andrew Liang, Ben Grace, Ben Harvey, Duncan Paterson, Ellis Baker, Élie Kouzmenkov, George Penney, James Onley-Gregson, James Rowbottom, Matt Warren, Matt Covus, Noah Chamberlain, Rohan Lall, Toby Nee
Blue: Ella Heathfield
It has been another successful year for Queens’ Squash Club. The club reached out to new and existing members at the start of the academic year, creating a community through which people can find similarly enthusiastic squash players to hit with, and allowing us to enter two well supported teams in the college leagues.
Both teams continued to excel, with the first team finishing 2nd in Division 1, and the 2nd team winning the Second Division, meaning next year the two Queens’ Squash Club teams will face off against each other in the top division.
As well as the competitive side of college squash, we made use of College funding to arrange some additional coached sessions with the University Squash Coach, Rob Dadds. Everyone who attended benefited massively from Rob’s technical advice, and we hope to run these sessions more regularly in the ’24-’25 season.
Finally, we topped off the season with the first Cuppers tournament since the pandemic. We put together a strong team consisting of university players Ellie White and Joe Betts, and our top college players Amey Madkaikar, Ollie Herskovits and Nick Barclay. After dominating Trinity and Sidney Sussex in the group stages, we met our match in the semi-finals.
Despite a heroic 2-1 win from Amey at 4 against Emmanuel College’s suspiciously deft and athletic 4th string, we went down 3-2, finishing a highly respectable 3rd place at the team’s first Cuppers. We’ll be back for revenge next year.
Captain: Ellie White
Blues Player: Ellie White
Half Blue Player: Ella Jennings
The Tennis Club has continued to grow in size, fielding two teams in college league fixtures with both teams going undefeated in the Lent Term to reach promotion. The First Team now sits in Division 2, a testament to our progress, following three promotions in two years.
Our weekly social tennis sessions at Barton Road maintained a small but dedicated turnout. A memorable highlight was a session with Clare College in the Michaelmas Term, the warm sunshine and quality tennis made for a great Saturday afternoon out.
Our run in the main draw of Cuppers was cut short by a very strong St John’s side. However, upon entering the plate competition, we delivered strong performances against Trinity Hall and Downing to reach the semi-finals. Unfortunately, fixture delays mean that we will have to wait until next year to complete the tournament.
Team members: Matthew O’Donovan, Ellis Baker, Gabriel Moore, Juliet McConkey, Natasha Symes, Rei Chin, Freddy Faull, Oscar Drury, Leon Shum, Max Mussavian, Xu Han, Mario Ventura, Susannah Thompson
Despite our small team size this year, the Penguins had many great games, showing the improvement of the members over the year. This included a win against St John’s with only 4 Penguins against their 7! Indoor Cuppers was very closely fought, with some games coming down to a tiebreaker. Despite finishing 13th, it was tremendous fun and a great way to start off the year.
President: Mahmud Haji
Captain: Calum Stevenson
Social media Rep: Ian Carroll
Other team members: Conall Moss, Alison Dauris, Max Bowman, Kai Venneman, Rachel Mervis, Magnus Oakes
Queens’ Volleyball Club had a fun and successful year. We run weekly Saturday 9-11 am trainings at Kelsey Kerridge Sports Centre with Wolfson and Jesus College Volleyball Clubs throughout the whole year, even during exams. We kept up our tradition of post-training Queens’ brunch, although we also experimented with Jesus and Darwin brunch as well as Thai food from the market and bubble tea on Erasmus Lawn.
Many of our players, especially the ones who attended trainings regularly, have improved visibly over the course of the year. We even learned how to play volleyball with more complicated rotations such as 5-1. Besides improving our individual skills and learning how to work as a team, we also played very well in the Cuppers Tournament in Easter Term. Queens’ formed a merged team with Wolfson. Together, we won most of our matches, cleared 3 rounds, and almost made it to the semi-finals. This was a huge achievement for us, especially because we won against some of the strongest colleges, and we are still a relatively new team.
We will finish this season with plenty of grass volleyball on Queens’ Green followed by the great food at Queens’ Bar. We are also working on launching Queens’ Volleyball Club social media pages as well as considering designing our own playing kits.
Captain: Defne Abali
Publicity Officer: Catalina Salter
First Team Members: Defne Abali, Catalina Salter, Hamdah Qalib, Alex Mehta, Joseph Chanot, Stephanie Tee, Martyna Zielinska, and Rufus Bloomfield
As there was an industrial dispute involving the marking of some Triposes last year, the usual list of Distinctions and Awards could not be included in the 2023 Record. The list is now available:
First Year:
First Classes and College Exhibitions
Drishti Angra: Part I Economics
Alice Barber: Part IA Education
Kiran Basra: Part I Economics
Isabelle Brown: Part IA Medical Sciences
Emma Dawes: Part IA English
Freyja Delap: Part IA English
Oscar Drury: Part I Economics
James Goh: Part IA Engineering
Moonis Haider: Part IA Mathematics
Cameron Hair: Part IA Modern and Medieval Languages
Ella Heathfield: Part IA Architecture
Ansh Jaiswal: Part IA Engineering
Alex Jones: Part IA Natural Sciences
Anirudh Khaitan: Part IA Mathematics
Max Krefting: Part IA Engineering
Albert Kwok: Part IA Computer Science
Arya Labroo: Part IA Engineering
Hugo Lange: Part IA Mathematics
Erica Lees-Smith: Part IA History
Alex Mehta: Part IA Engineering
Alex Mitchell: Part I Human, Social and Political Sciences
Zach Morris: Part IA Mathematics
Ewan O’Mahony: Part IA Law
Gigi Pezier: Part I Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion
Thomas Popay: Part IA Computer Science
Patrick Reader: Part IA Computer Science
Ben Smith: Part IA Engineering
Helena Sobanska: Part I Human, Social and Political Sciences
Oscar Tam: Part IA Medical Sciences
Jiecong Tan: Part IA Engineering
Josh Todd: Part IA Medical Sciences
Zara Tosun: Part IA English
Olivia Walker: Part IA Modern and Medieval Languages
Penghao Wang: Part IA Natural Sciences
Vivian Wang: Part IA Engineering
Emily Waters: Part IA History
Sam Weisselberg: Part I Human, Social and Political Sciences
Euan Worth: Part IA Computer Science
Yue Wu: Part IA Natural Sciences
Oliver Zhao: Part IA Architecture (with distinction)
Second Year
First Classes and Foundation Scholarships:
Andres Arcia Lopez: Part IB Mathematics
Ellis Baker: Part IB Natural Sciences
Locky Baker: Part IB Computer Science
Joshua Bird: Part IB Computer Science
Justin Chen: Part IB Mathematics
Margaux Cooper: Part IB Architecture
Curtis DeVerinne: Part IB Medical Sciences
Andrada Durantel: Part IB Natural Sciences
Katharina Eder: Part IIA Linguistics
Guy Flint: Part IB Natural Sciences
Theo Furniss: Part IB English
Emily Giles: Part IB Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Kate Godsmark: Part IB Engineering
Mia Griso Dryer: Part IB English
Nathaniel Gunn: Part IB Natural Sciences
Ben Harding: Part IB English
Oliver Herskovits: Part IB Mathematics
Samyak Jain: Part IB Mathematics
Priya Jari: Part IB Law
Alfie Jones: Part IB Mathematics
Hyeonwook Kang: Part IB Mathematics
Aditya Krishna: Part IB Engineering
Ruth Logan: Part IB Architecture
Eirlys Lovell-Jones: Part IB English
Conal Lowe: Part IA Linguistics
Gabriel Margolis: Part IB Music
Saoirse McGuinness: Part IB Modern and Medieval Languages
Gus Molyneux: Part IB Engineering
Faizan Nawaz: Part IIA Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion
Terrence Ng: Part IB Engineering
Olive Nicholson: Part IB Geography
Jasper Ostle: Part IIA Human, Social and Political Sciences: Politics and International Relations
Shreyas Pandit: Part 1B Mathematics
Sophie Sargant: Part IB English
Holly Sheridan: Part IIA Human, Social and Political Sciences: Politics and International Relations
Calum Stevenson: Part IB Engineering
Ben Sutton: Part 1B Natural Sciences
Stefan Titus-Glover: Part IB Engineering
Sunaabh Trivedi: Part IB Engineering
Leo Wilkinson: Part IB Natural Sciences
Thomas Yam: Part IB Engineering
Andy Zhou: Part IB Computer Science
Third Year:
First Classes and Foundation Scholarships
Melissa Anoble: Part II Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
Ciara Barley: Part II Geography
Matt Beton: Part II Mathematics
Mia Biggs: Part II Law
Eve Blain: Part II History
Tamara Boston: Part II Law
Phoebe Brown: Part IIB Human, Social and Political Sciences
Hayley Canham: Part II Classics
Rachel Chen: Part II Education
Mingle Chen: Part II Computer Science
Toby Clark: Part II Natural Sciences
Daisy Cooper: Part II Natural Sciences
Matt Covus: Part IIA Manufacturing Engineering
Alfred Deahl: Part II Classics
Alec Doherty: Part IIA Economics
Georgia Edwards: Part II Music
Josephina Edwards: Part II English
Thomas Elvin: Part II Mathematics
Kail Francis: Part IIA Engineering
Fleur Gardner-Wray: Part IIA Manufacturing Engineering
Alma Grant Sanz: Part II History
Lara Greening: Part II Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
Divya Gupta: Part II Natural Sciences
Ben Harvey: Part II Natural Sciences
Ewan Heaney: Part II Mathematics
Polly Hipkiss: Part II Natural Sciences
Christian Hockey: Part IIA Engineering
Megan Hodge: Part II Natural Sciences
Charlotte Holah: Part II Modern and Medieval Languages
Callum Houghton-Flory: Part II Natural Sciences
Ayoola Ishola: Part II Natural Sciences
Keshin Karunarathne: Part IIA Engineering
Louise Knight: Part II Modern and Medieval Languages
Ella Lane: Part II Modern and Medieval Languages
Jessica Lei: Part II Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
Amey Madkaikar: Part IIA Economics
Vaibhav Malhotra: Part IIA Engineering
Matthew Mayes: Part II History
James Morley: Part IIB Linguistics
Dylan Moss: Part II Computer Science
Emily Overington: Part II Natural Sciences
Eren Ozturk: Part II Natural Sciences
Jack Peacock: Part II History
George Penney: Part II Natural Sciences
Saaya Perera: Part II Architecture
Leoni Pugh: Part II Computer Science
Jed Quinn: Part II Law
Alex Richardson-Jones: Part II Mathematics
Katja Ruda: Part IIA Engineering
Charlotte Rye: Part II Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
Billy Shi: Part IIA Engineering
George Smith: Part II Music
Aryaman Sokhal: Part II Natural Sciences
Ziwei Su: Part II Mathematics
Crispin Turner: Part II Natural Sciences
Mario Ventura Terry: Part IIA Economics
Tabitha von Kaufmann: Part IIB Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion
Joe Walker: Part II Natural Sciences
Matthew Warren: Part II Mathematics
Eleanor White: Part II Natural Sciences
Ann Xu: Part II Natural Sciences
Lara Zand: Part II Modern and Medieval Languages
Peter Zeng: Part IIB Economics
Kyra Zhou: Part II Computer Science
Zixuan Zhou: Part II Mathematics
Fourth Year
First Classes and Foundation Scholarships:
Aadam Basrai: Part III Natural Sciences
Mikel Bober-Irizar: Part III Computer Science
Imogen Camp: Part III Natural Sciences
Katelyn Chelberg: Part IIB Manufacturing Engineering
Nathan Clark: Part III Natural Sciences
Charlotte Collerton: Part II History and Modern Languages
Harry Cookson: Part IIB Engineering
Hiro Farre Kaga: Part III Natural Sciences
Alberto Ferro: Part IIB Engineering
Freddie Floydd: Part III Natural Sciences
George Foster: Part III Natural Sciences
Yi Chen Hock: Part IIB Engineering
Lucas Holt: Part IIB Engineering
Max McGuinness: Part III Computer Science
Joe Musson: Part IIB Engineering
Vivek Palaniappan: Part IIB Engineering
Emilie Pauwels: Part IIB Engineering
Varun Randery: Part III Natural Sciences
Zak Smith: Part III Mathematics
Sam Steinberg: Part IIB Engineering
Kevin Thomas: Part IIB Engineering
Katherine Tubbs: Part II History and Modern Languages
Max Viles: Part III Natural Sciences
Eline Welling: Part III Natural Sciences
Celine Winata: Part IIA Chemical Engineering
Graduates:
Marcus Au: Part III Final M.B Examination (pass with distinction)
Benjamin Conlon: LL.M
Cameron Glynn: LL.M
Eric Jou: Part III Final M.B Examination (pass with distinction)
Vanessa Lo: LL.M
College and Year Prizes
The Venn Prize: Isabelle Brown; Gigi Pezier and Helena Sobanska
The Hughes Prize: Jasper Ostle and Faizan Nawaz
The Joshua King Prize: Matt Covus and James Morley
The Ruth Hendry Prize: Christian Hockey
A B Cook Prize: Theo Furniss
Alison Roper Prize: Guy Flint and Aryaman Sokhal
Braithwaite Prize: Anirudh Khaitan
Brendan Prize: Rui De Sa Nogueira
Brian Callingham Prize: Eleanor White
Clayton Prize: Faizan Nawaz
Colin Butler Prize: Daisy Cooper
Chalmers Prize: Imogen Camp
Chris Hills Memorial Prize: Vivian Wang
Colton Prize: Zixuan Zhou
Construction Engineering Prize: Alan Whaley
C W Phillips Prize: Jack Peacock
David Ward Prize: Yue Wu
Engineering Alumni Prize: Thomas Yam
Gamble-Scott Prize: Helena Sobanska
Grant Prize: Callum Houghton-Flory
Harold Bailey Prize: not awarded
Henry Mosseri Prize: Josh Todd
James & Jean Bennett Prize: Albert Ferro
James Diggle Prize: Vicky Vegni
J. Leslie Firth Prize: not awarded
Kenneth Waghorne Prize: not awarded
Lawrence Peel Prize: Max Krefting
Lucas-Smith Memorial Prize: Cameron Glynn
Mathias Prize: Matthew Mayes
Max Bull Prize in Anatomy: Isabelle Brown
Max Bull Prize in Veterinary Medicine: Sanaa Cockar
Melsome Prize: Marcus Au
M J Milgate Prize: Amey Madkaiker
Northam Memorial Prize: Peter Zeng
Openshaw Prize: Andres Arcia Lopez
Paul W Davies Prize: Leo Wilkinson
Penny White Prize: Alfred Deahl
Prigmore Prize: Christian Hockey
R A Ingram Prize: Drishti Angra
Robert Barnes Prize: not awarded
Redress Solutions Prize: Tamara Boston and Priya Jari
Susan Hamilton Prize: Maria Papapetrou
Taylor Prize: Katherine Tubbs
Wheatley Prize: Yue Wu
William Stanley Morgan Prize: Keir Bradwell
President’s Subject Prizes
Architecture: Margaux Cooper
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies: Emily Giles
Biology: Daisy Cooper
Chemical Engineering: Celine Winata
Computer Science: Albert Kwok and Patrick Reader
Computer Science (Fourth Year): Mikel Bober-Irizar
Education: Rachel Chen
Engineering: Jaicong Tan
English: Josie Edwards
Geography: Ciara Barley
Human, Social and Political Sciences: Phoebe Brown and Jasper Ostle
Linguistics: James Morley
Manufacturing Engineering: Matt Covus
Mathematics: Zak Smith
Music: George Smith
Natural Sciences: Imogen Camp
Psychological & Behavioural Sciences: Lara Greening
Special Prizes
Abyngdon Prize: not awarded
Beament Prize: Georgia Burr
Cyril Bibby Prize: Matthew Mayes
Chase Prize: Gigi Pezier
Dajani Prize: not awarded
Farr Poetry Prize: Freyja Delap
Hadfield Poetry Prize: Josie Edwards
Hickox Prize: Georgia Edwards and Ben Markovic
Ryle Reading Prize: not awarded
Tyro Music Prize: Alex Jones
Foundation Year
First Class
Niall Quinn: Foundation Year in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (Pass with distinction)
First Years
First Classes and College Exhibitions
Giorgio Amasanti: Part IA Engineering
Anagh Arora: Part IA Medical Sciences
Ilai Avni: Part I Engineering
Peter Baker: Part IA Engineering
Nick Barclay: Part 1 Human, Social and Political Sciences
Justin Chan: Part IA Mathematics
Joseph Chanot: Part IA Engineering
Oscar Collin: Part IA Architecture
Jonas Dej: Part IA Natural Sciences
Hugo Deval: Part IA Asian and Middle Easter Studies
Frieda Dickson: Part IA English
Louis Driver: Part IA Natural Sciences
Daphne Frederickou Charalambous: Part 1A English
Hannah Garnham: Part IA Natural Sciences
Erin Keeling: Part IA Mathematics
Krystian Krupa: Part IA Architecture
Tamara Lake: Part 1 Human, Social and Political Sciences
Christopher Lang: Part IA Computer Science
Erin Lansley: Part 1A English
James Lecoche: Part IA History
Isaac Lee: Part IA Economics
Kevin Liu: Part IA Engineering
Martha Lucas: Part I Human, Social and Political Sciences
Luca Matta: Part IA Engineering
Imogen O’Keeffe: Part IA Architecture
Ben Pattison: Part IA Engineering
Sophie Rauch: Part IA Psychological & Behavioural Sciences
Freddie Reid: Part I Economics
Abigail Rice: Part I Economics
Bella Roskill: Part I History of Art
Olly Salter: Part IA Modern and Medieval Languages
Avneet Sapal: Part IA Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Yathaarth Sharma: Part IA Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Ben Sims: Part IA Engineering
Alex Smiles: Part I Economics
Gwennan Staziker: Part IA Architecture
Mured Summers: Part I Preliminary Examination in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
Alex Thompson: Part I Linguistics (with distinction)
Stav Tsouni: Part IA Preliminary Examination in Classics (Pass with distinction)
Freya Watts: Part IA Natural Sciences
Lucy White: Part IA English
Jou-Myu Wijnholds: Part 1A Medical Sciences
Sam Wilson: Part IA Engineering
Louis Wood: Part IA Engineering
Finlay Wyer: Part IA Engineering
Second Year
First Classes and Foundation Scholarships:
Ishaan Anand: Part IB Natural Sciences
Drishti Angra: Part IIA Economics
Oliver Branch: Part IB Architecture
Isabelle Brown: Part IB Medical Sciences
Noah Chamberlain: Part I Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
Angus Chisholm: Part IB Engineering
Ryan Chung: Part I Chemical Engineering
Emma Dawes: Part IB English
Freyja Delap: Part IB English
Moonis Haider: Part IB Mathematics
Charli Head: Part IB Natural Sciences
Ansh Jaiswal: Part IB Engineering
Alex Jones: Part IB Natural Sciences
Anirudh Khaitan: Part IB Mathematics
Max Krefting: Part IB Engineering
Leo Kurgan: Part IIA Economics
Albert Kwok: Part IB Computer Sciences
Hugo Lange: Part IB Mathematics
Alex Maltby: Part IB Geography
Alex Mehta: Part IB Engineering
Alex Mitchell: Part IIA Human, Social and Political Science (Politics and International Relations)
Ellie Moss: Part IB English
Ewan O’Mahony: Part IB Law
Izzy Pearl: Part IB History
Gigi Pezier: Part IIA Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion (with distinction)
George Popovic: Part IB Architecture
Maria Radice Fossati Confalonieri: Part IB Engineering
Patrick Reader: Part IB Computer Science
Salomé Sivignon: Part IIA Human, Social and Political Science (Politics and International Relations)
Ben Smith: Part IB Engineering
Helena Sobanska: Part IIA Human, Social and Political Science (Politics and International Relations)
Oscar Tam: Part IB Medical Sciences
Jiecong Tan: Part IB Engineering
Josh Todd: Part IB Medical Sciences
Vicky Vegni: Part II Classics
Martha Vine: Part IB English
Vivian Wang: Part IB Engineering
Emily Waters: Part IB History
Eva Weinstein: Part IB Geography
Sam Weisselberg: Part IIA Linguistics
Euan Worth: Part IB Computer Science
Maddy Wright: Part IB History
Yue Wu: Part IB Natural Sciences
Oli Zhao: Part IB Architecture
Third Year:
First Classes and Foundation Scholarships
Ellis Baker: Part II Natural Sciences (Chemistry)
Joshua Bird: Part II Computer Science
Evie Burr: Part IIB Human, Social and Political Science (Politics and International Relations)
Justin Chen: Part II Mathematics
Margaux Cooper: Part II Architecture
Alec Doherty: Part IIB Economics
Alice Drury: Part II Music (with distinction)
Katharina Eder: Part IIB Linguistics
Guy Flint: Part II Natural Sciences (Astrophysics)
Theo Furniss: Part II English
Kate Godsmark: Part IIA Engineering
Mia Griso Dryer: Part II English
Ben Harding: Part II English
Oliver Herskovits: Part II Mathematics
Alfie Jones: Part II Mathematics
Hyeonwook Kang: Part II Mathematics
Conal Lowe: Part IIB Linguistics (with distinction)
Gabriel Margolis: Part IIA Music (with distinction)
Gus Molyneux: Part IIA Engineering
Nuria Munday: Part II History
Faizan Nawaz: Part IIB Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion (with distinction)
Olive Nicholson: Part II Geography (with distinction)
Jasper Ostle: Part IIB Human, Social and Political Science (Politics and International Relations)
Victoria Romaniv: Management Studies (with distinction)
Sophie Sargant: Part II English
Oscar Selby: Part II Computer Science
Ella Sheddick: Part II History
Holly Sheridan: Part IIB Human, Social and Political Science (Politics and International Relations)
Mridhula Sridevi Prabhakar: Part IIA Engineering
Ben Sutton: Part II Natural Sciences (Earth Sciences)
Natasha Symes: Part II Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
Maria Toone: Part IIB Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion
Sunaabh Trivedi: Part IIA Engineering
Mario Ventura Terry: Part IIB Economics
Eleanor Vincent: Part II History
Leo Wilkinson: Part II Natural Sciences (Chemistry)
Tom Woolley: Part II Geography
Thomas Yam: Part IIA Engineering
Andy Zhou: Part II Computer Science
Fourth Year
First Classes and Foundation Scholarships:
Eva Barry: Part IIB Chemical Engineering
Matt Beton: Part III Mathematics
Ella Chambers: Part II Modern and Medieval Languages
Mingle Chen: Part III Computer Sciences
Toby Clark: Part III Natural Sciences (Systems Biology)
Matt Covus: Part IIB Manufacturing Engineering
Thomas Elvin: Part III Mathematics
Henry Free: Part IIB Engineering
Fleur Gardner-Wray: Part IIB Manufacturing Engineering
Alma Grant Sanz: Part III Natural Science (History and Philosophy of Science)
Einav Grushka: Part II Modern and Medieval Languages
Ben Harvey: Part III Natural Sciences (Physics)
Ewan Heaney: Part III Mathematics
Christian Hockey: Part IIB Engineering
Callum Houghton-Flory: Part III Natural Sciences (Biochemistry)
Lucy Jarrett: Part III Mathematics
Keshin Karunarathne: Part IIB Engineering
Andrew Liang: Part IIB Engineering
Vaibhav Malhotra: Part IIB Engineering
Sophia Marron: Part II History and Modern Languages
Juliet McConkey: Part II History and Modern Languages
Dylan Moss: Part III Computer Science
Eren Ozturk: Part III Natural Sciences (Astrophysics)
Libby Pearson: Part II Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Aimee Preston: Part III Natural Sciences (Systems Biology)
Leoni Pugh: Part III Computer Science
Alex Richardson-Jones: Part III Mathematics
Vidhi Sharma: Part IIB Engineering
Billy Shi: Part IIB Engineering
Aryaman Sokhal: Part III Natural Sciences (Chemistry)
Ziwei Su: Part III Mathematics
Michal Szwej: Part III Mathematics
Crispin Turner: Part III Natural Sciences (Physics)
Matthew Warren: Part III Mathematics
Ann Xu: Part III Natural Sciences (Physics)
Zixuan Zhou: Part III Mathematics
Graduates:
Tamara Boston: LL.M
Renuka Chintapalli: Part III Final M.B, Clinical Examination (Pass with distinction)
Freddy Faull: LL.M
Aurélien Minguella: Master of Advanced Study Degree in Mathematics
Josefa Lia Stoisser: Master of Advanced Study Degree in Mathematics
Émilien Morin-Lévesque: LL.M
Adith Thomas: Part III Final M.B, Clinical Examination (Pass with distinction)
Lucas Valle Thiele: Master of Advanced Study Degree in Mathematics
College and Year Prizes
The Venn Prize: Giorgio Amasanti; Kevin Liu
The Hughes Prize: Isabelle Brown; Gigi Pezier and Maddy Wright
The Joshua King Prize: Margaux Cooper; Faizan Nawaz; Victoria Romaniv and Ben Sutton
The Ruth Hendry Prize: Christian Hockey
A B Cook Prize: Lucy White
Alison Roper Prize: Guy Flint; Aryaman Sokhal and Ben Sutton
Braithwaite Prize: Hugo Lange
Brendan Prize: Nuria Munday
Brian Callingham Prize: Isabelle Brown
Clayton Prize: Faizan Nawaz and Gigi Pezier
Clinical School’s Gold Medal: Renuka Chintapalli
Colin Butler Prize: Louis Driver
Chalmers Prize: Crispin Turner
Chris Hills Memorial Prize: Giorgio Amasanti
Colton Prize: Justin Chen
Construction Engineering Prize: Arthur Barratt-Thorne
C W Phillips Prize: Maddy Wright
David Ward Prize: Jonas Dej
Emily Webster Prize: Amir Sheikh
Engineering Alumni Prize: Max Krefting
Foundation Year Extraordinary Prize: Niall Quinn
Gamble-Scott Prize: Tamara Lake
Grant Prize: Callum Houghton-Flory
Harold Bailey Prize: not awarded
Henry Mosseri Prize: Charli Head
James & Jean Bennett Prize: Vaibhav Malhotra
James Diggle Prize: Ben Brown
J. Leslie Firth Prize: Vicky Vegni
Kenneth Waghorne Prize: not awarded
Lawrence Peel Prize: Kevin Liu
Lucas-Smith Memorial Prize: Ewan O’Mahony
Lucy Caldwell Prize: Ellie Moss
Mathias Prize: Eleanor Vincent
Max Bull Prize in Anatomy: Jou-Myu Wijnholds
Max Bull Prize in Veterinary Medicine: Lucy Kirkwood
Melsome Prize: Renuka Chintapalli
Michael Williamson Instrumental Scholarship: Gabriel Margolis
M J Milgate Prize: Leo Kurgan
Paul W Davies Prize: Yue Wu
Penny White Prize: Erin Keeling
R A Ingram Prize: Alex Smiles
Robert Barnes Prize: not awarded
Northam Memorial Prize: Alec Doherty
Openshaw Prize: Alfie Jones
Prigmore Prize: Christian Hockey
Redress Solutions Prize: Tamara Boston and Émilien Morin-Lévesque
Susan Hamilton Prize: Baptiste Bourdeau De Fontenay
Taylor Prize: Juliet McConkey
Wheatley Prize: Hannah Garnham
William Stanley Morgan Prize: Rebecca Harper
President’s Subject Prizes
Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic: Natasha Symes
Architecture: Imogen O’Keeffe and Gwennan Staziker
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies: Hugo Deval and Libby Pearson
Biology: Toby Clark
Chemical Engineering: Avneet Sapal
Computer Science: Patrick Reader
English: Mia Griso Dryer
Foundation Year: Niall Quinn
Geography: Olive Nicholson and Eva Weinstein
Human, Social and Political Sciences: Alex Mitchell and Holly Sheridan
Linguistics: Alex Thompson
Mathematics: Zixuan Zhou
Music: Gabriel Margolis
Natural Sciences: Crispin Turner
Psychological & Behavioural Sciences: Sophie Rauch
Special Prizes
Abyngdon Prize: Faraan Cheema
Beament Prize: Katherine Farr
Cyril Bibby Prize: Emma Dawes; Josh Moore and Mario Ventura Terry
Chase Prize: not awarded
Dajani Prize: not awarded
Farr Poetry Prize: Noah Chamberlain
Hadfield Poetry Prize: Martha Vine
Hickox Prize: Alice Drury and Jack McCabe
Ryle Reading Prize: not awarded
Tyro Music Prize: Hugo Deval
Joshua King Prize: Third or final year undergraduate year prize for academic distinction. Joshua King was President of Queens’, Vice-Chancellor 1831-1834 & Lucasian Professor of Mathematics 1839-1849.
Hughes Prize: For outstanding distinction by students in their second year. Founded in 1777 by the Revd David Hughes who was Vice-President of the College and Senior Fellow.
Venn Prize: For outstanding distinction by first year students. Founded by John Archibald Venn (1905); President 1932-1958.
Ruth Hendry Prize: For outstanding distinction by fourth year undergraduate.
Harold Bailey Prize (AMES): Established in honour of Sir Harold Bailey, Professor of Sanskrit, Fellow 1936-96
Robert Barnes Prize (Chemical Engineering): Generously established in 2018 by Dr Robert Barnes (1989), for postgraduates.
James & Jean Bennett Prize (Engineering): Established in 2016 in memory of Arthur James Bennett (1940), the Prize is intended to inspire the next generation of technology pioneers.
Braithwaite Prize (Mathematics): Founded in 1981 in memory of George Braithwaite (1923).
Brendan Prize (History): Founded by the Revd Dr Brendan Bradshaw, Fellow of Queens’ 1977 until his death in 2017.
Max Bull Prizes: Founded in 1986 in memory of Dr Max Bull (1933, Fellow & Senior Tutor).
Colin Butler Prize (Natural Sciences): Established in 2018 in memory of Dr Colin Butler (1934), a leading entomologist. Donated by Ian Mackley (1977).
Brian Callingham Prize (Pre-Clinical Medicine & Veterinary Medicine: Established in 2019 in honour of Dr Brian Callingham, Life Fellow.
Chalmers Prize (Physics): Established in 1967 in memory of Professor John Chalmers (1923).
Clayton Prize (Theology): Established in 1960 in memory of Norman Clayton (1900).
Colton Prize (Mathematics): Established in 1984 by the Trustees of the William Herbert Colton Foundation. William Colton (1919) read Mathematics.
A. B. Cook Prize (Modern Languages, English or History): Founded in 1982 in memory of Professor A B Cook (Fellow & Vice-President, Professor of Classical Archaeology).
Paul W. Davies Prize (Chemisty): Established in 1998 in memory of Paul Davies (1973), who died in 1994.
James Diggle Prize (Classics): Established in 2019 to honour Professor James Diggle and his more than 50 years of service to the College as Praelector and Director of Studies in Classics.
Engineering Alumni Prize: Given for excellence in any part of the Engineering or Manufacturing Engineering Tripos. The Prize was founded anonymously in 2002 by an Engineering alumnus.
J. Leslie Firth Prize (Classics): For excellence. Established by the daughters of J Leslie Firth (1942) in 2017 in his memory.
Gamble-Scott Prize (HSPS): Established in 2017 to recognise academic excellence in a first year student. Named after Professor Jackie Scott (Fellow) who retired in 2017, and her colleague, Professor Andrew Gamble (1965, former Fellow & Emeritus Fellow).
Grant Prize (Biochemistry): For academic distinction in Biological Natural Sciences given by Mrs Dragana Grant (1993) and Mr David Grant.
Chris Hills Memorial Prize (Engineering): Founded by the parents of Chris Hills (1999) in his memory.
R. A. Ingram Prize (Economics): Established in 2018 for first year undergraduates, in the name of the Revd R. A. Ingram, the first Economist to be a Fellow at Queens’ (1785).
Lucas-Smith Memorial Prize (Law): Founded by his parents in 1949 in memory of Roger LucasSmith (1942) who died in 1948.
Mathias Prize (History): Generously established in 2017 from the legacy of Professor Peter Mathias (Queens’ Fellow, 1955-68)
Melsome Prize (Medicine): For a student who is about to graduate. The Prize was established by W S Melsome (1883), who died in 1944.
M. J. Milgate Prize (Economics): For second year undergraduate students. The Prize was established in 2018 in honour of Dr Murray Milgate, Life Fellow of Queens’.
Henry Mosseri Prize (Physiology, Biochemistry or Applied Biology): Founded by R V Mosseri (1932) in memory of his brother Henry Mosseri.
Northam Memorial Prize (Economics): Given to an Economics student who is about to graduate. Established in memory of Sir Reginald Northam (1919) who died in 1968.
Openshaw Prize (Mathematics): Founded in memory of Tom Openshaw (1970), who lost his life in a climbing accident during his last undergraduate year.
Lawrence Peel Prize (Engineering): The Prize also takes account of the best all-round contribution to College life. Founded in 1985 in memory of Lawrence Peel (1981) who died in an accident shortly after graduating.
C. W. Phillips Prize (History): Established in 1988 in memory of Christopher Phillips (1933).
Prigmore Prize (Engineering): Founded in 1984 in memory of Basil Prigmore (1938).
Redress Solutions Prize (Law/LLM): Established by Marius Nasta (1990) & Michael Zuckerman of Redress Solutions.
Alison Roper Prize (Natural Sciences): Established in memory of Alison Roper (1982) who died in 2013.
The Taylor Prize for MML & History: Endowed through the generosity of Mr Nigel Taylor to reward performance in the MML and History Tripos
Kenneth Waghorne Prize (MML): For distinction in MML. A gift from the estate of Kenneth Waghorne (1939) in 2017.
David Ward Prize (Natural Sciences – Physics): For academic excellence in Physics. Established in 2017 to mark Professor David Ward’s (Fellow) retirement.
Wheatley Prize (Chemistry): For a first year undergraduate. Established in 1998 in memory of Peter Wheatley (Fellow1967-97, Junior and Senior Bursar).
T. Penny White Prize (Classics): Established in 1842 by Thomas Penny White (Senior Wrangler in 1802 and Fellow).
Beament Prize: For outstanding musical performance by a junior member of College. Named after Prof Sir James Beament (1940 & Fellow 1961 until his death in 2005).
Farr Poetry Prize: Established in 1981 in memory of Henry Frederick Farr (1951).
Hadfield Poetry Prize: Established by his mother in 1997 in memory of Sam Hadfield (1992) who died in 1996.
Ryle Reading Prize: For reading in the College Chapel. The Prize was founded by Herbert Edward Ryle (President 1896-1901) in memory of his son, Roger, who died in the President’s Lodge at the age of seven.
Tyro Music Prize: Endowed by the late Professor Peter Watson (1950, Fellow Commoner) for the winner of an instrumental competition.
Ph.Ds awarded during the year
Alexander Aivazidis (Biology); Eman Alswaity (Engineering); Yana Atkinson (Land Economy); Tarrion Baird (Biology); Samuel Bell (Computer Science and Technology); Shubhayu Bhattacharyay (Clinical Neurosciences); Timothy Butterfield (Engineering); Marcos Fernández Álvarez (Physics and Chemistry); Claire Fielding (Haematology); Abigail Giles (Medical Sciences – Mitochondrial Biology Unit); Rob Glew (Engineering); Daniel Greaves (Cambridge Institute for Medical Research); Isabelle Grootes (Oncology); Hugo Hadfield (Engineering); Noah Halberstam (Mathematics); Becky Hartwell (Engineering); Paula Jiminez-Gomez (Oncology); Catherine Kennedy (Clinical Neurosciences); Grzegorz Krzak (Clinical Neurosciences); Gerard Kuenning (Politics and International Studies); Maeve Lentricchia (Classics); Juhwan Lim (Physics and Chemistry); Veronika Mantziou (Biology); Katherine Masih (Medical Sciences at Cancer Research UK); Austin McCraw (Divinity); Gordon McFarland (Classics); Sofia Melendez Gutierrez (Philosophy); Kieran Paterson (Physics and Chemistry); Alba Patozi (Economics); Sandra Alma Popescu (Biology); Ioannis Prattis (Engineering); Yiwen Qiu (Land Economy); Svetlana Radionovskya (Earth Sciences and Geography); Hamad Raheem (Engineering); Reza Rajimehr (Medical Sciences at Cognition and Brain Science Unit); Natcha Ruamsanitwong (Architecture and History of Art); Alex Tokolyi (Biology); Andromachi Tsoukala (Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics); Douglas Van Niekerk (Engineering); Yiran Wei (Clinical Neorosciences); Madita Weise (Archaeology, Anthropology and Sociology); Oscar Westerblad (History and Philosophy of Science); Johannes Wolff (Engineering); Tong Xia (computer Science and Technology).
The JCR Committee of 2023-24 sought to continue the hard work of the previous Committee through both continuing initiatives and novel developments. Some of the improvements made by this Committee included the organisation and rebranding of the sports and societies information on the QJCR run website, spear-headed by Computer Officer Patrick Reader and Societies Officer Max Krefting, along with continuing talks regarding the online booking system and navigation for college spaces. We also saw collaboration with BATS and other societies to help publicise their meetings and performances more clearly on multiple social media platforms.
This year also saw a development in communication through a newsletter curated by our secretary Evie Burr, which saw considerable uptake in engagement with minutes and JCR activities.
Our yearly QJCR survey led by Vice-President Abby Hallett helped us to further connect our JCR and SCR communities at Queens’. We had many productive discussions with a plethora of Queens’ Members following the survey and have continually put in hard work to make changes!
I am also happy to report a resurgence of QEnts, masterminded brilliantly by QEnts President Cath Kirkland and supported by many JCR and QEnts Committee members. We saw the
resurgence of ‘Bounce’ with a signature cocktail, bops of all themes and sizes (which were even momentarily thwarted by extravagant chicken costumes) and accessible bar quizzes and bar swaps with other colleges across the city centre.
Our dedicated Accommodation and Facilities Officer Conall Moss worked closely with the College to update the JCR Combination Room, as well as to increase knowledge about the various rooms available for undergraduates to book, and what renovations would be appreciated in the “ugliest building on the river” (a notorious punt tour guides’ description of Erasmus – Ed.).
The Buttery, after its incredible £3 meal-deal was exposed to the University masses, became a hub of Cambridge activity and hence led to a JCR taskforce aimed to ensure that the needs of Queens’ were met first. It was very promising to see Queens’ become a hotspot and we hope that the next Committee will continue to help Queens’ stand out from the rest!
And of course, the Committee was deservedly rewarded with a splendid dinner in the President’s Lodge, which enabled the outgoing and incoming Committees to share wisdom and advice in a classic Queens’ setting.
JCR Committee 2023-24:
President: Anna Fitzpatrick
Vice-President: Abby Hallett
Secretary: Evie Burr
Treasurer: Charlotte Evans
QEnts President: Catherine Kirkland
Access Officer: Conal Lowe
Accommodation & Facilities Officer: Conall Moss
Academic Officer: Ewan O’Mahony
Class Act Officer: Lukasi Gutteridge
Computer Officer: Patrick Reader
Disabilities Officer: Gigi Pezier
Environmental Officer: Erica Morgan
External Accommodation Officers: Heramb Mogdula, Michael Ferris
First Year Representatives: Noah Chamberlain, Saanya Verma
Internationals’ Officer: Salomé Sivignon
LGBT+ Officer: Paige McAvoy
POC Officer: Aliyah Irabor-York
Sports & Societies Officer: Max Krefting
Steward: Alex Maltby
Welfare Officers: Lizzie Davy, Toby Nee
Women & NB Officer: Eve Maylor
In the 2023/24 academic year, the Committee maintained its tradition of hosting monthly wine and cheese social events in the Old Hall. Additionally, we successfully organised some special events, including a Chinese New Year Celebration Formal Hall and an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Networking Formal Hall. The latter featured Tanuja Randery, the Director of AWS EMEA, along with her team leaders, and attracted participation from both the MCR and JCR. Beyond these social events in the Old Hall, our Entertainment Officers also organised pub quizzes in QBar for both MCR and JCR students every other Thursday. Throughout the year, the Formal Stewards successfully coordinated College formal swaps with Pembroke College, Clare College, King’s College, Sidney Sussex College, and St John’s College.
This year marked the successful introduction of our first MCR survey. The survey provided invaluable feedback and insights into the preferences and needs of our MCR student community. Encouraged by its success, we plan to make this survey an annual exercise. During the Lent Term, we launched a new MCR website. The platform has been wellreceived, attracting 572 visitors in its first month alone. This digital hub is central to our communication strategy, providing a streamlined source for information, event announcements, and resources. The strong initial engagement indicates that our members value this enhanced connectivity and access to information. We also conducted a comprehensive review of our committee roles to improve the efficiency of our operations. This review led to a restructured and streamlined committee, reducing the number of roles from 18 to 13. Addressing the challenges associated with the booking of rooms, the MCR proposed the implementation of a Regular Booking schedule. This initiative aims to streamline the booking process and ensure fair and consistent access to facilities in the future. The proposal will be discussed by the Timetable Committee next term, and we are optimistic about its potential to enhance booking efficiency and overall student satisfaction.
Throughout the 2023/24 academic year, the Committee has demonstrated a commitment to fostering a vibrant, well-organized, and responsive community environment. Our efforts in hosting diverse events, enhancing digital engagement, and proposing facility management improvements have been well received by our MCR community. It has been an eventful year and we hope this positive momentum continues into the forthcoming academic year.
MCR Committee 2023-2024:
President: Victoria (Xiwen) Xiao
Co-Vice-Presidents: Marina Lirintzi, Mohamad El Daouk
Treasurer: Jessy Zhu
Academic Officer: Ruby Woodward
Accommodation Officer: Di Zhao
BAME Officer: Maheera Ghani
Careers Officer: Adam Barton
Communications Officers: Kody Christiansen
Entertainments Officers: Faraan Cheema, Kody Christiansen, Alex Bartam
Environmental Officer: Helena Golaszewska
First Year Representative: Katya Sajovec
Formal Stewards: Ruán Linders, Kelly Ding, Justus Nordhorn
International Representative: Cheng-Yu (Kou) Huang
LGBTQ+ Representative: Jiri Dolezel
Part-Time Students Representative: Lorenz Wackerle
Sports and Socs Officer: Beitong Gao
Welfare Officers: Anne-Pia, Pranathi Prasad
Women and Non-Binary Representative: Lidia Ripoll Sanchez
Woodville Steward: Nick Popel
This year’s MCR-SCR Talks showcased an eclectic mix of presentations, highlighting the diverse and impactful research happening within Queens’ College’s graduate community as well as among the senior college members. Held bi-weekly during term time, this talks series attracted an audience eager to learn about work beyond their own fields.
In the Easter Term, topics ranged from combating antibiotic-resistant superbugs and exploring circular hydraulic jumps to modelling lung health, collecting ship-based climate change observations, studying glacial lake outburst floods, and examining resist-painted pottery from Pre-Hispanic Nariño. The Michaelmas Term featured discussions on machine learning models for multi-modal pathology data, volcanic memory, and the properties of small atoms. This impressive array of subjects underscores the incredible impact of research at Queens’ and the diverse pool of talented researchers resident in this College.
Each talk was followed by engaging Q&A sessions, allowing the audience to interact with the speakers and broaden their horizons. Many of these conversations continued well into the evening, accompanied by cheese and wine, fostering excellent networking opportunities and encouraging connections among researchers with similar or diverse interests, effectively bringing us out of our individual research bubbles.
On behalf of the academic officers, we extend a heartfelt thank you to all the speakers who generously volunteered their time and expertise, and to those who assisted with the organisation of the talks, including our wonderful college catering and events teams, whose unwavering support ensured the smooth running of these events.
MCR Academic Officer: Ruby Woodward
SCR speaker recruitment: Dr Tamsin Spellman
Cambridge University’s academic community continues to witness a transformative surge in entrepreneurial spirit with the thriving Queens’ Entrepreneurship Society. Now in its third year, this dynamic society has firmly established itself as a cornerstone for encouraging students, researchers, and Fellows to unleash their innovative potential and transform their ideas into successful businesses.
QES remains unique among other entrepreneurship schemes in Cambridge by embracing individuals from diverse fields. It understands that the most revolutionary ideas often stem from the fusion of different disciplines. Through a comprehensive training programme, connections to potential investors, and networking events, QES equips its members with the practical tools and support needed to turn their visions into reality.
The Society’s core model, “Develop, Incubate, Accelerate,” continues to lie at the heart of its approach. This three-stage journey navigates individuals and ventures through the entrepreneurial process. Starting with development, participants receive training to refine their business ideas and devise robust strategies. Next, the incubation phase provides a nurturing environment for these ideas to flourish and grow. Finally, in the acceleration phase, the most promising ventures gain access to funding opportunities and critical business connections.
At the forefront of QES’s initiatives is the prestigious Queens’ Entrepreneurship Society prize competition. Generously funded by visionary donors, this competition offers aspiring entrepreneurs a chance to win £5,000 to propel their ideas toward realization. The prize competition kicked off with a registration announcement in November 2023, followed by a series of preparatory events leading up to the final judging panel pitch in March 2024.
This year’s competition winners are: “MarkMind” by Luke Johnston and “HiPer Tops” by James Goh. The prizes were generously donated by Qun Yang, Founder of Biorbyt, and Richard Hargreaves, a Cambridge Angel and entrepreneur
Over the past year, the society has continued to create an environment that fosters creativity, risk-taking, and innovation. QES hosted a series of entrepreneurship events designed to nurture an atmosphere of learning, inspiration, and collaboration. These gatherings serve as melting pots for ideas to flourish and connections to form, laying the foundation for a thriving entrepreneurial community. This year’s events were entitled, ‘The
first steps in entrepreneurship – a Founder’s Glossary’ (5 October 2023), ‘An Entrepreneur’s Story & Lessons Learnt’ (9 November 2023), ‘How to make your VC say “Yes”’ (26 January 2024), ‘Let’s talk numbers – Finance for Novices’ (15 February 2024), and ‘Judging Panel Pitch – QES Entrepreneurship Competition’ (15 March 2024).
As the Queens’ College community continues to unite in embracing entrepreneurship in all its forms, the Queens’ Entrepreneurship Society stands proud, championing the spirit of innovation. With QES lighting the path, the future of entrepreneurship at Cambridge University shines brighter than ever before.
Jasmin Jahić
Fellows involved with the Society: Professor Clare Bryant, Dr Ramsey Faragher, Dr Jasmin Jahić, Dr Challenger Mishra Honorary Patrons: Anna El-Erian and Siraj Khaliq. Entrepreneur in Residence: Qun Yang
Queens’ Classics Society has had a wonderful year of activity with plenty of goings on. In the Michaelmas Term, we had tea with the Faculty Archivist to discuss both what you can do with Classics after you graduate and how we can use the faculty archives to help us with our research.
Then in the Lent Term, we had two big events at the end of term: first the annual Queens’ Classics Society dinner, with Professor Diggle as our guest of honour, then a group visit to the British Museum to meet with the Keeper of the Greece and Rome department, followed by a tour of the Bronze Age and Classical Greek galleries.
Finally, in the Easter term, in between the busyness of exams and coursework, we met with Queens’ Classics alumni to discuss future career paths after studying at Cambridge and all of the options that potentially lie ahead of us.
President: Abby Hallett
The Queens’ Computer Science Society is run by and for the Queens’ computer science students, with various social and academic events throughout the year. As with every year, the new subject contacts Euan Worth and Gracie Zhou, together with John Glass and
Patrick Reader, organised the Queens’ Computer Science Annual Dinner. It was held on 12th May and we had 71 attendees across undergraduates, past and current Directors of Studies, Fellows, and alumni. This year’s guest speakers Rob Whitehead and Sam Snyder gave an insightful and inspiring speech on lessons they had learnt building their startup while reminiscing about their times at Cambridge.
As soon as the first years finished their Natural Sciences mathematics exams, the end of the year was celebrated with the traditional punting and picnic BBQ to Grantchester, organised by Euan Worth and Gracie Zhou.
President: Dan Wendon-Blixrud
The academic year began with our yearly introductory talk and discussion with Mohamed El Erian, President of Queens’, on the state of the world economy. FT journalist Chris Giles gave a talk on the subject of ‘Inflation, a communications nightmare’ later in the Michaelmas Term. In January we held a fireside chat with Sir Robert Chote, Queens’ alumnus and former head of the Office of Budget Responsibility, on the role of a fiscal watchdog in economic policymaking. Finally economic historian Martin Daunton very kindly agreed to talk to us about his latest book The Economic Government of the World
President: Oscar Drury
Vice-President: Charlotte Evans
The Queens’ College Education Society hosted Professor Amilcar A. Pereira in the Michaelmas Term to give a lecture in the Fitzpatrick Hall titled, “The Brazilian Black Movement and anti-racist education in a transnational perspective.” The event was well-attended from members of the University who then gathered in the College bar
afterwards, where Professor Pereira performed an impromptu concert with a guitar borrowed from one of the music rooms! College Education Society hosted three formal dinners this year for undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and alumni. The Lent Term dinner featured talks by doctoral students Molly Rottman and Caroline Breeden who presented their respective research projects on design education and refugee education. The Easter Term dinner featured Part II students, including Sarah Mulgrew, who presented their undergraduate dissertations.
President: Dr Tyler Denmead
This academic year, QED members have given of their best to outshine all other Engineering cohorts. The events started strongly on Halloween 2023, at which all our part IB students dressed up to impress Constance Tipper Lecture Room – among them, one could spot a T-Rex, a banana, and a few green boiler suits. The star of the Michaelmas Term, however, was Team 404 in the Integrated Design Project…their robot landed in first place (a tie, unfortunately). Meanwhile, Part IA students were working on their cantilevers, working backwards on their calculations to justify their design decisions…a classic. There were several pub trips and year-wide Engineering socials and the Committee’s year finished with a wonderful dinner in Old Hall.
President: Benedetta Radice Fossati
Vice-President: Vivian Wang
Social Secretary: Aditya Kalra
Treasurer: Shiven Shrivastva
This year has been an exciting one for Queens’ Erasmus Society, which has been growing year on year. We have been lucky to welcome a variety of historians to speak at wellattended events which have, for the second year now, been open to the whole College. The speakers have covered a range of exciting topics, including Professor Clare Jackson on England’s politics 1588-1688, Dr Tom Licence on Harold II and our very own Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe on British military music in the Napoleonic wars. We were also delighted to host Dr Isabel Davis from the Natural History Museum alongside Queens’ Milner Society and her talk touched on many of the opportunities and challenges of heritage and curation.
Alongside our academic events we have enjoyed many social occasions. The highlight, as always, was our annual History Dinner which for the second year running welcomed alumni. Held in Old Hall, 106 Fellows and current and past students were able to dine together, with alumni reminiscing about past joys and current students able to assure them that the fun still goes on! We are grateful to all the attendees and other alumni who helped to establish the Queens’ History Fund this year, which will support the excellent history at Queens’ and allow it to grow into the future.
President: Ella Sheddick
Vice-President: Eleanor Vincent
Committee: Michael Watts
Fellow Patron: Dr Gareth Atkins
This year, the QBLS Committee, with Emma Duffy as President, focused on bringing the legal community at Queens’ together. In the Michaelmas Term, Queens’ law undergraduates attended dinners hosted by Slaughter and May and Sullivan & Cromwell, both leading city law firms. The strong relationships that Queens’ has developed with these firms has been invaluable; the dinners have given our students the opportunity to learn more about the process of training to be a solicitor, the skills required, and which career avenue is right for them. It was particularly inspiring to hear from Nathalie Edwardes-Ker and Maya Nuyts, both previous QBLS Presidents, at these events.
Our students have also had the opportunity to hear from some of our third-year undergraduates who currently hold training contract offers. Students were able to learn about the path to becoming a solicitor and received advice on the application process.
The QBLS Annual Dinner, taking place in the Lent Term, was a particular highlight of the year.
With a view to fostering relationships between QBLS members, old and new, the Committee invited a range of alumni to the dinner which took place in Old Hall. We were fortunate to be joined by notable alumna Alison Macdonald, KC, who was our honoured guest and speaker for the evening. Alison’s speech, giving an inspirational account of her time at Queens’ and subsequent career as a barrister, was a true testament to the excellence of the Queens’ law community.
President: Emma Duffy
Vice-President: Harry Francis
Treasurer: Mark Brandstaetter
Secretary: James Hone
Social Secretaries: Priya Jari, Georgia Pitt
Moots Officers: Guanting Di
Careers & Outreach Officers: Louisa Herbert, Lizzie Davy
We held several talks throughout the year. The first session at the start of the Michaelmas Term was from our own students, talking about their summer internships and research projects. The projects ranged from simulating toxin transmission in fish to fluid flow in the atmosphere. Next, we had a talk from Prof. Mike Davies, a Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. He talked about compressed sensing and machine learning – a highly prevalent topic in today’s AI age. To finish off the Term, we hosted Prof. Anders Hansen at the end of November. He talked about the mathematical analysis of machine learning.
For the Lent Term our first guest was one of our favourite supervisors, Dr James Moore, who
spoke about going beyond the standard model of physics. This was of special interest to maths students aspiring to read Part III Maths as this is a course that can be taken then. After that we had our esteemed Director of Studies, Professor Warnick, speaking about Divergent Series. Finally, we held two social events, at the end of the Lent Term and the beginning of the Easter Term, at which pizza was supplied and most of the talk was about maths.
President: Alfie Jones
Vice-President: Andres Arcia Lopez
Junior Treasurer: Tom Davies
Secretary: Michael Lin
This year, the Queens’ Medical and Veterinary Society traditions were continued, starting with a welcome to the new first years at a Mahal curry night. We had an excellent turnout, with strong clinical student representation, and fitting everybody into the top floor of Nanna Mex proved to be quite a challenge.
MedVetSoc also introduced several new events this year, including the inaugural Summer Research Symposium in collaboration with the Milner (Natural Sciences) Society, at which Queens’ students who had done summer lab projects showcased their work. For the first time there was a Part II information evening at the beginning of the Easter Term.
The Annual Dinner, as usual, was a resounding success. There was an impressive alumni turnout, including a large group of 2013 matriculators, and excitingly, both of our speakers were Alumni. Prof. David Ogilvie’s pre-dinner speech on Medicine as A Social Science was thought-provoking and creative, and Dr Ben Morrison’s whimsical and uplifting words of advice left us reflecting over dessert.
It was a particularly noteworthy academic year for Queens’ medical students, who secured both 1st and 2nd place in Tripos. Congratulations to them, and to everybody for another year of hard work.
President: Isha Harris
Clinical Vice-President: Michael Aarons
Treasurer: Ayoola Ishola
Pre-clinical Social Secretary: Charlotte Froud
Webmaster: Faraan Cheema
Veterinary Representative: Lucy Kirkwood
Part I Representative: Elizabeth Pollitt
Welfare Officers: Janavi Shanmuganathan, Saakithyan Sritharan
The 2023/4 academic year was a huge success for the Isaac Milner Society (MilSoc), the Natural Sciences society at Queens’. We began the year by welcoming the new natural scientist students with a number of social events culminating in our annual Mahal curry night.
In the Michaelmas Term, we collaborated with the Stokes Society (Pembroke Natural Sciences) to put on an internship event. At this event students looking to apply for summer internships were supported by previous summer interns. Later in term, we hosted the John Ray Society (St Catharine’s Natural Sciences) for a pub quiz in our college bar and the Danby Society (Downing Natural Sciences) for a Queens’ formal. Throughout the year, we also ran weekly workshops for the MilSoc community across the years to come together for a study session (refreshments of course provided).
We began the Lent Term with an invitation from the Rosalind Franklin Society (Newnham Natural Sciences) for a cocktail evening at the Iris Cafe and continued our travels when the Danby Society hosted a formal of their own at Downing College. Queens’ Fellow Dr Jamie Blundell very kindly continued MilSoc tradition by hosting the 7th annual Estimation Evening – a quiz of Fermi problems such as how many grams of iron are in the human body? To finish the term, we held our Annual Dinner in Queens’ Old Hall. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring everyone together before the Easter break and was begun by Dr Manuel Serrano, who delivered our Annual Lecture on the science behind cellular rejuvenation.
Finally, to celebrate the end of exams and a year of success in Queens’ Natural Sciences, we hosted a garden party with Directors of Studies Dr Mairi Kilkenny and Prof Howard Stone
Co-Presidents: Isaac Baguley and Yuexuan Zhang
Treasurer: Tom Hartigan
Committee: Andrada Durantel, Beth Candish, Ishaan Anand
The Queens’ languages society had a very successful year. The primary focus was on welcoming the first-year students and introducing them to the other languages students at Queens’ in order to foster a supportive and tight knit community. Our socials allowed the students to get to know each other after being in the College for only a couple of weeks and to create integration among the year groups. In order to branch out beyond our College community, we organised a couple of swaps with Selwyn College. This began with a bar swap in Qbar with about 15 students from each college and it was wonderful to see so many people studying different languages all able to meet and converse. After the success of this initial swap, we agreed to organise a joint formal at Selwyn with around 20 students from each college. This was a great night and got rave reviews from all those involved. After a few other events over the course of the year, such as our foreign film night and coffee mornings, we rounded off the academic season with an informal picnic on Erasmus Lawn hosted by the new QMMLL Soc Committee to say bon voyage to the second years leaving on their year abroad and to hand over the reins to the new team. QMMLL Soc continues to grow and evolve, and we cannot wait to see what the new committee does next year!
President: Imogen Carter
Vice-President: Sophia Adamson
This marks the second year of the Russell Society, an organisation dedicated to fostering a close-knit community among the psychology and behavioural science students at Queens’. The Society offers a welcoming environment in which students from all four years, as well as alumni, convene termly and maintain communication throughout the year to provide academic and welfare support during their time at university.
In addition to our regular termly meetings and pre-year discussions on career paths and academic trajectories, this year we hosted a Society Dinner with our Director of Studies, Dr Jane Garrison. This delightful event, held in the OSCR, provided an opportunity for
members to gather, socialize, and share their university experiences over a wonderful meal. Bringing together students from all four years, along with future alumni as the Society continues to grow, will undoubtedly prove invaluable in supporting one another not only within the university setting but also in life beyond Cambridge.
President: Laura Hurn
Vice-President: Sophie Lynn
This year Queens’ Arts Festival sought to focus on weekly events rather than on the traditional week-long series of events and exhibitions that has in the past taken place in the Lent Term. This has had both positive and negative impacts. On the one hand, in our efforts to create more events, organising the exhibition proved challenging and time constraints made it difficult to secure good spaces to hang work. However, on the other hand, Queens’ has had many events which enlivened the otherwise somewhat subdued artistic life in College. Every week, we tried to create an event that was new, and which would involve the students’ creative interests in some way. Amongst these have been live drawing, life sculpting, clay making and collage, as well as the more informal “doodle” sessions. We have also had tutorials delivered by artists on their field, as, for instance, with our film camera workshop, run by Will Tudor.
One of our main goals was to make exhibitions accessible for students at Queens’. We funded a trip to London to see the “Women in Revolt” exhibition at the Tate, with both transport and entry fees being provided through the general grants generously made available to us through the College. The Committee was also able to go to the Frieze Festival, from which we were able to learn much about the contemporary art world, both in terms of its organization as well as the art criticism and journalism that accompanies it. We were also thankful to begin the year with a cheerful and relaxed event which proved to be immensely popular, with people from other colleges joining in and sharing the general excitement about the upcoming list of events which I have just described.
The Society collaborated with other societies, such as MOCA Society, the CLC Society, Gender Agenda and Robinson Art Society. Lastly, we had a wonderful array of submissions for our exhibition, which we promise to carry out next year in a new, multi-themed exhibition, while simultaneously maintaining this year’s weekly workshops and events.
President of Queens’ Arts: Catalina
Salter Martin
Since the ‘post-COVID revival’ last Easter, BATS has thrived this academic year, due to the immense support from our dedicated committee. Under the guidance of Technical Support Manager, Richard de Cordova, and Senior Treasurer, Dr Andrew Zurcher, we challenged ourselves to reach ambitious heights this year.
In both Michaelmas and Lent Terms, BATS succeeded in showcasing an average of five performances per term, all whilst hosting a variety of workshops, trips, and events. Throughout this period, we began to refine our identity as a student theatrical company. With the emphasis on ‘student’, we have enjoyed cultivating an environment which holds ‘teaching’ as its core aim. BATS has been keen to create shows which are challenging, experimental, and which hone the skills of both cast and production team alike. Moreover, BATS secretary, Imogen Carter, has initiated a programme of bi-weekly drama classes in order to widen accessibility in the Cambridge Theatre scene.
These classes were particularly well received by the fresher community at Queens’. At the beginning of the Michaelmas Term, BATS met with the fresher talent at an induction workshop. We were greatly encouraged by the enthusiastic responses from the first years, and have immensely benefited from their active involvement in BATS this year.
BATS first show of the academic year, It’s OK, I Still Think You’re Great, met with sold-out audiences. This play was created by student writer, Raffaella Sero, and took full advantage
of the recently adapted ‘Black Box Studio’. The rest of the term whistled by, as Mei Alozie (BATS Artistic Director), hosted the brilliant ‘Black Creatives Festival’. This event took Queens’ by storm, and hosted a plethora of distinguished speakers, including Queens’ alumna, Zara Tempest-Walters. Preceding the event, BATS and ‘BCF’ were invited to an informal conversation with theatre director, Paulette Randall MBE. We were honoured to be welcomed into these discussions and felt encouraged by the overwhelming success of BCF. BATS has enjoyed a wealth of engagement with industry professionals this last academic year. A few technically minded Committee Members particularly enjoyed our visit to the Scott Fleary, a creative construction company. Under the organisation of Richard de Cordova, Members were offered a marvellous insight behind sets commissioned by The National and The Royal Court Theatre. Eoin McCaul closed off the Michaelmas Term card with a technically advanced production of Sarah Kane’s Cleansed. McCaul took full advantage of BATS recent camera purchase, and created a fascinating, multi-media display of human suffering.
BATS opened the Lent Term, with our first annual musical – Foresight This original musical was created by artistic duo, Max Mason and Ben Cole. Based on the gripping history of Giovanni Pontiero, Cole and Mason’s musical resonated in the heart of the Fitzpatrick auditorium. The Black Box Studio once again met with sold-out audiences, this time to Katya Stylianou’s My Friends Say I Should Act My Age (What’s My Age Again?). The emotionally torrid two-hander experimented with projections and film, which has almost become a staple of the ‘BATS Production.’ Ralph Jeffreys brought his double bill show of Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad and Prairie du Chien to the Black Box Studio. Jeffreys’ production created extraordinary soundscapes and received a hearty 4.5* review from Varsity. Theo Chen then graced the Fitzpat with a
‘one-night-only’ workshopped production of an original piece – Miracle on w. 50th Street. We are eager to initiate more short-term productions in the next academic year to widen opportunities for student writing. The end of the Lent Term brought BATS’ first ever ‘company production.’ The BATS Committee joined together as a production company to create the multi-media showstopper, Closer. The production’s concentration of projected film encouraged BATS to welcome Ellie Moss as our talented ‘in-house’ videographer. BATS hopes to establish a tradition of annual, if not termly, committee productions in the new academic year.
This Easter Term, BATS’ focus has been on the traditional May-Week Show. This year, BATS presented Much Ado About Nothing in Queens’ Cloister Court. This production was directed by BATS’ secretary, Imogen Carter, and was an eagerly anticipated event in the annual calendar for Queens’ students, staff, and alumni. Continuing into the new year, BATS hopes to advance its host of industry contacts.
We are exceptionally grateful to Queens’ support of student theatre within BATS, and for the continual generosity of the Scanlan-Michell Fund.
Committee: Mei Alozie, Sarah Mulgrew, Vivian Wang, Noah Chamberlain, Emma Dawes, Gemma Stapleton, Leo Kurgan, Zara Tosun, Imogen Carter, Hattie Lee
The Chapel Choir has had an extremely enjoyable and productive year. In the Michaelmas Term, we welcomed Zane Soonawalla as Junior Organ Scholar. His keen sense of humour (and love of cheese) meant that he settled in rapidly. Alongside our regular pattern of three choral services each week, the Choir held a joint Evensong with the Perse School Chamber Choir, sang Evensong at Peterborough Cathedral, and were at the heart of two carol services held at Queens’, one each for Advent and Christmas. The term ended in London with the Alumni Carol Service at St George’s, Hanover Square, Mayfair.
The Lent Term included two joint services with the Choir of Downing College and Hockerill Anglo-European College. A special Evensong was also held in March, marking the centenary month of the death of former organ scholar Charles Villiers Stanford. At this service, Stanford’s own Magnificat in G was combined with choral music otherwise entirely written by seven current members of the choir: Matthew Mayes, Zane Soonawalla, Katja Ruda, Caleb Richards, Stelios Sycallides, Nathaniel Gunn, and Jack McCabe. It felt particularly appropriate that the preacher was also a Queens’ PhD student in the Faculty of Divinity, Michael Habashi. At the end of term, Queens’ combined with the choirs of Emmanuel, Fitzwilliam, Girton and Pembroke to join the Cambridge University Symphony Chorus and Chamber Choir to perform Elgar’s ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ in Ely Cathedral.
Immediately before the Easter Term, the Choir were thrilled to welcome back former members of the Choir to sing at an Evensong as part of the college’s day of celebrations to mark the centenary of Stanford’s death, followed by a dinner in Old Hall at which alumni were interspersed with groups of current singers. Earlier in the day, Martin Baker gave an extraordinary recital on the chapel organ and there was also an opportunity to visit an exhibition of material relating to Stanford’s time at Queens’ in the Old Library. As usual, there was a slightly reduced choral programme during the main university examination period, but Sunday Choral Evensong and Choral Compline each Friday continued throughout, and the music remained ambitious. Highlights included a performance of Patrick Gowers’ Ascensiontide anthem ‘Viri Galilaei’ for double choir, organ, and synthesiser (played by thirdyear music student Gabriel Margolis), and a performance of Walton’s ‘The Twelve’ in the final Evensong of the academic year, followed by a wonderful dinner hosted by the President in his Lodge.
Choir activities continued for several weeks beyond the end of term, and we were particularly honoured to be asked to sing at the memorial service for Emily Webster. The Choir was also invited to perform alongside the Choir of Selwyn College at the University Honorary Degrees ceremony in the Senate House. As most of the Choir are yet to attend a graduation ceremony, this was most members’ first experience of a ceremony conducted almost entirely in Latin! Our singers enjoyed the opportunity to meet the honorands, including the American pianist Murray Perahia, at a reception after the formal proceedings had concluded.
The year ended with a week-long tour of Switzerland and Northern Italy, with concerts in Airolo, Lugano, Locarno, Como, Novara, and Zurich. A combined choral mass with the Choirs of Lugano Cathedral and the Youth Choir of Granada Cathedral resulted in a choir of around 100 – the singing was suitably robust! We said goodbye to a large number of graduating singers at the end of the trip, all of whom have been wonderful ambassadors for music at Queens’ and have also all been committed supporters of MagSoc. We also bade farewell to our excellent Senior Organ Scholar, Jack McCabe. We are very grateful for all he has done for the Chapel and Choir and wish him the very best in his new post at Worcester Cathedral.
Director of Music: Nicholas Morris
Aliki Vatikioti Senior Organ Scholar: Jack McCabe
George C. Philips Junior Organ Scholar: Zane Soonawalla
Choir: Lydia Roberts, Fleur Gardner-Wray, Cat Poddi, Erica Lees-Smith, Katharine Farr, Lucy Ganss, Wini Taylor-Williams, Katja Ruda, Sophie Williams, Stelios Sycallides, Georgia Burr, Will Vinnicombe, Ewan James, Nathaniel Gunn, Richard Sharman, Caleb Richards, Matthew Mayes, Rohan Marker, Aidan Atkinson, Olly Salter, Matt Bryan.
This academic year, the Queens’ CU has been led by John Glass and Sophie Cox through the Michaelmas and Lent Terms, and then by Albert Kwok.
During the Michaelmas Term, we studied the book of Luke together, exploring the life and teachings of Jesus. We enjoyed a movie night watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe while having pizza, which was a nice break from work as we approached the end of term. We were delighted to have some non-Christians join us for this event.
In the Lent Term, our focus shifted to the book of Exodus, on which we had many insightful discussions. We also held a tie-dye event, which was a fun and creative way to spend time together. This event also saw participation from some non-Christian friends.
In the Easter Term, we studied the book of Hebrews. These sessions provided deep theological insights and encouragement, highlighting the supremacy of Christ and the call to persevere in faith.
Overall, this year has been marked by deep scriptural engagement and joyful fellowship. We are grateful for the opportunity to grow together in faith and look forward to the continued journey under Albert’s leadership.
College Reps: John Glass and Sophie Cox
This year the Queens’ College Debating Society (historically known as the St Bernard Society) was reformed by Ansh Jaiswal and Benedetta Fossati. With a focus on fostering a more casual setting for college members to be introduced to debating and refine their skills, the Society was launched during the Michaelmas Term. Initial sessions began with short introductions to key debating techniques, followed by an informal debate-style discussion with the aim of building confidence and skills without requiring beginners to have fully fledged speeches ready.
As the year progressed into Easter Term, weekly debates with set motions were held and the Society saw some great arguments and speeches presented. This year has marked great progress for the Debating Society and the aim for next year is to create some teams for intercollegiate debating.
President: Ansh Jaiswal
Vice-President: Benedetta Fossati
As President of Queens’ College Femsoc 2023-24, Eve Maylor focused social events around supporting Cambridge Rape Crisis, which was voted by the student body as our “Charity of the Year”. This is a framework which tailors Femsoc events around one charity every year, something that it is to be hoped will continue into the next committee. With the generous contribution from the Queens’ College Appeal and Donations Committee and student donations across 10 events, we raised £750.
Alongside social events, such as brunches and dance-fitness classes, topical events were also organised, including a feminist debate about the newly released “Barbie” movie and, also, collaborations with other societies to publicise feminist speakers coming to Cambridge. We ensured that these events were open to all genders, permitting a more informed discussion whilst bringing together Queens’ students through feminist issues. Femsoc has the ability to promote female equality best when it engages with all members of the Queens’ community –building bridges through debate offers the chance for Queens’ to become a more tolerant and welcoming place for women.
By obtaining support from a large proportion of the student body, the JCR managed successfully to implement a “Women-and-NB Only” hour in the gym to allow eligible members of College the capacity to exercise comfortably.
President: Eve Maylor
Vice-President: Izzy Pearl
Treasurer: Bissie Shupo
This year, Queens’ Graduate Choir has continued under the leadership of Vic Olphin, with Joanna Tsang as repetiteur. The choir sang for several services during the year, including the Queens’ Staff Carol Service, as well as a selection of carols at Mill Road Winter Fair and providing the pre-dinner entertainment at the MCR Christmas Formals. During the Lent Term, they gave a recital as part of the MagSoc recital series. The annual concert, which, this year, was entitled “Songs of Sleep and Evening” and included the Faure Requiem, followed. Queens’ Graduate Choir is open to all across the University, but especially to graduate students from Queens’.
Vic Olphin
During the academic year 2023-2024, the Queens’ Islamic Society became more organised and included in its fold new graduate and undergraduate members. In the Michaelmas Term we hosted casual brunches in the College buttery for members to meet in a less organised way. We also visited the Palestinian embroidery exhibition at Kettle’s Yard, the highlight of the Term. As events unfolded in the Middle East, our Society offered members a muchneeded space for care and community. In collaboration with the College Welfare Team, we were able to come together as a community to process the mental health and emotional impact of this changing reality.
This year we established links with the College Christian Union and Jewish Society. Unfortunately, due to scheduling concerns, we have been unable to host an interfaith event so far, but this is something we wish to do in the future. Over Lent Term, we continued to meet in an informal setting. A few days of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, were during term. The College President, Dr Mohamed El-Erian, hosted an iftar meal for breaking the fast which was attended by JCR, MCR and SCR members of our Society. In Ramadan we supported our members’ faith-based needs such as attending communal night prayer, through our funds.
President: Irum Maqbool
Vice-President: Rufaidah Husain
Junior Treasurer: Khadijah Hafeji
This year began with the devastating events of October 7th which shook so much of the Queens’ community and left many Jewish students feeling quite alone during their first week in college. Consequently, the Queens’ Jewish Society has experienced a notable resurgence in membership and activity since October, organising several events throughout the year. We began with a group processing session, where members of the community came together to share their experiences of the broader geopolitical situation and speak openly in a secure environment. This effort was strongly supported by the College, particularly the Chaplain, who provided access to an external trauma therapist.
In addition to these supportive measures, the Society has aimed to sustain its energy and positivity through various social events. The Q-anukah party was especially successful, with over ten members gathering for an evening of rugelach, bagels, and classic Jewish movies. The Erasmus pizza picnic was another feature, offering a further opportunity for community bonding amidst a rise in Cambridge-based activism. However, the real highlight of the year has been the extraordinary dinner graciously hosted by the President in the Lodge on the evening of Shavuot. We celebrated with an incredible three-course meal, concluding with the traditional cheesecake, and had the unique opportunity to converse openly with the President and his wife about our college experiences since October. It was the most encouraging and heartwarming conclusion to what has been a difficult year.
President: Isabella Pearl
Vice-President: Ilai Avni
We are very proud of the Queens’ musical community for their hard work this year in developing the work of MagSoc. An obvious highlight was our end of term West Road concerts in November and March, which engaged a huge number of Queens’ and Universitywide musicians in some fantastic music-making. In the Michaelmas Term, this included second-year flautist Millie Clark as the Reinecke in D concerto soloist. Meanwhile, the Chorus built on last year’s tradition of an annual Christmas concert in Queens’ Chapel, led by Erica Lees-Smith, Matthew Mayes and Katharine Farr. In the Lent term, we saw two Queens’ conductors (Rei Chin and Zane Soonawalla) and returning conductor Charlotte Johnston lead the Orchestra and Chorus in a fabulous concert featuring Louise Farrenc, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Dvořák’s Mass in D major.
Other stand-out moments have included our continuously well-attended weekly recital series in Old Hall, including the 2024 Tyro Prize concert. This year the Prize was awarded
to outstanding first-year pianist Hugo Deval. The competition was judged by Senior Treasurer Julia Gog and Professor Lucia Reisch. This was run for the first time alongside the Abyngdon Prize for Composition, awarded to medic Faraan Cheema for her wonderful composition inspired by The Grove. We have continued to expand the open mic nights in Queens’ Bar with much enthusiasm, running two in each term, featuring the highly talented Andras Droppa and newly formed Queens’ jazz band. We hope to expand our gig nights even further next year, alongside hosting bigger band events in the Fitzpatrick Hall such as CUJO and Big Band Roulette as we have done this. Notably, the brilliant Kat Farr also organised the first ever Dancing Queens’ event in Michaelmas, which was a huge success in collaboration between MagSoc, other Cambridge musical networks and the Cambridge University Dancesport Team.
President: Erica Lees-Smith
Vice-President and Secretary: Georgia Burr
Senior Treasurer: Prof Julia Gog OBE
Junior Treasurer: Alice Drury
Recitals Manager: Jack McCabe
Publicity Officer: Katja Ruda
Librarian: Nathaniel Gunn
Performance Manager: Gabriel Margolis
Social Secretary: Rohan Lall
Committee Members: Matthew Mayes, Cat Poddi, Olly Salter
We regret to announce the deaths of the following Members of the College
Marcus B Folker (1935) in 2014
Dr Malcolm D M Parkes Bowen (1939)
David A Johnson (1941)
The Revd David R E Jackson, OBE (1942)
John Elliot (1943)
William W Kent (1943)
A Peter Greenough (1944)
Richard S Tuson (1944)
Richard L Warner (1945)
Dr James H Swallow, MB, BCh, FRCP (1946)
J Peter Holland (1947)
G Christopher R Bonner (1948)
Sir Oliver B Popplewell, KC (1948)
James G Ulmer, Jr, BSc, LLB (1948)
Barry A Webb (1948)
John W Chapple (1949)
The Revd Canon Michael B Geach (1949)
Dr Richard Moulton, MB, BCh (1949)
Dr Morley C O Phillips, MRCS (1949)
Anthony J Sharpe (1949)
C Edward C Woolley (1949)
Roger C Glasbey (1950)
Michael J C Young (1950)
Peter A J Browne (1951)
J David de Pury (1951)
The Revd Canon Bryan S Ellis (1951)
John Harrison (1951)
Gordon W Hartley (1951)
Thomas N Hudson, OBE (1951)
Sydney T Mallon, OC (1951)
Dr Bryan le G Waldron, MB, BCh (1951)
Timothy D West (1951)
Dr D Anthony Massey, PhD (1952)
Edward B Payne (1952)
The Revd Giles C. Galley (1953)
Dennis S Martin (1953)
John P Pither (1953)
John Redfern (1953)
Harvey B Stockwin (1953) in 2021
Richard W F Eassie (1954)
The Revd Canon Christoher P Gane (1954) in 2020
George M Hutchinson, CB, CEng (1954) in 2021
Russell N Matthews (1954)
T Stephen Doggett (1955) in 2022
John A Ewan (1955)
James B Gibbons (1955)
Professor Kenneth G Hambleton, FIEE, FREng (1955)
Dr Ian B Lawrence, PhD (1955)
Jonathan S Lawton (1955)
Brian J Livingston (1955)
Dr Peter H W Mylechreest (1955)
The Revd Canon Stephen F Sidebotham (1955)
Robert A Broughton, OBE (1956)
Richard Hewitt (1956)
Christopher J Hutchinson (1956)
David G Lloyd (1956)
Ian G Park, CBE (1956)
Peter J Sullivan (1956)
Reginald S Waller (1956)
Professor Alan G Armstrong (1957)
Dr John W Hayes, PhD, FSA, FRSCan (1957)
Nadaraser Pararajasingam (1957)
The Rt Revd Mark Santer, D.D (1957)
Dr R Allan Scudamore (1957)
Robert R Strand (1957)
Dr Mark M Crosse, MB, BCh, FRCA (1958)
John M Labrum (1958)
Dr David E Lawrence, DPhil (1958)
Barrie J Walmsley (1958)
Professor Richard E Allsop, OBE, DSc, FREng, FICE, TPP (1959)
David K Baines (1959)
Geoffrey M Henman (1959)
Michael G Matthews (1959)
John Nutter, DipEd (1959)
Dr Michael J W Bloxham, PhD (1960)
John H Darling (1960)
James F R Edwards (1960) in 2021
Richard P Long, MBA (1960)
Ronald G Mason (1960) in 2022
Richard G Rumary, LLM (1960)
Julian R Branston (1961)
Songkram Grachangnetara (1961) in 2022
Anthony R Pender, CBE (1961)
Professor Donald J N Denoon, PhD (1962)
B Ronald C Gibson (1962)
Dr Timothy L Pascoe, AM (1962)
Mark V Phythian-Adams (1962)
Dr David M Shotton, PhD (1962)
Garry H Stewart (1962) in 2022
Andrew W Brunt (1963)
James J Combs, LLB (1963) in 2020
Peter M Lewis (1963)
Richard R Foulkes (1964)
Richard J B Snow (1964) in 2021
Manohar Singh Gill, Ph.D. Dip.Devt.Stud., Padma Vibhushan, (1967)
Michael J Jones (1967)
Dr David M Feldman, PhD (1968)
The Revd Dr Brian L Hebblethwaite, DD, (1968)
Christopher Stephens (1968)
The Revd Dr W Stanley Monkhouse, MB, BCh, PhD (1969)
Dr David W Sills, MB, ChB, (1970)
Paul G Barber (1971)
David L Duffett (1971)
Kelvin J Hard (1971)
Professor Brian van Arkadie, PhD, MBA (1971)
David Deacon (1972)
Christopher N H Smith (1973)
Andrew D Pomfret, FCSI (Hon) (1979)
The Revd John W Hickman (1980) in 2022
Gregory S Tennant, MPhil (1981)
David Maxwell Anderson (1982)
James A Higgs, MPhil (1983)
Richard J N Chalcraft (1994)
David A C Harrison (2003)
Dr Emily J Webster, LLB, LLM, PhD (2022)
Dr J.H. Swallow, MB, BCh, FRCP (1946) aged 95. James (‘Jim’) Swallow was born in Yorkshire and attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield. He came up to Queens’ to read Natural Sciences for Medicine in 1946 and graduated with first class honours. He then went to the Royal London Hospital for his clinical training and qualified as a doctor in 1952. After a period as a postgraduate fellow in physiology at the Mayo Clinic in the USA, he was appointed as a consultant physician with a specialist interest in gastroenterology in Chelmsford, Essex, in 1965. In Chelmsford he set up one of the country’s first medical academic units in the UK. He was an excellent clinician, extremely perceptive, with a wide experience of other subspecialties. He was a brilliant teacher with an amazing memory; doctors who trained with him remember him fondly. He retired in 1990 but continued his education, first by completing German O and A levels and then by studying for a mathematics degree at the Open University, which he obtained at the age of 77. He was a keen sportsman. He started climbing rocks in Ilkley at the age of 8 and later joined the Cambridge University Climbing Club. He climbed in the Himalayas and was part of the team on the first ascent of Nuptse in 1963. He skied until the age of 83. He was a good rugby and squash player. He also played tennis, water skied, and windsurfed. As well as his sporting interests, Jim was an avid cataloguer, a student of the stock market, a Saab enthusiast, a pianist, a scientist, an astronomer, a gardener, and a juggler. He died peacefully at home and is survived by his wife of 57 years, Diana, their three children, Richard, Rosie, and Elisabeth, and seven grandchildren.
Sir Oliver B. Popplewell, LLB, KC (1948) aged 96. Oliver Popplewell was born in Northwood, Middlesex, and raised in Pinner. His father was a senior civil servant, and he saw little of his mother, so he was mainly brought up by a nanny. At the age of 10 he was sent to Charterhouse. He was an academic scholar but also excelled at cricket. After school he spent two years ‘below decks’ in the Royal Navy on National Service, before coming up to Queens’ as an exhibitioner in 1948. He read Law and after completing his BA, stayed on for a year to complete an LLB. He played cricket for the University, gaining three Blues in 1949, 1950, and 1951, as a wicket keeper-batsman. He went on to play for the MCC, in all playing 41 first class matches. He was President of the MCC 1995-96 and was a Member of the Disciplinary Panel. He was called to the Bar in 1951 and embarked on a very distinguished legal career. Initially he had to teach at a technical college to make ends meet, but his reputation developed quickly as his “deceptively relaxed acumen and incisive advocacy” became apparent. He took silk in 1969, that same year being appointed Recorder of Burton-on-Trent. In 1971 he became a Recorder of the Crown Court. He had a successful career at the Bar, in particular acting for Thames TV and other media organisations, as well as for many insurance companies in complex insurance claims. He was made a High Court Judge in 1983 and in 1986 became
President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal and Vice-Chairman of the Parole Board. He was judge in charge of the Defamation List and presided in several high-profile cases, including the libel actions involving the Member of Parliament Jonathan Aitken, the Olympic sprinter Linford Christie and the businessman Mohammed Al-Fayed. He played an important part in the progression of libel law through his ruling that ‘responsible journalism on a matter of public interest’ was a legitimate defence for newspapers. In 1985, in the wake of the disastrous fire at Bradford City’s ground which claimed 56 lives, he chaired an inquiry into the safety of football grounds as well as problems of hooliganism and crowd control. His recommendations included a total ban on wooden grandstands. Becoming eventually the Senior Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division, he handled trials ranging from murder to high-profile media and commercial cases. Through his work as a judge on the Employment Appeal Tribunal and as a Member of the Wages Council, he gained considerable experience in resolving industrial disputes. He became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1986. He was a member of the Sports Disputes Resolution Panel and in 2000 became a Member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. After retiring as a High Court Judge in 2003, he became an arbitrator and mediator, specialising in employment, professional negligence, sporting and insurance disputes. In 2003 he decided to return to university and studied for a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford as an undergraduate at Harris Manchester College. This was followed by an MA in the History of International Relations at the London School of Economics. He wrote four books, including an autobiography, Benchmark, published in 2003, the Aphrodisiac of Power, about the rise and fall of various media magnates, politicians and crooks, and The Prime Minister and his Mistress, about Herbert Asquith. He married Catherine Storey in 1954 and they had four sons, one of whom is a High Court Judge. After his wife died, he married Dame Elizabeth Gloster, a Court of Appeal Judge. His granddaughter Eleanor (Nellie) Popplewell matriculated at Queens’ in 2016 and he was the godfather of Honorary Fellow Stephen Fry (1978).
J. G. Ulmer, Jr (1948) aged 99. James G Ulmer, Jr, was born in 1924 to the Revd James G. Ulmer and Minnie Bridges Ulmer and reared in Tyler, Texas. An early passion for science and engineering led him to build an amateur radio transmitter at age 16 (which he still had in his beloved “radio room” when he died). This paved the way to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering. After serving in the United States Air Force in World War II as a communications, radar and electronics officer, he came to Queens’ to read Law, receiving a BA in 1949, followed by an LLB from the University of Texas at Austin in 1950. He practised law for 40 years with the firm of Baker Botts LLP in the field of general litigation with an emphasis on intellectual property,
bankruptcy, and oil and gas law. He retired as a senior partner in 1990. During his career, he was sought out by clients and his law firm partners alike for his intellect, strategic decision making, and courtroom expertise. His recollections provided rich material for countless interesting conversations over the decades. He enjoyed summer hiking trips with his family in Colorado, studying languages, travelling, and motorboating on Galveston Bay. An attentive close listener with impressive recall, he remembered the details of every conversation and legal case he ever had. He was a member of the Houston Country Club, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, Allegro and the Amateur Radio Relay League. He died peacefully at his home in Houston just a few weeks short of his 100th birthday. His wife of 41 years, Rosalie Bosworth Ulmer, predeceased him. He is survived by his second wife Francita Stuart Koelsch Ulmer, by his daughters, Ann and Elizabeth and grandchildren Thomas, Andrew, Emma, Miles and Ann.
The Revd Canon M.B. Geach (1949) aged 97. Michael Geach was a Cornishman through and through. He was born in Falmouth. His parents owned a drapery shop in Penryn and the family lived above the shop. He came to Queens’ from Truro School and read Theology. At College he was a stalwart of the Chapel, of the D Society and of the Mummers Theatre Group. After graduation he went straight to Westcott House, the Anglican Theological College in Cambridge, to train for the ministry. He was ordained deacon in 1953 and priest in 1954 and served as a curate first in Kenwyn 1953-56, then in Bodmin 1956-59 and finally in Helland 1956-59, all in Cornwall. He was then appointed Rector of St Dominic, a rural parish on the East Cornwall border in the Tamar Valley; at the same time, he was Chaplain of Cotehele House, the seat of the Edgcumbe family, owned by the National Trust since 1947. From 1965 until 1984 Michael was Vicar of Linkinhorne, near Launceston, before serving for 12 years as Rector of Veryan with Ruan Lanihorne on the Roseland Peninsula in South Cornwall. He became an Honorary Canon of Truro Cathedral in 1992 and retired in 1996, living in the city of Truro and then in Lostwithiel. He was a member of and passionately supported the Friends of Truro Cathedral, was a Chairman of the Truro Old Cornwall Society and was a Member of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. He was a keen historian – he left over 6500 books – and an advocate of the Cornwall Historic Churches Trust. He was proud to have visited every church in the county. He was passionate about bell ringing and belonged to the Truro Diocesan Guild of bellringers for more than 50 years. He passed away peacefully in the Newquay Community Hospital and is survived by his daughters Caroline and Penny and two grandchildren, Piran and Laurence.
Dr R. Moulton, MB, BCh (1949) aged 94. Richard Moulton was born in Middlesex in 1928. From early childhood he had a great love of animals and during the War, on hearing that the animals at Whipsnade Zoo were on short rations, he cycled 80 km to bring forage from his mother’s garden to feed the elephants. He studied at John Lyon School in Harrow. He was a lifelong collector, starting with stamps as a child. He credited his knowledge of geography, learned from stamps, for the award of a scholarship to Queens’. He read Natural Sciences for medicine and became a Foundation Scholar at the end of his second year. He also won the
Melsome Memorial Prize. He went to University College Hospital in London for his clinical training. In London Richard met Sheila, and they were married in 1955. They immigrated to Canada in 1966 when Richard was invited to practice medicine in Fort Frances, North-Western Ontario. Richard was involved in training and recruiting medical students from the area and was a much-loved family medicine doctor in Fort Frances until 1993, when he and Sheila retired to Victoria, British Columbia. Together with his daughter Alison, he developed a passion for collecting Victorian era Tuck Postcards. They developed a website called Tuckdb to record the history of Tuck postcards illustrating world history, art, science, and politics. He also loved doing jigsaw puzzles with his family. Sheila and Richard had two sons, two daughters, and seven grandchildren. Richard loved to travel the world with his family and supported many environmental charities around the world.
T.N. Hudson, OBE (1951) aged 91. Tom (Tomás at home in Argentina) Hudson was born in 1932 to Thomas Hudson, an importer, and Marjorie Wellby in Buenos Aires. He graduated from St. George’s College, Quilmes, in Argentina in 1950. He applied to Queens’ to read Natural Sciences but changed to Economics on arrival. Whilst at College he rowed in the trial eights, and was a member of the Hawks Club, Kangaroo Club, the Bats and the Leander Club. He was Captain of Boats at Queens’ 1953-54. His business career began in advertising. He worked for Young & Rubicam in London and McCann Erickson in Buenos Aires. He was a youthful Managing Director of India Rubber (Alpargatas) on both sides of the Atlantic (1962-64), but his career was spent mostly working for the chemical giant Duperial, the Argentinian subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). His career at ICI included postings at ICI Americas in Connecticut (1969-1971) and as General Manager of ICI Mexico (1978-81), before returning to Buenos Aires as Chairman of ICI Argentina in 1981. In 1971 he attended an Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, and, upon returning home, became one of the founding members, and first President, of the Harvard Club of Argentina. He retired in 1992 but continued to serve in non-executive positions in eight companies, including RTZ Borax (Argentina) of which he was Chairman and Company Director. He acted as a consultant to several corporations in Argentina, including Air Liquide, Diageo, General Electric and Rio Tinto. A stalwart of the Anglo-Argentine community, in 1992 he was awarded the OBE for his services to commerce between Great Britain and Latin America. His biggest sporting passion was always rowing but he was a good tennis player, enjoyed sailing on the
River Plate and played polo in Mexico. He also ran a farm in southern Buenos Aires province. He was fascinated by the history of Latin American independence and did a great deal of research on the subject, publishing several books including The Honourable Warrior, a biography of General William Miller, who fought with Wellington, San Martin and Bolivar, biographies of two British admirals who went on to command in South America – Admirals William Brown and Martin Guise, and Brothers in Arms, covering the lives of Generals James Paroissien and John O’Brien, Chief Surgeon and ADC in the Liberator General San Martin’s Army of the Andes. He became a Fellow in the Instituto Sanmartiniano and lectured widely both in Argentina and in Britain. His passion for life and his many interests kept him youthful right until the very end. He was a trustee and board member of the Argentine-British Chamber of Commerce, the Hospital Británico and St George’s College, Quilmes. In 1958 he married Jill Pryor in Buenos Aires and they had two children (John and Annette). Jill died in 2022. He is survived by both children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was buried at the British Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
S.T. Mallon, OC (1951) aged 90. Sydney ‘Mick’ Mallon was born in Belfast and educated at Campbell College. He came to Queens’ in 1951 and read History for Part I, followed by Part II English. He left the U.K. for Canada in 1954 and was soon joined by his girlfriend Cynthia Caughey and they married there. He was teaching in Ontario but in 1959 the family, now with baby Amanda, moved north to Puvirnituq, a small Inuit community in Northern Quebec. During the four years he spent as a teaching principal, Mick studied and practised Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. Inuit often give non-Inuit, who live in their communities, names based on their character, habits, or other attributes. They gave Mick the name Pisusuuq – the one who habitually walks, because of the many hours he spent roaming the tundra around the community. From 1963-68, Mick and his growing family, now with young Clare, moved to Southeast Asia, where he taught in Sarawak, Borneo in a program sponsored by the Canadian government. With son Matthew added to the family, they returned to Canada in 1968, moving to Rankin Inlet, an Inuit community in the Northwest Territories (NWT), where Mick established the Eskimo Language School. Whenever Mick was teaching Inuktitut, he worked in collaboration with one or more Inuit who were fluent speakers of the language, often unilingual Inuit elders. Hundreds of teachers, government employees, linguists, and students from around the world studied at the Eskimo Language School, benefiting from Mick’s deep understanding of the Inuit language and his unique teaching style. In 1971, he completed a Masters in Linguistics at the University of Toronto. His studies included an analysis of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Inuktitut. Later in his career, Mick applied this research in the development of several courses for the Departments of Linguistics and Education at McGill University in Montreal. In 1980, he relocated to Iqaluit, NWT, where he joined the newly established Eastern Arctic Teacher Education Program as Director of Bilingual Education. In his work with EATEP, Mick helped to establish a partnership with McGill University in Montreal. Through this partnership, in 1984, EATEP became the first
degree-level program offered in the Northwest Territories. Mick was appointed Associate Professor of Education at McGill. Since 1984, over 350 Inuit teachers have graduated from this program. Following his early retirement in 1986, Mick regularly taught Inuktitut for Arctic College and wrote the first textbook on the language, Introductory Inuktitut, in collaboration with Alexina Kublu (McGill Queen’s University Press, 1991). In 2008, Mick was awarded the Order of Canada (Canada’s highest civilian honour) for his ‘pivotal role in preserving and revitalising the Inuktitut language.’ From the summer of 2005 until 2019 Mick taught Inuktitut at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 2018, Janna Graham used his Inuit name ‘Pisusuuq’ for her RTE/CBC radio documentary about Mick: ‘How a rascally Irish immigrant became one of Canada’s top scholars of Inuktitut’. As a young boy in Bangor he spent many days ‘messing about in small boats’. Throughout his life, he was a passionate sailor and wooden boat aficionado, finding opportunities to sail or kayak in both Borneo and Rankin Inlet, often to the consternation of locals. He passed away peacefully in September 2023 in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, with his family by his side. He is survived by his three children, his granddaughter Madeline, and his second wife Alexina Kublu.
Dr B. le G. Waldron, MB, BChir (1951) aged 91. Bryan Waldron was born in 1933 in St Albans to Arthur (a tailor from Ramsgate and veteran of the First World War) and Gladys (a Channel Islander) Waldron. The family lived in St Albans throughout the Second World War and Bryan had vivid memories of helping his father to dig an air raid shelter in the back garden and the sounds of an anti-aircraft battery at the end of the street. He attended St Albans School, where he enjoyed cricket and rugby. The famous Abbey probably stimulated his lifelong interest in church architecture. He came to Queens’ to read Natural Sciences for medicine in 1951. He played rugby in the Second XV but he had to give up sport altogether for six months because of a TB scare. He then took to rowing, for the College and on the Thames. He trained at many of the famous London hospitals, including Barts, St Thomas’s and Great Ormond Street, and became an expert in obstetric anaesthetics. Bryan was a proud founding member of the Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association. After junior positions at hospitals in Bristol, Colchester, and Birmingham, and at the young age of 32, Bryan was appointed as a consultant anaesthetist to the Plymouth Hospitals and there he worked until retirement. Bryan became interested in sailing and, over the next fifteen years, owned two small yachts in which he took the family on numerous holidays along the South Coast. During his retirement years and in a second marriage, Bryan moved near to Exeter where he continued to keep very fit by cycling and moorland walking. He is survived by both his wives and by his two sons.
H. B. Stockwin (1953) aged 88. Harvey Stockwin was born in Stanmore, London, and attended John Lyon School in Harrow-on-the-Hill. He came up to Queens’ in 1953 in the
Lent Term and took Part I Economics in 1953 and Part II History in 1955 but never got round to taking his degree. He went to teach in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and while there took his first steps in journalism. He continued as a teacher in Australia. One pupil who was taught humanities by him remembers, “He gave us an interest in Asian current affairs even then and determinedly strove to ensure we used our abilities”. He became a full-time journalist for the now defunct Far Eastern Economic Review, covering the race-inspired disturbances in Malaysia in 1969 and the early days of martial law under President Marcos in the Philippines. He travelled to many countries in South-East Asia as a roving correspondent. In 1979 he became the Asia Correspondent of The Times of India and the Jakarta Post and from 1993 until 2004 worked as a journalist for the South China Morning Post. However, for the most part, he did not want to be tied down either by the coverage demands of editors or the space restrictions inherent in weekly magazines and opinions columns, so he worked as an entirely freelance writer, regularly appearing in papers from the Japan Times to the Sydney Morning Herald as well as many other leading English language publications. He was unsurpassed in the depth and breadth of his knowledge and his ability to put current news into a historical and regional context. A peripatetic journalist for much of his life, Harvey spent the last 16 years of his active life from 1998 as the voice of an award-winning weekly Radio Hong Kong programme ‘Reflections from Asia’, a fascinating tour de force of background and explanation delivered in a strong baritone voice. He had an astonishing collection of newspaper cuttings and books to supplement his prodigious memory, resources which lay behind the quality of his radio programmes, a medium which imposes restraints of precision and brevity. Declining health forced him to retire, and he moved to Cebu in the Philippines with his long-time partner and fellow journalist Betty Escoda. She cared for him there for the last six years of his life, until his death in November 2021.
C. J. Hutchinson (1956) aged 87. Christopher Hutchinson was born in Hatfield in 1936 to Australian parents Dorothea (a teacher) and Howard (a civil architect). He spent his early childhood and World War Two in Australia, evacuated there by his father, who was required for highly important war work with the Greater London Council. On returning to the UK, his school life got off to an explosive start when he was expelled for blowing up a tree. He was then sent to St Albans School, where he thrived and quickly became an exemplary scholar. In 1956 he came up to Queens to read Geography. Many years later the family were surprised to discover that he had not only been involved in amateur dramatics at Queens’ with the Bats, but had been a stage director. He often said that those years were amongst the happiest of his life. Upon graduation, Christopher moved to Manchester to take up a role as a lawyer with Shell Oil. Not long thereafter he met Patricia (Pat) Delaney (secretary to the Chairman of
Aer Lingus), fell in love and married. His daughter, Catherine, was born the next year and then later three sons, Andrew, Matthew and James. In 1970 he decided to follow his heart and abandon “a life of wealth and stultifying boredom” (his words) to become a teacher. He moved from Manchester to Hertfordshire to become Head of English at a newly created comprehensive school, The Highfield School in Letchworth. He continued in the same role at Highfield for the next 28 years. In the latter half of his teaching career, he underwent specialist training (at Cambridge) in teaching children with learning difficulties. His efforts to normalise the school lives of children who were formerly abandoned in ‘special’ units, was ahead of its time and led to the eventual creation of a ‘whole school approach’ which is now official policy. His legacy lives on at Highfield, which is now one of the leading schools for children with special needs. He retired in 1998. Following his retirement, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of emigrating to Australia, assisted by his daughter Catherine, who had herself emigrated five years previously. He and Pat found a beautiful home in the township of Berry in New South Wales. Andrew and his wife Catherine and son Joshua visited on holiday and liked the place so much that they emigrated to Australia too. Ten years into retirement Pat became ill and Andrew and his family moved into their home to help with her care. Pat passed away five years later, and Chris became active in the local Anglican Uniting Church. At his funeral, parishioners all told the family how immensely they had enjoyed his readings – a skill he learnt (perhaps) treading the boards at Queens’. Chris passed away after a brief illness due to complications from a broken leg. He is survived by his daughter Catherine, sons Andrew, Matthew and James, and grandchildren Joshua and Lula.
P. J. Sullivan (1956) aged 88. Peter Sullivan, the youngest of seven children, was born in 1935 in Kent two months prematurely, resulting in numerous medical issues over his lifetime (though he never let them interfere with his life!). He had to wait until the age of 7 for a school place, but his remarkable intellect won him scholarships firstly at Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School in Rochester and, secondly, following National Service with RAF Technical Command in Wiltshire, at Queens’. He read Mechanical Sciences (Engineering). He began his career as a graduate apprentice in mechanical engineering in London, intending to work in industry, however, his company spotted his potential in a different area and he soon moved into Human Resources within English Electric. During the early part of his HR career, he was Personal Assistant to C.P. Snow, who was a non-executive director of the company, and later also worked with Sir William Barlow in union negotiations on Merseyside. Peter travelled extensively for his work, managing company reorganisations in both Europe and North America, learning to speak French fluently as well as passable German. Over a long and distinguished career involving multiple house moves up and down
the country, he took early retirement from his final role as Personnel Director for ICL in London in 1991. He first met his beloved wife Brenda on a blind date at Leeds railway station, they married in November 1959 and had two daughters, Lucy and Sara. Peter’s weekends were devoted to the family, DIY and gardening. He enjoyed walking with the dogs and, in his younger years, playing squash and sailing, racing his 14-foot yacht around Anglesey. Peter and Brenda were a devoted couple and held a wonderful celebration party for their Golden Wedding anniversary in 2009. Having enjoyed many family holidays around the UK and in France (which helped to develop Peter’s extraordinary wine palate), they ventured farther afield after their retirement, travelling the world – often on cruises – until Brenda’s passing in 2013. Peter was very independent and wanted to remain at the house he had shared with Brenda since 1984, managing to do so until only a few weeks before his death. He was a truly remarkable, intelligent and kind man who will be sorely missed by his daughters, Lucy and Sara, and granddaughters, Imogen and Aimee.
Dr J. W. Hayes, PhD, FSA, FRS(Can) (1957) aged 85. John Hayes was the only son of Eric and Eva Hayes of Kingston-uponThames and was a pupil at Kingston Grammar School. He came to Queens’ as an entrance scholar to read Classics. He became interested in archaeology while still at school and participated in the excavations of Professor Sheppard Frere at Verulamium (St. Albans). After completing his degree in 1960, he undertook research for a PhD on ‘Late Roman pottery in the Mediterranean’ under the supervision of Professor Jocelyn Toynbee. He was supported in this period by various awards, including a Walston Studentship at the British School at Athens. There he worked with the American excavators in the Athenian Agora, and the resulting thesis was extended and published in 1972 as Late Roman Pottery. In this work, Hayes showed the extraordinarily wide range of his travels, personally inspecting potsherds in countless museum displays and excavation stores. Because the Mediterranean was such a highway for trade and communication during Classical times, these wares travelled very widely, and it was Hayes who, for the first time, brought together independent studies from as far apart as Eastern Turkey, Western Italy and Central Tunisia and showed that they related to the same material. His publication provided an intelligible common vocabulary for describing these wares. From 1964–66 he was the Sir James Knott Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and in 1967–68 he held, briefly, his only teaching post as a visiting lecturer at Yale University. In 1968 he joined the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and there spent the rest of his professional employment, rising to the position of Curator of the Greek and Roman Department. While in Toronto, he published a succession of catalogues of the museum’s collection, ranging from Greek, Etruscan and Roman pottery to ancient lamps, metalware and glass. He left Toronto in
1991 and moved permanently to Oxford, where he continued to practice as a freelance specialist. During his working life he was involved in projects in Tunisia (Carthage), Libya (Tocra, Apollonia), Egypt (Alexandria, Red Sea ports), Israel (Jerusalem), Lebanon (Beirut), Cyprus (Paphos, Kourion), Turkey (Istanbul, Troy), Greece (Athens, Isthmia, Sparta, Nicopolis, Mytilene), Croatia (Adriatic Islands Project) and several sites in Italy. On any site that he visited, instantly recognizable by his wild and bushy hair, he was open and free with his vast knowledge and advice and was always approachable. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and of the Royal Society of Canada. He was also a Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute and in 1990 (at the unusually young age of 52) received the Gold Award of the Archaeological Institute of America for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement. With his death, the world of Mediterranean archaeology has lost one of its most influential characters. He was widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts in the pottery of the Greek and Roman periods. He never married and had no close relations. He devoted himself entirely to his chosen field of study and will be remembered with both admiration and affection by colleagues in many different countries.
Dr M. M. Crosse, MB, BCh, FRCA (1958), aged 84. Mark Crosse was born in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, the second of four sons of Captain (later Brigadier) John Crosse (1927), an army doctor, and Olive née Dodwell. Most of the war years were spent in North Wales. He went to Westminster School, from where he was offered an RAF Flying Scholarship to go to Cranwell. However, he turned this down and came up to Queens’ in 1958 to read Natural Sciences for medicine, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother, Dr John Crosse (1955). His younger brother, Dr Stephen Crosse (1966), later also read Medicine at Queens’. Still thinking he might drop medicine and enter the RAF, he spent a lot of time flying with Cambridge University Air Squadron, much to the detriment of his exam results. He gave up the football that he had played so much at school, and instead played table tennis for the University (although he missed out on a place in the Blues team). He once got back into college after hours by jumping out of a King’s College window on a fire escape harness. To his surprise, it only deposited him at the top of the old wall dividing King’s from Queens’, requiring an awkward jump to avoid the freshly staked-out flowerbed below. He also managed to lose his bike in the Cam after a RAG week stunt where he cycled into the river having been set alight. After deciding against an Air Force career, he completed his clinical training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. He trained as an anaesthetist in London, before taking a consultant post in Southampton in 1973, where he subspecialised in vascular and paediatric anaesthesia (although he anaesthetised for a full range of specialties). He was Chairman of the Southampton Anaesthetic Department from 1990 to 1995 and is well-remembered for the training programme for novice anaesthetists which he ran for 30 years. He had very high standards in matters of patient care, which he applied to himself and expected of his trainees. This could make him quite intimidating to juniors, but it was tempered by his good humour, enthusiasm, genuine interest in people, and his reassurances
that things would be ‘a piece of cake, old boy!’ Messages from former trainees describe him as respected, loved, inspirational, a great mentor and a ‘legend’. In recognition of his commitment to the specialty and to teaching, the Association of Anaesthetists awarded him the 2002 Evelyn Baker Medal – their award for ‘outstanding competence in all areas of anaesthetic practice’. In 1976 Mark married Suan Kee Kan, a theatre nurse, whom he had met at St George’s Hospital. Their two children both came to Queens’: Dr Alex Crosse (2005) who read for Part III Mathematics and Dr David Crosse (2004) who studied Medicine. Mark enjoyed walking in North Wales, near where he grew up, and he remained interested in the military and aviation. There were many holidays in his battered yellow campervan, which he was once asked to remove from the hospital consultants’ car park by someone who could not believe a consultant would drive such a vehicle. For someone so motivated by his work and sense of duty to patients and colleagues, retirement in 2007 was always going to be difficult, but sadly he soon started showing signs of dementia. Nevertheless, he took great pleasure in spending time with his grandchildren, and he managed to live a fairly independent life until his final illness. He is survived by his wife, Kee, by his two children, and by two grandchildren.
J. M. Labrum (1958) aged 86. John Labrum was born in Leamington Spa, and subsequently spent his working life there. He attended The Leys School, Cambridge, before National Service in which he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery, serving in Malaya at the end of the Communist ‘Emergency’. He returned to England in 1958 and came up to Queens’ to read Law. At College he played rugby and 2nd XI hockey and was an active member of Queens’ Bench. He joined his late father’s law firm Blythe Owen George in 1970, becoming Managing Partner of Blythe Liggins in 1991, following a merger. He specialized in residential conveyancing and probate work. On retirement he became a non-practising consultant to Blythe Liggins Solicitors. He was always a keen sportsman, playing rugby, hockey, squash, tennis and latterly bowls, and also devoted much time to the support of others. He was Secretary, then President of the South Warwickshire branch of the NSPCC for 20 years, Captain and later President of Stratford Hockey Club for 12 years, Captain and later President of Warwick Boat Club, a keen Rotarian and golfer. He was a former governor of Myton School and held three treasurerships. He was married to Carolyn for 59 years, and they have three daughters, one of whom followed him into the law, and seven grandchildren. His daughter Fiona Sweeting (née Labrum) matriculated at Queens’ in 1988.
Professor R. E. Allsop, OBE, DSc, FREng, FICE, FCIHT, FCILT (1959) aged 83. Richard Allsop was born in Derby and educated at Bemrose School. He was the son of Grace (née Tacey) and Edward Allsop. He read Mathematics at Queens’ and was awarded a first-class degree in
1962. An early commitment to international work and his humanitarian instincts were evidenced by his involvement as an undergraduate with the United Nations Association, War on Want and the Refugee Action Group. He was an active member of the Chapel community. In his first post, as a Scientific Officer at the Government’s Road Research Laboratory in West Drayton, west London, in 1964, he looked at the effectiveness of motorcycle helmets in casualty reduction and injury mitigation. His research led to the law that made their wearing compulsory. He subsequently worked at the Road Research Laboratory at University College, London (UCL), and was a Research Fellow there 1967-69 and then a Lecturer in Transport Studies. He was awarded a PhD in applicable mathematics by UCL in 1970 and later a DSc. From 1973 he was Director of the Transport Operations Research Group at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, until his appointment as Professor of Transport Studies at UCL in 1976. He retired from UCL in 2005, becoming Professor Emeritus. He was a strong believer in the principle that rigorous research should support changes in public policy. His contribution to the transport sector was considerable, particularly in improving road safety, through his extensive experience of research, training and advisory work. Richard was one of those who gave evidence to the review of road traffic law undertaken by the lawyer Peter North, which resulted in the new offence of causing death by dangerous driving, under the Road Traffic Act of 1988. He also published two reports on the effectiveness of speed cameras, commissioned by the RAC Foundation, which demonstrated that speed cameras save lives. He was a Trustee of and Special Advisor to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. He is remembered as a stickler for accuracy in language and mathematics. He was a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Royal Statistical Society. He was a Board Member of the European Transport Safety Council and chair of its Road Safety Performance Index programme. He was a long-time supporter of the education provision of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, serving on the Education Board, the Individual Route Assessor Panel and the TPP Professional Standards Committee over many years. Richard’s experience in academia and advice on assessment and quality assurance matters, as well as his extensive knowledge of transport planning and engineering, were highly valued by all who worked with him. He was also one of the leading figures in the development of the Transport Planning Professional qualification which he himself applied for and was awarded in 2009. He was also a Board Member of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and advised its European road safety performance index programme. He worked internationally providing input into road safety policy in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Poland. He was awarded an OBE in 1997 for services to traffic management and road safety, was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and held the IHT Award for professional excellence. In a recent podcast interview, shortly before his death, he said
that, since he started working, road safety has become progressively more systematic as a national task. Richard played a key role in helping to take that approach forward, and in doing so, his contribution to the sector has helped save many lives. He was awarded the 2011 Prince Michael Road Safety Award and a TRL Academy Award in 2015 for outstanding contribution to road safety. In 2018 he received the Kometani-Sasaki Award in recognition of fifty years contribution to the International Symposia on Transportation and Traffic Theory, the leading international series of conferences in the field. In 1990 he married Frances Killick, and she survives him. For relaxation he enjoyed theatre, photography and walking.
G. M. Henman (1959) aged 84. During the War Geoffrey Henman’s family lived in the village of Wolverley, Worcestershire, and there he began his schooling before going on to Hall Green Primary School and King Edward’s School, Birmingham. He read English at Queens’ and very much enjoyed his time at College. He was a member of Bats and had also belonged to drama groups in Birmingham, such as the Dickens Society. After his graduation he went on a twoyear Social Studies Course at Lanchester College, Coventry, followed by a year at Birmingham University. He also undertook some voluntary work with MIND (The National Association for Mental Health). He eventually became the District Manager of Upper Stoke Coventry Social Services Centre and for many years was the Department’s mental health representative, honing his expertise by attending many mental health conferences in London. In 1965 he married Margaret Williams. They had three children, although sadly their first baby, Lucy, died at the age of five months. He is survived by a son, David, and his son Jake, and by a daughter Linda. He enjoyed his work and had a good relationship with his colleagues. When he retired, he bought a house in the Warwickshire village of Wolfson, where he lived very happily on his own. He loved the countryside and village life. He had a particular interest in trees and was an active member of the Woodland Trust. He also had an allotment and grew all his own vegetables. He was a great bibliophile, and his house was full of books. He took great care and delight in creative writing, and he loved and wrote poetry. He was a member of the village Poetry Group. He played a large part in the detailed research of village life at Wolfson from 1851 to 1976 and made many contributions to the research of the Brandon, Bretford and Wolfson History Group. His special legacy is his kindness in helping many people over the years. He was very loyal to his friends and would go out of his way to visit and comfort those who needed him. He was very supportive to his mother, sister and grandmother after his father left the family and equally supportive to his own family through difficult times.
R. G. Mason (1960) aged 82. Ronald Mason was born in Stockport and educated at Manchester Grammar School. With his siblings and parents, he developed a love for adventure from an early age. He won a scholarship to Queens’ and read Engineering. Whilst at the College he developed his life-long passion for climbing and exploring mountains and was President of the Cambridge University Mountaineering Club. After university he married Christina O’Connor and they had two children, Sally and Simon. The family left the U.K. to live in Montreal in Canada in 1974. Ron and Christina divorced in 1978. Ron learned
to ski and became an active member of the Montreal section of the Alpine Club of Canada and explored the many ski trails in the Laurentians. He also reignited his passion for the mountains by hiking in the Adirondacks. He then began to explore the mountains in western Canada, especially around Lake O’Hara. He also learned to sail and canoe. He shared his passion for the outdoors with his children and his second wife Micheline Barbeau. Upon retirement he and Micheline moved to Calgary where he often volunteered as a custodian at some of the alpine huts and was much involved with seniors hiking and skiing groups. He travelled extensively round the world and was an avid reader. He volunteered to help children learn to read. Always young at heart, he never had trouble relating to young kids, including his four grandchildren, whom he adored. He understood the importance of education, especially for women in developing countries, and sponsored several young girls in Ghana to help them go to school. Ron could be described as jolly and was often the life of the party, though he had a lifelong struggle with his mental health. He will be greatly missed by Sally and Simon, his grandchildren William, Alex, Robin and Oliver, his wife Micheline, from whom he was eventually separated, and his siblings Michael and Brenda.
J. R. Branston (1961) aged 81. Julian Branston was born in Leicester and educated at Wyggeston Boys’ Grammar School. He went up to Queens’ to read Mathematics in 1961. After four months studying Maths, Julian decided to switch to Law. He graduated with a First Class in Law in 1964, for which he won a College prize. During his time at Queens’, he played regularly for the first XV rugby team. He remained proud throughout his life of once keeping the great Michael Gibson down in the Second XV. He also occasionally made forays into the College football teams, though he reported less success against distinguished contemporaries. After Cambridge, Julian studied at the College of Law in Guildford. He was articled and qualified as a solicitor at Headleys in Hinckley, before branching out on his own in 1969. His firm, Branston & Co., operated in Leicester for the next 39 years. Upon retirement, in 2008, Julian embarked on an Open University degree in history, graduating with honours in 2014. His great passion in life was playing, watching and talking sport. He played rugby and squash at club level for many years. He was an avid supporter of Leicester Tigers, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester City Football Club. He followed the Tour de France and Vendee Globe closely. He was a keen fell walker, particularly in the Lake District, where he holidayed regularly from the age of 14. He completed the Three Peaks in 1960 in 24 hours, at a time before there were any motorways. He completed all of the Wainwright Fells and also the Coast-to-Coast Walk, raising money for Queens’ in the process. He died unexpectedly but peacefully on a trip to the Lakes, in Eskdale, with old school friends. He was married for 57 years to Pat, who survives him along with his children, Gareth (Queens’ 1992) and
Stephanie, and three grandchildren, Darcey, Hardy and Annika. Julian remained proud throughout his life of his time at Queens’ College. He raised money for the College, was a member of the 1448 Society and regularly returned for garden parties and other events.
A. R. Pender, CBE (1961) aged 81. Tony Pender attended Cardiff High School and came up to Queens’ in 1961. He played rugby for the College and the University, winning a Blue in 1963. He was also a member of the CU Hawks’ Club. However, he was grateful for his exposure to music whilst at Queens’, crediting his college friend and fellow rugby Blue, Geoff Frankcom, for introducing him to classical music and singing. He also rowed for the Boat Club. He continued to play rugby after graduating. A back row forward, he played for Cardiff between 1964 and 1970, playing 151 games and scoring 27 tries. He was also an invaluable member of the Cardiff 7s side, playing 10 times for the club in various tournaments. After six years at Cardiff Arms Park, he re-joined his former club Cardiff High School Old Boys, before taking an appointment in London as a civil servant. Whilst in London he played for the Civil Service RFC and London Welsh alongside many great Welsh internationals. Rising quickly in the Civil Service, the most significant job of his career was the 15 years he spent as the Chief Executive of English Estates, a government funded agency tasked with delivering economic regeneration. He oversaw the expansion of its role to encompass not only commercial property development but the regeneration of towns and cities, the development of science parks, and the management of strategic projects, such as the redevelopment of the Royal Naval Dockyards at Chatham. He was awarded the CBE in recognition of his services. After English Estates he took on a host of roles across a range of organisations and initiatives, many stemming from the role English Estates had taken in sponsoring arts and culture. Perhaps his proudest achievement was as the guiding hand in the creation of The Glasshouse International Centre for Music (formerly Sage Gateshead). He was present from the conception of the idea right through to his appointment as the founding Chairman. The Centre is an exemplary piece of regeneration and is home to the Northern Sinfonia, has become an internationally acclaimed centre of excellence for music, and is a significant contributor to the fabric of North-East life. If there was a recurring theme in his life, it was a sense of ‘civic mindedness’; he believed firmly in society and in playing a positive role to make it better. The Glasshouse International Centre building and the institution behind it embodies all that he stood for. He found a home from home in the North-East and took great joy from spending the latter years of his life in the beautiful Northumbrian countryside, where he continued to try to support organisations and initiatives in the surrounding community of Corsenside. He was a keen fisherman, a persistent but moderate cook, and never shy to turn down a pint of beer or a glass of wine, particularly if it came with good conversation. He will be deeply missed by his wife, Anne, and his two children.
A. S. Turner (1961) aged 81. Andrew Turner was educated at Malsis Hall Preparatory School, then the Leys School in Cambridge. He spent a year learning about textiles before coming to Queens’ to read Economics, followed by Part II Law. He played hockey for the College 2nd XI
and captained the side in 1963-64. As a member of the Bradford Straddlebugs, he spent many happy walking holidays in the Lake District. He married for the first time in 1970 and his daughter Shelley was born in 1971. On graduating he decided against joining the family textile firm in Bradford and trained as an accountant. He became a Partner in Spicer and Pegler, a well-respected firm of Chartered Accountants in Leeds, in 1971. He retired early in 1989 and moved to the Yorkshire town of Thirsk. In 1997 he married his second wife, Marion. They both enjoyed country pursuits and shared a love of dogs and horses. Their retirement encompassed horse racing. Shelley had married and moved to Australia and Andrew was able to visit her there. Before ill-health intervened, there were many foreign holidays including trips to Venice, Barcelona, Bangkok and Florida. He is survived by Marion, Shelley and her two children, Jessica and Thomas, and by two stepchildren.
B. R. C. Gibson, MBA (1962) aged 80. Ron Gibson came to Queens’ from Clifton College, Bristol. He read Natural Sciences, specialising in Metallurgy in his third year. He played rugby and in his second year was a member of the successful 1st XV who became League Champions. On graduating he joined Vickers in Newcastle. He worked for a subsidiary of Vickers in Leeds, Howson-Algraphy Group, from 1965 to 1989. The firm made lithographic printing plates and he was the Business Director for a while before becoming Managing Director of the Swedish and then South African subsidiaries. He gained an MBA from Bradford University Business School in 1972. In 1989 Vickers sold Howson-Algraphy to Du Pont UK Printing Systems and Ron worked for them as Business Resource Planning Manager from 1989 until 1994. He was General Manager of Belle Isle Community Enterprises Ltd 199596, then a Business Advisor for Doncaster Business Link until 1999. He retired in 2000. He was married to Christine, who survives him. Among his leisure pursuits he enjoyed sailing his dinghy on Derwent Reservoir. Ron was a strong supporter of Queens’ and regularly attended reunion events. He had to withdraw from a recent dinner after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
Dr D. M. Shotton, PhD (1962), aged 80. David Shotton came to Queens’ in 1962 from King Edward VII’s School, King’s Lynn. His father, Frank E Shotton, had matriculated at Queens’ in 1936. David studied Natural Sciences and gained a first-class degree in Biochemistry. He also participated in college sports, sang in choirs and was a staunch member of both the Chapel and the Christian Union. He went on to study for a PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, where, at the time, the most cutting-edge research on molecular and cell biology in the world was being pursed. In 1970 David published, in the Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society, the structure of elastase, an important enzyme impacting many areas of human biology. This was at a time when very few protein structures were resolved. He then secured a Medical Research Council Beit Fellowship at Bristol University to
continue his research, followed by an MRC Travelling Fellowship to work first at The University of California, Berkeley, and then at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. There he undertook ground-breaking work on spectrin, a cytoskeletal protein that lines the intracellular side of the plasma membrane of cells. Perhaps the most important discovery he made during his time at Harvard was his future wife, Shirley. They celebrated their wedding in the USA and in Cambridge in a special service in Queens’ Chapel. He continued to work on protein structure and the proteins of cell membranes when he was appointed as a Lecturer in Cell Biology at Imperial College, London, in 1976, moving on to the University of Oxford in 1981. He became a Fellow of Wolfson College. His lab in Oxford was an Aladdin’s cave of microscopy. There he pioneered work in exciting areas of light and electron microscopy. He wrote a book on confocal microscopy, in which he demonstrated the great gift of making a highly complex topic accessible to younger scientists. In 1977 he was an EMBO Fellow at the Department of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. He was later also a CIBA-Geigy Visiting Fellow at the University of California, San Diego, and at the Department of Cytometry, University of Leiden. For several summers, he taught an advanced course at The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. A friend recalls walking back from the lab there late one evening and hearing David singing and playing guitar in a small garden with a group of fellow lecturers and students after a long day of teaching. In 2004 he became Reader in Image Bioinformatics and Director of the Image Bioinformatics Research Group at Oxford. Latterly, he actively pioneered progress towards much wider access to scientific data, playing a key role in Open Citations, a not-for-profit organisation for open scholarship, which now provides access to over two billion citations. He became well-known as a thoughtful guide and a continuous source of inspiration for young researchers with wise advice and ‘volcanic’ intuitions. He had a knack for explaining complex science in a way students (and even children) could understand. He won a Teaching Award at Oxford and was a much-loved teacher. His friend, Professor David Sattelle, has said, “He leaves a legacy of outstanding research achievements and the techniques that he developed will continue to be used by future generations of scientists. His passion for fair and free access to the benefits of scientific discoveries was profound and that work also continues. David was an inspirational, valued and much-loved scientific colleague. His talent, his energy and his support will be very greatly missed by all fortunate enough to have known him and worked alongside him”. He was a man of great good humour with a very positive attitude to life, coupled with a settled and strong Christian faith. He was an active man who enjoyed hiking and sailing, but he also found time to appreciate music, poetry and art. He was very fond of animals and the family owned a succession of dogs with which he formed strong bonds. He particularly loved gardening and designing gardens. His career took him to many countries, but he and Shirley enjoyed travel
on holiday as well. He imbued his children, and latterly his grandchildren, with a love of the natural world, a love of music and a love of scholarship. His son, Jamie Shotton, followed him to Queens’, matriculating in 1999, to read Computer Science before completing a PhD. Jamie, who sang in the Chapel Choir, married the 2005-08 Organ Scholar, Bertilla Ng, in Queens’ Chapel and they have three children. David’s daughter Justine is a veterinary surgeon. Another son, Joshua, predeceased him. He and Shirley finally retired to the village of Yelling in Cambridgeshire, where he created a beautiful garden, five years before his death from cancer.
The Revd Dr W. S. Monkhouse, MB, BCh, PhD (1969) aged 73. Stanley Monkhouse was born in Carlisle and was proud of his roots in Cumbria. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith, where he was Head Boy, and also sang in the choir and played the organ at Carlisle Cathedral. He came up to Queens’ to read Medical Sciences in 1969. At College he sang in the Choir, played the organ and was a very active member of the St Margaret Society. Famous for his forthrightness he was nevertheless very well-liked by his contemporaries. He later attributed the start of his fascination with anatomy and embryology to his undergraduate years studying under the tuition of Dr Max Bull. In his third year he opted to study History of Art, perhaps an early indication that his career was not to be a traditional one. He became something of an expert on Georgian and Victorian architecture. He went to King’s College Hospital in London for his clinical studies and, whilst there, met and married Susan Wilson, a teacher. He qualified as a doctor in 1975 and, after house jobs, moved to the University of Nottingham as a Lecturer in Human Morphology. He also kept his hand in on the clinical side with some work in a local ear, nose and throat department. He studied for a PhD, completed in 1985, at Nottingham, before moving to Dublin, where he was appointed Professor of Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1988. He enjoyed teaching and was somewhat irritated by medical schools making lecturer appointments based on the candidate’s research rather than their teaching ability. He also served as pre-clinical ViceDean in Dublin. He took up a new challenge in 2003 when he joined the new Medical School at Derby as a Senior Lecturer in Anatomy. From 2004 he also trained part-time for the Church of England ministry on the East Midlands Ministerial Training Course. He was ordained deacon in 2006 and priest in 2007. After a two-year curacy at Wirksworth, Derbyshire, he became Priest-in-Charge of Old Brampton and of Great Barlow, adding Loundsley Green in 2009, near Chesterfield. He was Assistant Director of Ordinands for the Diocese of Derby 2008-11. In 2011 he and Susan moved back to Ireland to be near two of their children and Stanley became Incumbent of Maryborough with Dysart Enos and Ballyfin for the Church of Ireland. He was also Chaplain of Portlaoise Prison and of the Midland Regional Hospital at Portlaoise. He retired in 2019. He loved High Church pomp but despised pomposity. He continued to be rather outspoken, believing he should “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”. During the eulogy at his funeral, a colleague said that perhaps all dioceses should have a Stanley but probably one would be enough. He was a devoted family man and he and Susan had three children, Helen, Hugh and Edward, though his eldest son sadly predeceased him.
Dr D. W. Sills, MB, BCh (1970) aged 72. David Sills was born in Cambridge and attended the Perse School. Clever and gifted, academically and musically, he also had the drive to excel at sport. Possessing an engaging and outgoing personality he was uniquely popular. He excelled at rugby and cricket and was also a keen dinghy racer at weekends, whilst also finding the time to play guitar in local rock bands. He was granted a Flying Scholarship through the School Combined Cadet Force and gained his Private Pilot’s Licence. He loved flying and might have considered a career in the RAF had the reality of his being so tall not meant his feet would be at risk if he needed to eject. He followed two older brothers – Dr John A Sills (1962) and Dr Michael A Sills (1967) – to Queens’ and, like them, read Medical Sciences. He was a powerful second row forward and seemed destined to earn a “rugby blue”, but a serious knee injury intervened. He completed his clinical studies at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and qualified as a doctor in 1976. He elected to pursue a career in General Practice. To this end he took up training posts in the Southend area. There he had the fortune to meet Sally and they married in 1981 enjoying a wonderful partnership and eventful life together. He became a partner in a Southend practice and was soon established as an effective, approachable and respected family doctor. He had a great ability to listen and get to the heart of issues. He was also a much loved and popular member of the community, including the local golf club. He and his wife, Sally, were generous hosts and inveterate and adventurous travellers, on many occasions to the Far East, and returned with many stories. They loved family, friends and being generous and affable; all were welcome at their house. David fell ill at New Year 2023 with aggressive prostate cancer and died peacefully at home a few months later. He leaves Sally, his wife of 41 years, four children, seven grandchildren, and three brothers. A nephew, Benjamin J Sills (1994) also came to Queens’.
D. M. Anderson (1982) aged 60. David Anderson (known professionally as David Maxwell Anderson) was born in Scotland and educated at Glasgow Academy. He came to Queens’ in 1982 to read History. At College he joined the Chapel Choir, sang as a soloist for the St Margaret Society and was Chairman of the Cambridge University Opera Society. He also acted for Bats and the ADC and directed a memorable production of The Turn of the Screw. He was Chairman of the History Society. After Queens’ he became a professional opera singer, later involving himself in artist management and teaching as well. He studied at the National Opera Studio and the Royal College of Music (Dip. RCM Opera 1990) and later attended City, University of London, obtaining a master’s degree in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management. He sang as a leading tenor in numerous opera companies, most notably at the Glyndebourne Festival as well as with Opera North, Opéra National du Rhin, Nederlandse Reisopera, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Opera Grand Rapids, and the Academy of
Ancient Music. Notable roles for Opera North included the Prince in Dvorak’s Rusalka, Enzo Grimaldo in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, and B.F. Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Other important roles were Matteo Borsa in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Carlo Anatol in Barber’s Vanessa, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme and Boris Grigorjevic in Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová. He also appeared as a Principal Tenor at the Royal Opera House, with English National Opera and with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. Alongside his singing career, he built up an international reputation as a vocal teacher. He was a Vocal Professor at the Royal Academy of Music 2000-08 and Senior Vocal Tutor at the Royal College of Music 2007-8 as well as teaching as a Vocal Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music 2007-14. As Director of DMA Studios from 2014 and of DMA Artists from 2015 he also had a distinguished reputation as an administrator and artist manager. He died suddenly from acute heart failure.
R. J. N. Chalcraft (1994) aged 50. Richard Chalcraft won an Exhibition to Wellington College in Berkshire from Crosfields School in Reading. However, at the age of 11, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease and had to give up playing junior county tennis. Following many years of hospital treatment, he went to Henley College where he gained four A grade A levels. He came up to Queens’ in 1994 to read Mathematics. On graduation he joined Ernst and Young, soon attaining Part 1A of ACCA exams. He travelled widely in South America and, as a consequence, realised the advantage of speaking another language. He spent nine months living in Granada, Spain obtaining a Diploma Espanol como Lenqua Extranjera. From 2000 he was a Marketing Consultant with Edge Consulting, then a Senior Consultant with Accenture 2002-04, before moving to be a Management Consultant with dunnhumby 2005-07. He worked at Clear Cell Group Consultancy as Head of Customer Strategy 2007-12. His last employment was as a business consultant at the SAS Institute, the analytics specialists, in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. During his employment he took time out to walk the Pyrenees with friends to raise money for charity. He qualified as a ski instructor in Canada and did some Heli skiing. Afterwards he worked as a representative for the British Ski Club. He also enjoyed Extreme Skiing in Chamonix. He is survived by his wife Nada and their young son James.