News and Events Jonathan Gair (85-95) read Mathematics at Cambridge. After graduating, he stayed on to read Part III Mathematics and then a PhD in astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Upon completion of his PhD in 2002 he went to Caltech for two years as a postdoctoral scholar in the Theoretical Astrophysics group. He then returned to St Catharine’s College, Cambridge for three years as a research fellow before beginning a Royal Society funded Research Fellowship in October 2007, also at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. He is a College Fellow in Mathematics and the College webmaster.
Jonathan’s research is focussed mainly on gravitational physics. The title of his thesis was Generalised Tolman-Bondi Cosmologies and Kerr Metric Atoms but his current research is in gravitational wave astrophysics, in particular on aspects of source modelling and data analysis related to the NASA/ESA space based gravitational wave detector LISA. More information about Jonathan can be found on his departmental webpage www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jgair/. Outside work, Jonathan’s interests include many sports, hiking and the theatre. Patrick Place (70-77) Since I
graduated from Newcastle University I have pursued a career in computer science. I worked for GEC Telecoms (Hirst Research Center) and then Imperial Software Technology. And therein we see the many dualities of my career: I’ve worked for a large company and for a startup; I’ve worked in research and the supremely practical; I’ve worked in development and I’ve taught various university courses. For the last 23 years I have been employed by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon. Our role is to advise the
4
On 5 July Professor Sir Ian Gilmore (55-65), past President of the Royal College of Physicians, was Guest of Honour at the annual prize giving at Longridge Towers School, near Berwick, where the Chairman of Governors is former classmate John Smithson (55-61). The photograph shows Sir Ian (on the right) and John (centre) with Tim Manning, Longridge’s Headmaster, and some of the senior prize winners. US Government on issues relating to the acquisition and development of software. I’m married to an American and we have two boys in whose education I take great interest; sadly what is available to them is a far cry from the education I received at the RGS.
completed core surgical training in 2009 along with the MRCS exam and entered higher specialist training in the field of urology within the North central London region in 2010 to present. Tony Morris (76-83) writes: the
mention of the organ in the summer 2012 issue reminds me of what I believe to be my unique exploit. I think I am the only former pupil to have Richard Shaw (61-71) actually smoked a cigarette inside the I moved to Atlanta in 1984 and workings of the instrument. The year worked for advertising agencies as would have been around 1980. a copywriter and creative director. witnesses included Liam Anderson (76-83) and David Duns (76-81). There is a small access door on the first I relocated to a farm in north Georgia in 2007, where I ride a tractor, do some floor balcony, which was usually kept marketing consulting and celebrate the locked but not always! Quite an impressive smoke cloud formed over Geordie-Redneck cultural interface. the pews of the assembly hall, Ashoke Roy (93-00) after finishing fortunately this was not spotted by the Medical school in 2006, Ashoke authorities. I emerged from the organ,
