THE PROFESSOR DAVID YATES MASTER’S SCHOLARSHIPS

After twenty years as the Warden of Robinson College, Professor David Yates stepped down in 2021. The Professor David Yates Master’s Scholarships were created to mark the end of two decades of his leadership, and to build a legacy that will help attract future graduate students to Robinson, continuing David’s aim to make a Cambridge education accessible to all. Thanks to the donations of numerous alumni and other friends of the College throughout the appeal, including an immensely generous £100,000 in match funding donated by Sir David and Adrian Li (Law, 1992), we raised £300,000, exceeding our campaign goal. In 2022, the inaugural Professor David Yates Master’s Scholarship was awarded to Peter Hipkin, an MPhil candidate in Early Modern History.

“I’m thrilled to be the first recipient of the Professor David Yates Master’s Scholarships here at Robinson. During my undergraduate degree at Durham, I worked at my college bar while completing my degree to help fund the costs of studying. The Yates Scholarship will allow me to focus entirely on pursuing my research at Cambridge without the additional need to work part-time. This financial peace of mind will directly impact the quality of my research by enabling me to fully throw myself into my master’s degree. This support is all the more important, and appreciated, given the deepening cost-of-living crisis we find ourselves in.

As part of my MPhil in Early Modern History, I am conducting a substantial piece of original research. By systematically studying the visual culture of late-seventeenth-century London, especially printed material such as graphic satires, I hope to shed new light on the popular political consciousness of non-elite groups, as well as how these groups were themselves represented in the visual and material culture of the period. I aim to research the political engagement and representation of poorer segments of society, non-white peoples, and women, groups that are not often incorporated into the political narratives of the period.

One of my aspirations is to build on this research by subsequently studying for a PhD in History, hopefully at Cambridge! Winning this scholarship against what I am sure was fierce competition has certainly inspired me with the confidence to apply for a PhD and ultimately to perhaps pursue a career in academia. Awards such as the David Yates Scholarship make academia both accessible and financially viable, and for that, I am immensely grateful.”

Peter Hipkin, MPhil candidate and 2022 Professor David Yates Master’s Scholar

“I am delighted to welcome the first recipient of the Professor David Yates Master’s Scholarship to Robinson. My warmest congratulations go out to Peter on this award. He is a worthy, smart and resourceful young scholar, and I wish him all the very best of good fortune as he begins his MPhil in Early Modern History. It is gratifying to know that the College, with the generous support of our alumni and friends, has been able to put this Scholarship in place so quickly. It will fund graduate students over the coming years, helping to ensure that—regardless of background or means— aspiring students have the opportunity to reach their full potential here at Cambridge and beyond. Access to education is one of Robinson’s core priorities, and I would like to thank those individuals who contributed to the Scholarships for helping us to continue to lead on this endeavour.”

Professor David Yates, Emeritus Fellow and former Warden of Robinson College

The creation of this Scholarship would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors, our alumni, and the Robinson community, and we are so grateful that Robinson will continue to make much-needed funding available to those students who need it most, in the name of our second Warden.

In May, Robinson hosted its first digital Giving Day. Binson Gives was a 36-hour extravaganza, giving alumni the chance to celebrate the people and places at Robinson most meaningful to them and to donate toward the Annual and Wellbeing Funds. For the Development team, Giving Day was spent discovering parts of the College that we had never even heard of, like the College Darkroom, or fabulous rooftop views. This was pretty amazing, given that our team has collectively spent over 55 years at Robinson! We also had huge fun posting sticky notes on people like Malcolm Trotter and Dr Martin Brett (tickled and bemused in turn) whom alumni wanted to remember as having made their time at Robinson so special.