34 SOMERVILLE MAGAZINE
Engineering a Legacy:
Professor Richard Stone Looks Back Professor Richard Stone (FREng, FSAE, FIMechE) is a world-renowned authority in the mobility industry. He retires this year having been a Tutor and Fellow in Engineering at Somerville since 1993, during which time he has served twice as Vice-Principal, once at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Professor Stone with his 1939 Daimler DB18. Picture: John Cairns
What was your path to Somerville? I studied engineering at Cambridge as part of a ‘thick sandwich course’ in which I worked for the Ministry of Defence for the year before and after my course, as well as during the summers. Afterwards, I returned to Cambridge to start a PhD. However, when my supervisor moved to Oxford, I elected to go, too. This led to a Junior Research Fellowship at Jesus, followed by 11 years at Brunel, before returning to Oxford in 1993. You were one of Somerville’s first male fellows. What was that like? Governing Body was, of course, mostly female. However, there had been male lecturers in the SCR for many years and most of my interactions with colleagues were in the Department,
so being a male fellow at Somerville did not seem strange. The biggest difference was having exclusively female tutees for several years. On a side note, I am informed that one of the most noticeable changes following the arrival of men was the food, both in terms of how much was eaten (substantially more) and the introduction of new dishes (chips were never served to the SCR before men joined). All your students speak so highly of your kindness and transformative impact as a tutor. What is the secret to inspirational teaching? I enjoy tutorial teaching and I would like to think that what I do is thorough – I couldn’t say whether it was inspirational. Over time, you learn what it is that causes difficulties and what sort of things examiners like to ask. The other great advantage of
