Johnian News Lent 2013

JOHNIANnews St John’s College Cambridge

Issue 32 | Lent term 2013

ST JOHN’S GOING GREEN KENYAN SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT ONE YEAR ON JOHNIAN ATHLETE REVEALS OLYMPIC STRUGGLE UNI TEAM IN WORLD SOLAR CHALLENGE LIBRARY EXHIBITIONS 2013

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Lent term 2013

Welcome to the Lent 2013 issue of Johnian News It’s fantastic to have so many inspiring and passionate stories in this issue, ranging from one man’s life-long fascination with Easter Island, to a staff member flying the flag for environmental changes in College.

One of the most eye-opening features is written by Louis Persent (2008). While the excitement of the Olympics was largely confined to a six-week period for most of us, for athletes like Louis the Olympics have shaped every waking minute of their lives for years on end, and will continue to do so. Perilous struggles for funding in UK sport have regularly cropped up in the media since London 2012, but it is hard to appreciate the impact on the lives of individual people until you hear one such story first-hand.

Please do send me your feedback on Johnian News so that I can try to include more of the things you enjoy reading about.

Contributions and ideas for the Michaelmas 2013 issue are welcome up until early August.

Contents Jennifer Baskerville, Editor Development Office, St John’s College, Cambridge CB2 1TP Email: j.baskerville@joh.cam.ac.uk Tel: 01223 330722

College news ................................. 4 Acclimatise .................................... 8

Cover image: Peter Muriuki is the first recipient of the Moody-Stuart Scholarship, which funds a pupil from the Starehe Schools in Kenya

Going green ................................ 12 Behind the medals ....................... 16

to attend St John’s to gain an undergraduate degree. Peter is studying Engineering and you can read his story on page eight.

Time to reminisce ........................ 19

Photo by Ben Lister www.benlister.com

Choose a job you love ................ 20

Opposite page and above right: The front of the Master’s Lodge by

Past, present and future ............... 22

Alice Hardy.

A successful formula .................... 24

Inside images courtesy of: Andrew Hendry/RIBA, James Robinson,

One fine day ................................ 26

H Tempest Photography, Nic Marchant, Alex Wilshaw, Ben Lister/

Events calendar ............... Back cover

The Telegraph, John Kingsnorth, James Grant-Peterkin, Olavi Kaljunen/trackpic.net, Louis Persent, Fiona Davy and Emil Hewage.

Design and artwork: Cameron Design 01284 725292 www.designcam.co.uk Print: Fisherprint 01733 341444 www.fisherprint.co.uk

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College news Library exhibitions and events Johnians are always welcome to view the regular exhibitions in the Library Exhibition Area, which is open to visitors from Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm. There are also special events taking place throughout the year. For more information, visit www.joh.cam.ac.uk/library or for regular updates, follow the Library on Twitter @StJohns_Library.

Easter Term 2013 St John’s College Art and Photography Competition Showcasing current students’ artistic talents.

October–December 2013 (dates TBC) The Cavalier Poet: John Cleveland, his works and his times The life and works of seventeenth-century Johnian poet and staunch Royalist John Cleveland.

January–March 2014 (dates TBC) The Missionary College: John William Colenso and William Whytehead An exhibition on the 200th anniversary of John William Colenso’s birth examining the role of St John’s College in nineteenthcentury missionary work.

If you can’t make it to College, why not explore some of our online exhibitions? View them at www.joh.cam.ac.uk/library

Events in the Old Library Saturday 11 May 2013 A Celebration of the Samuel Butler Project An event to celebrate the two-year Samuel Butler Project, showcasing items from the collection of Victorian and Johnian polymath Samuel Butler. Times TBC: details will appear on the website www.joh.cam.ac.uk/samuel-butler-project Saturday 7 September 2013 (date TBC) Open Cambridge A free walk-in exhibition of treasures from the Special Collections, as part of the University-wide Open Cambridge festival. Times TBC: details will appear on the website www.cam.ac.uk/opencambridge Saturday 26 October 2013 (date TBC) Festival of Ideas A free walk-in exhibition in the Old Library as part of the Universitywide Festival of Ideas. Times TBC: details will appear on the website www.cam.ac.uk/festivalofideas Saturday 15 March 2014 (date TBC) Science Festival A free walk-in exhibition in the Old Library as part of the Universitywide Cambridge Science Festival. Times TBC: details will appear on the website www.cam.ac.uk/sciencefestival

Master’s work honoured The Master, Professor Christopher Dobson, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science by King’s College London in November 2012 for outstanding contribution to his field.

The citation states that ‘he has demonstrated the power of chemistry to understand protein misfolding disorders including neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and provided new insights into the evolutionary constraints upon the chemistry of life.’

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Three other Honorary Degrees were conferred at the same time, to the Right Honourable the Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales; Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore; and Bill Bryson, the UK’s highest selling author of non-fiction and previously Chancellor of Durham University.

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Two Georges triumph The winners of the Wilkinson Essay Prize for 2012 were George Hallas from Taunton School for his essay ‘Myth and Memory in the Architectural Monuments of Global Superpowers’, and George Edmondson from Knutsford High School for his essay ‘What is there left to explore?’.

The two students and their parents were invited to an award ceremony in College, where the Master presented them each with their prize of £750. Matching sums were also awarded to the prizewinners’ schools for expenditure on academic resources. As part of the prize both winners also took up the invitation to stay in College for a week over the summer vacation, working in the College Library and in other Cambridge collections on a project of their choice.

The Wilkinson Essay Prize competition encourages students in Year 12 (lower sixth form or equivalent) to submit an essay on a topic of personal interest and to develop the analytical and presentation skills that will benefit them in their future studies.

This prize was endowed by Heather Hancock (1984, née Wilkinson), who studied Geography and Land Economy at St John’s. Heather is now Managing Partner for Talent and Brand at Deloitte, having previously spent 15 years working in the public sector. She was also responsible for Deloitte’s

Olympic and Paralympic relationships and services during London 2012, and was recently awarded an LVO (see story below).

The closing date for entries for this year’s competition is 1 May 2013. More information about the competition can be found on the College website at www.joh.cam.ac.uk/wilkinson-essay-prizes-2013.

George Hallas (centre left) and George Edmondson (centre right) with their families.

New Year Honours

New Honorary Fellows

The College would like to congratulate the following Johnians, who featured in the New Year Honours List 2013:

St John’s is delighted to announce that it has appointed three new Honorary Fellows of the College:

Heather Jane Hancock (1984), formerly a Trustee of The Prince’s Trust, became a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO).

The Most Reverend Bernard Ntahoturi (1973), Archbishop of Burundi.

Stephen Charles Richard Munday (1983), Executive Principal of Comberton Village College, Cambridgeshire and National Leader in Education for the National College for School Leadership, received a CBE for services to education.

Professor Jane Stapleton (Fellow 2011–12), Barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Ms Jennifer Egan (1985), Novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winner 2011.

Commander Timothy Mark Hulme (2011) of the Royal Navy was awarded an OBE.

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College news Achievement honour for Bill Catering and Conference Manager, Bill Brogan, has been presented with a Special Achievement Honour at the Health and Vitality Honours, which recognise healthy best practice within the food service industry.

Since arriving at the College in 2005 Bill has embarked on an ambitious programme of initiatives to encourage sustainability and health in food service, both at St John’s and at other colleges across the UK.

St John’s was also runner-up for the Health and Vitality Sourcing Honour at the ceremony, which was held at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Bill Brogan receiving his award

Double RIBA award win Andrew Hendry, courtesy of RIBA

Two Johnian architects have received prestigious accolades at The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Medals Student Awards 2012.

Paddi Benson (2009), who graduated with a starred first in Architecture last year, received a commendation in the Bronze Medal class and a SOM Foundation Travelling Fellowship at Part I level for her project ‘Remember Berlin Kunsthochschule Archipelago’.

Rebecca (centre left) and Paddi (centre right)

Rebecca Roberts (2005) was awarded a SOM Foundation Travelling Fellowship at Part II level for her project ‘Going to a Town: A Gallery for Gerhard Richter in Berlin’. Rebecca studied for Part II at the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design within London Metropolitan University. She is currently working for Herzog and de Meuron on the new extension for Tate Modern.

Raspberry Pi design nomination The Raspberry Pi computer created by a team from the University of Cambridge, including Eben Upton (1996) and Robert Mullins, Director of Studies in Computer Science at St John’s, has been nominated for a Designs of the Year award 2013 in the Digital category.

The award is run by the Design Museum in London and last year’s overall winner was the London 2012 Olympic Torch by design studio BarberOsgerby.

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The Raspberry Pi faces stiff competition in its category from the popular Rain Room installation at the Barbican, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 and the Gov.uk website, which aims to combine all of the UK Government’s websites into a single site, saving £50 million per year.

Winners will be decided by a jury and announced on 17 April.

You can see the full list of nominees at www.designmuseum.org/ exhibitions/2013/designs-of-theyear-2013.

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Join in online This month we are launching our new online community for Johnians, where you can update your contact details as well as find comprehensive information about events, campaigns and publications. Later in the year we will launch online event booking and forums for careers and networking advice.

There will also be a brand new look for our monthly enewsletter, Johnian enews, which gives you a round-up of what’s happening in College and lets you know about events in your area. In order to receive updates, please ensure that we have your preferred email address as this will be used for all future e-correspondence.

As always, we welcome your feedback on our new site so that we can continue to improve it. Please do visit www.joh.cam.ac.uk/johnians and get involved!

We are also looking for Johnian bloggers to take part in an exciting new web project.

Do you have a regular blog? If so, email us at development@joh.cam.ac.uk

Racing down under Helena Barman (2010), a Johnian in her third year studying Economics, will be one of the race drivers. ‘The race itself will be a real adventure,’ said Helena, ‘but already there have been moments along the way that impress upon everybody in the team that we are truly pioneers.’

The team, Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER), is made up of over 60 students and regular updates can be found on their blog at www.cuer.co.uk/blog CUER hope to win the fiercely competitive race with their innovative new design, which breaks the mould of classic solar car design. Weighing in at only 120kg, the car (nicknamed ‘Daphne’) gains maximum efficiency by using tilting gallium arsenide solar cells, a lightweight loadbearing carbon fibre moncoque chassis and a highly aerodynamic shape (CdA figure of 0.075).

Find out how you can support CUER and get your name printed on their new solar car at www.cuer.co.uk/name-on-car

Rendered by Emil Hewage

A team of students from the University of Cambridge are working hard to design, build and race a solar-powered car in the World Solar Challenge in October this year. The biennial 3,000km solar marathon takes competitors across Australia from Darwin to Adelaide, and in 2011 it attracted 37 teams from 21 countries.

LMBCA celebrates centenary This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Lady Margaret Boat Club Association, which started life as The Old Johnian Henley Fund in 1913. It has helped Lady Margaret crews compete at Henley since its foundation and has more recently taken on a wider role by helping to raise over £200,000 for the purchase of new boats and oars, gym equipment and training camps.

There will be a celebration in honour of the centenary on the last day of the May Bumps, Saturday 16 June, at First Post Corner, and also at Fitz’s Henley Picnic in the Henley Cricket Club car park, 3–6 July.

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Lent term 2013

Acclimatise verb. become accustomed to a new climate or new conditions; adapt.

You may remember the story of the College’s new undergraduate scholarship for students of the Starehe School, Kenya featured in Johnian News Lent 2012. The first recipient of this scholarship, Peter Muriuki (2012), has almost completed his first year at St John’s.

The past 11 months have been focused on working hard and acclimatising to a new life for Peter, who first arrived at St John’s in June 2012. He spent most of the summer in College taking part in a course of study to get him ready for his undergraduate degree in Engineering, which he began with all the other first year students in October 2012.

Peter comes from a rural village near Meru in Kenya, where his mother is an English teacher and his father is a church leader. When he was 14 years old, he moved to Nairobi to study at the Starehe Boys’ Centre – a much fought for opportunity because of the school’s admissions policy. Starehe Boys’ and Girls’ Centres offer academically talented children from impoverished families a secondary school education without any fees or the associated costs of boarding, uniforms and books.

Peter applied for the Moody-Stuart Scholarship in 2011, which was set up by Sir Mark (1960) and Lady Moody-Stuart to give Starehe pupils the chance to study at St John’s and become one of a growing group of successful Starehe alumni.

Having boarded at Starehe, living away from home is nothing new for Peter, but being over 7,000 miles from home and in a completely different culture has provided its fair share of challenges.

‘I have got used to being here’, said Peter. ‘The weather is quite a bother sometimes but everything else is fine. I’m getting used to the food. Actually I must admit I’m almost liking British food, almost!

‘My parents were really worried. They were encouraging me to carry a lot of Kenyan food to the UK and a lot of warm clothing! They thought I would be cold, hungry and lonely. But it’s so different here, the people are so friendly, it’s amazing.

‘I have had the same room since last summer, in Cripps Court. It’s big, it’s spacious – it’s awesome. Just next to the river. One thing I’ve noticed is that it’s quieter now because in summer there were punts coming along the river. They have the guided tours and some of the things the guides were saying were not true!’

From an early age Peter was interested in electronics and mechanics, helping his father to fix the public address system and microphones at their church. Learning how things work led to an interest in cars and ultimately his choice of degree.

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‘I was really anxious to win this scholarship because I wanted the chance to study Engineering at an international level and Cambridge is definitely a better school than the universities in Kenya in terms of resources, teaching and socially.

But it’s not all hard work, Peter has been finding plenty of opportunities to experience some of the traditional aspects of being at John’s and make the most of his time in Cambridge.

‘The course is exciting. We’ve already done so many of the things that I am expected to do. We have designed projects and programs. It’s a lot of work, it’s hard at times, but at the end of the day I’m just happy because I’ve learnt something new.

‘I am in the rowing club and it’s good fun learning a new sport. I’m in one of the lower boats, LM4, so we don’t have as many practices, but it’s still early mornings. I’m not sure when to tell my parents because one thing they’ll say is, “Isn’t it quite cold?” In the morning it’s about three degrees.

They will just be so worried. So for the time being I’m trying to keep it secret!

‘I already knew Cambridge is all about hard work so I’m getting used to it. You have so little time to do so many things, and you have to explain the answers you give.

So it’s not all about just answering and then you’re done, because you have to go to supervisions and discuss your answers. It’s mostly about thought and it takes a lot of time because you have to be perfect.

‘The first week we worked on Lego Mindstorms – that was quite exciting. It was a project to create small programmable robots using a group of kits containing software and hardware. We did some programming exercises, those were guided lessons because some of us haven’t done C++ and the other programming languages before. It was a learning experience. After this we did structural design and came up with a structure, a cantilever bridge.’

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‘I’ve done a lot of cycling to get a feel for the English landscape, because it’s quite different from home. We live on the slopes of Mount Kenya, so it’s not so flat like in Cambridge.’

‘My first experience of Hall was Matriculation Dinner.

The first time you are meeting people and you’re wearing gowns and official clothes – it’s just quite inspiring.

It reminded me of Hogwarts!’

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Going Being based in historic buildings can make it difficult to install and use environmentally friendly technology. However, St John’s is forging a greener path for the future, with much success.

Mike Burgoine

Green Day in College

Loft insulation

New recycling facility

Mike Burgoine is the College’s Accommodations and Bookings Manager, but he has an extra string to his bow – Mike has a degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Clean Technology, so acts as the Energy Project Manager for the College. This involves guiding the administration of energy (including the Carbon Reduction Commitment), being part of the College’s Environment Committee and advising College departments about environmental issues.

current Cripps Building refurbishment, where a report was produced by a consultancy. I reviewed it, critiqued it, did my own sums and helped to support this project through the Buildings Committee process. I work closely with the Maintenance Department, Steve Beeby in particular, and the Domestic Bursar, John Harris, supports our ideas. It’s a nice mix of environmental benefit and cost savings, and projects we look at consider both.

Here, Mike gives us the highlights of what St John’s has achieved so far and also what plans there are for future green projects.

‘I’m most proud of the voltage stabilisation project, as this was something I came up with and it seems to be doing what we predicted in terms of savings. The greatest selling point of this project is that it really works “behind the scenes”, in that it doesn’t rely on behaviour change from students or staff. More generally I’m quite proud of the increasing momentum of the Environment Committee.

It was important to energise this as a foundation to projects, ideas and useful discussion, otherwise nothing could be achieved.

‘We have done a great deal in recent years and the College should be proud of this. I know that many other colleges don’t even have an environment committee and yet we have a really solid infrastructure for ideas. When environmental issues come up, I investigate and provide opinions and facts.

A good example of this is the photovoltaic array for the

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Lent term 2013

green Photovoltaic array

‘Recycling has scope to improve, both in College offices and student areas. We are trialling communal recycling stations in office areas, with a view to rolling these out College-wide.

Heating inconsistencies in the College are an obvious problem, and work is needed on the Building Management System to regulate the heating better, both in terms of the heating duration and temperature. This is a really big project with considerable costs and hopefully a large potential for savings, but it’s still in very early discussions.

‘Listed Building Regulations really restrict what we can do.

The most obvious and relatable example of this is not being able to change the exterior windows, which would ordinarily be a straightforward way to retain heat and save gas. Many textbook approaches to energy management are not applicable within our bespoke and beautiful College setting. Consequently, we’re forced to be more innovative in our ideas.’

Exterior windows

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Going green continued...

Over the last five years St John’s has shown its commitment to saving energy and becoming a greener place to live and work. The timeline on this page shows how the College began the process and what major achievements have been made along the way.

March 2011

October 2006 Environmental Working Group established.

As part of the University, the College registered for the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme – a mandatory scheme aimed at improving energy efficiency and associated carbon emissions in large public and private sector organisations. St John’s is required to report to the Government on all carbon emissions and is then charged for each tonne of emissions (currently £12/tonne).

August 2011

March 2007 Environmental Working Group turns into the Environment Committee, who meet on a termly basis to discuss topical issues and ongoing environment projects.

The committee reports to the College Council to ensure recognition and support at the highest level.

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September 2010 College appoints Energy Project Manager.

November 2010 On the first ever Green Day in College, an impressive 11% was saved on gas and 5% on electricity consumption.

This prevented almost one tonne of carbon dioxide being released.

Installation of voltage stabilisation on the two main electricity supplies to the College site, with an estimated saving of 8% (£14,300 per year). Voltage stabilisation is a technology that addresses the discrepancy between the actual electricity supply voltage and the optimum voltage that electrical equipment needs.

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September 2011

September 2012

As part of the Cripps G and H staircase refurbishment, a solar thermal system was installed for hot water generation. The savings were not vast because Listed Building Regulations prevented the use of the optimum location, orientation and angle, however the College continued on an environmental basis.

New recycling facility installed on the patio outside the Buttery Dining Room, with receptacles for cans, cardboard, glass and plastic.

Photovoltaic (PV) array installed during the Maintenance Department refurbishment to generate an estimated 12,000 kWh of electricity per year and therefore avoid the purchase of approximately £1,300 of energy.

The College registered this PV array under the Government’s Feed in Tariff (FiT) scheme, which essentially pays out for the generation of certain types of renewable electricity. Depending on sunlight hours, the College is saving around £5,000 per year from this project.

Water retention technology (TerraCottem) introduced into soil when lawn was re-laid in Second Court, as part of necessary maintenance work. This is estimated to increase water retention by 50% and therefore reduce water consumption.

TerraCottem is present in most Premiership football stadiums.

November 2012 March 2012 The first annual Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) report was submitted to the Government for chargeable carbon emissions. The College incurred a cost of approximately £46,000 from its annual emissions. CRC funds are used for long-term environmental projects by the Government.

Green Day 2012 focused on rethinking the ways in which we use energy and raising awareness of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with meat production, with information provided in the Buttery. Actions on the day itself saved 6% on gas consumption and 4% on electricity consumption. This resulted in a cost saving of £77, which converts to over £28,000 annually, if achieved consistently throughout the year.

August 2012 Loft insulation upgraded in the First, Second and Third Court roof space.

If you’d like to read about other environment projects in College and stay up-to-date with future plans, please visit www.joh.cam.ac.uk/environment

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For every one of the British athletes covered in glory at the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, there are thousands more still waiting for their chance to shine. Louis Persent (2008) explains the highs and lows of a sporting life.

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Behind the medals On 6 July 2005 I sprinted out of an ICT lesson at school in an embarrassing state of euphoria. London had just been announced as the host city of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and I made a decision there and then, halfway between the library and the computer room, to be a part of it.

I first turned up at my local athletics track aged 12. For the next few years I tried every event going, eventually falling in love with the twisted combination of speed and endurance that is the 400m. I matriculated at St John’s in October having just won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in the 4x400m relay.

My first year in College studying Architecture was an exercise in improvisation. As a track athlete, rather than say a rower, there was no clear training blueprint to follow. I would train at my local track, on College playing fields, in London and in Essex where my coach was based, rushing between the Architecture Department and the gym at the start and end of each day.

My Director of Studies and Tutor were very supportive and training was a useful counterpart to studying. But it was never easy. My first Varsity Match fell the weekend before I had to submit my portfolio for examination.

I won the race off three hours sleep but it was far from an impressive performance.

A week later, no longer covered in sawdust and glue from model-making, I qualified for the European Junior Championships, returning from Serbia with two medals.

In my second year I improved again despite Achilles tendon injuries. However, come Easter term in the third year it was clear that I needed to focus on my degree.

I took six weeks off training and had a disappointing season. Subsequently I lost my National Lottery funding.

So a year before the Olympics I was faced with a problem. I’d planned to spend the year training full-time but now I needed an income. Somehow I secured a job with London 2012 as a cartographer, producing most of the spectator maps for the Games. I moved back home, settling into a daily rhythm of commuting, working, physiotherapy and training. Every moment I wasn’t on a train or at the office was spent focused on making the Olympic team. I knew if I could run 45.7 seconds I would have a shot at making the team – an ambitious, but not impossible goal.

I squeezed in 20 hours of training a week and said farewell to a social life. Everything was going to plan.

I had a short warm-weather training trip and realised I was in the shape of my life. After an awkward first race I left for Geneva. For the first time in four years I ran without Achilles pain and as I crossed the line I looked at the clock in astonishment – 45.77 seconds.

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Behind the medals continued...

I’d taken 0.8 seconds off my personal best, was UK number one and European number two for my age group, and right on course to make the Olympics.

But in the space of a week elation gave way to frustration. Stepping off the plane I felt a dull pain along the inside of both tendons. By the end of the week I was having trouble walking. I pulled out of two races, resigned from my job and spent the weeks leading up to the Olympic trials travelling across the country to see specialists. When I lined up at the trials I knew I was on the brink of selection. But it didn’t go to plan. Still determined to give it one last shot I used all my remaining money to fly back to Switzerland for one final race, running my second fastest ever time.

It wasn’t enough though and my seven-year journey had ended in the pain of injury and the frustration of missing the Olympics by one place.

As my frustration mellowed I was able to recognise that 2012 was nonetheless a breakthrough year.

I made a big improvement despite a less than ideal training set-up, learning a huge amount about my sport and myself in the process. The new Olympic cycle is a chance to re-evaluate and take a risk.

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I decided in September to have surgery on both Achilles tendons and to be coached by Tony Lester, the man who guided Roger Black to Olympic silver. I moved to London in October to train full-time, working a few afternoons where possible to try and help my finances.

Despite running the required time I missed out again on Lottery funding due to a lack of consistency. Whilst the top level of Lottery funding has been guaranteed until Rio 2016, the next level of support for British athletes has been substantially scaled back. My event is one of the most competitive domestically. I have rivals who spent last year sleeping on floors and working two or three jobs to try and get by.

If 2012 has taught me anything, it's that sport is all about hard work, dedication and taking the right risks.

Now Rio 2016 is on the horizon and my ambitions are clearer than ever. I don’t just want to make the team, I want to get on the podium. With that target in mind, I’m looking forward to the next few years of hard work.

If you would like to contact Louis or offer support, you can reach him at louispersent@gmail.com

Lent term 2013

reminisce Fiona Davy (1998) reflects on an unexpected reunion for five Johnians of different generations who all work for the same finance company.

Date: 17 May 2012 Venue: The Ballroom, the Mandarin Oriental, London Event: Party to celebrate Colin Stone’s (1980) first 25 years at Fidelity Investments International.

Fidelity hires from all universities and has many representatives from the University of Cambridge, but for one of the lesser well-known financial institutions in the City it is notable that five Johnians have arrived at Fidelity and are ‘making it’ in various roles on the investment team.

Over a glass or two of bubbly at Colin’s party, we reflected on our time at John’s, what made us enter the big bad world of fund management and how we have all ended up at Fidelity, despite no hint of nepotism!

The characters: Colin Stone (Engineering 1980), Manager of Fidelity Smaller Companies Fund Jeremy Podger (Philosophy 1983), Manager of Fidelity Global Special Situations Fund Matt Siddle (Economics 1996), Manager of Fidelity European Growth Fund Myself, Fiona Davy (Modern Languages 1998), Director of Equity Research Rich Spalton (Economics 2005), Research Analyst

All five of us agreed that investing is an art not a science.

Yes, you need to be comfortable with numbers, but more important is an inquisitive mind. From engineering to languages graduates, we all agreed that what we were taught most at Cambridge was how to think, how to ask questions, how to solve problems, and as one of the larger colleges, St John’s taught us the importance of being an individual.

I remember the shock of my first year at John’s and my Director of Studies asking me ‘What went wrong?’ after my first set of Cambridge exams. Just like at Fidelity, John’s provides a support network that is there if you need it, but you are also given freedom to find your own way. Some days you sink and some days you swim. I did eventually swim at John’s and graduated with a 2:1. In the same way, we’ve all had investment ideas that have gone wrong and others that have gone tremendously right.

Adaptability and a sense of humour are qualities that all five of us acknowledge that we perfected at John’s (from friends embarrassing us in the bar, to having an agile mind to cope with all the different roads that supervisions could take!) and have needed at Fidelity. Rich remembers having a meeting with the CEO and founder of a well-known UK clothing brand who is something of a character. Rich was late to the meeting due to a prior meeting overrunning and the CEO made him do 20 sit-ups!

Another thing the ‘Fidelity five’ have in common is that we all love our job. Investment management is a career that has given all five of us responsibility early on, has surrounded us with exceptional people, is incredibly varied and allows us to be ourselves – just as John’s offered us as students.

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Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.

James Grant-Peterkin (1997) has an unusual but extremely fulfilling role that he has been preparing for and dreaming of since he was a teenager.

While it’s not exactly easy to stumble across the world’s most isolated inhabited island, my love affair with Easter Island began in 1996, when my gap year led me to spend 10 months in Chile. My aim was to broaden my horizons and learn Spanish, which I was due to read at St John’s the following autumn. I had originally planned to spend the entire time teaching English at a school in the capital Santiago, but

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it soon became apparent when I met my exceptional host family, together with their two maids and swimming pool, that this probably wasn’t going to be the cultural experience that I had been hoping for. In my search for something slightly more ‘out there’, so began my fascination with Easter Island – Chile’s tiny Polynesian territory over 2,300 miles from its coast, in the heart of the South Pacific. The more I read about

Lent term 2013 the island, the more its history and unsolved mysteries intrigued me, until I finally left my English teaching job and splurged my entire travel budget to buy the then exorbitantly expensive air ticket to the island, which in those days was just a refuelling stop on the weekly flight between Chile and Tahiti. Months later I was hooked, despite initially having to work 18-hour days washing dishes in order to finance my stay. I reluctantly left in order to return to the UK and begin my three very happy years at St John’s.

I quickly diverted the focus of my Modern Languages studies to anything Easter Island-related, and spent my entire year abroad in the third year back on the island, now as part of my Part II in Spanish linguistics. I wrote my dissertation about the way in which Spanish, the official language on the island due to Chile’s ownership, is mixed with Rapa Nui, the Polynesian language that has existed here ever since human colonisation in about 700 AD. My linguistics studies on the island led to a much deeper interest in Easter Island’s archaeology and anthropology, and ultimately have provided the base for the last decade of my life – living and working on Easter Island.

In my search for something slightly more ‘out there’, so began my fascination with Easter Island

I have been running my own tour agency, Easter Island Spirit, since 2007, and three years ago I was appointed the British Honorary Consul here. I have written a dedicated guidebook to the island, A Companion to Easter Island, which has since been translated into Spanish, French and German.

The island has certainly changed enormously since I first arrived, as globalisation touches even the most remote outposts. Tourism has also boomed – the island is now served by daily flights, and last year some 70,000 people came to

marvel at Easter Island’s famous moai (over 1,000 of them) and all of the other archaeological vestiges left by the islanders’ ancestors. The permanent population has almost doubled from the 3,000 people that lived here when I first visited 16 years ago, and yet by having just one town on the whole island, the sense of peace and purity fortunately hasn’t been lost.

I remain indebted to John’s, not only for the generous travel grant back in 1999 that meant I was able to spend my year abroad here, but also for having provided me with such a rounded university experience, which ultimately shaped the life choices that I made upon graduating. Having spent three years surrounded by exceptionally talented people, many of whom either already were or would later go on to become experts in their chosen field, it gave me the confidence to follow my own passion and forge my own path, conscious always of Confucius’ words: ‘Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.’

James can be contacted at www.easterislandspirit.com and his book, A Companion to Easter Island (ISBN 978-956-332-641-3), is available on Amazon.

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Children of Louwae primary school wave goodbye to the archaeological team in 2010.

A Turkana lady in traditional dress; her haircut (shaved on the sides and braided on top) shows that she is married.

Past, present and future

Archaeology and Anthropology graduate Alex Wilshaw (2005) and a team from the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies are returning to Turkana, Kenya to dig into the past and to help the local community. future of the Turkana people who live and work alongside us.

Local people have always welcomed us – the strangers who come to dig in the sand – with kindness and generosity. They let us work on their land, share their water pumps, and offer help and information whenever they are able.

As part of a team of anthropologists from the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies I have been privileged to spend the last three summers carrying out archaeological research in the beautiful Kerio region of Turkana, Kenya. We try to discover who was living there 10,000 years ago and how. Many of our sites, although being in the baking desert today, were originally on the edge of prehistoric Lake Turkana, which would have been lush and green. We find abundant evidence of bone harpoons used to spear enormous Nile perch, and stone tools for butchering hippos. However, it would not have been an African lake-edge idyll for these prehistoric people. Tooth marks and evidence of digestion on some human fossils show us that they didn’t just eat the wildlife, they were also eaten by it – crocodiles being the suspected culprits!

In return for their hospitality we try to help their community in any way that we can, by employing local men, giving lifts to people in the Land Rover as we travel across the landscape or helping to treat a scorpion sting when the local clinic is too far away. But one of the most significant things we can do is to help the Turkana people improve their schools.

Whilst our work in Turkana largely concerns the past, the team’s extra-curricular activities in the area very much concern the

Primary schools in Turkana are few and far between. To give an idea of

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A Turkana lady with traditional beads and tribal scarification on her arms.

Children at Locher Akwan primary school look at books donated to their school in 2011.

scale, Truro in Cornwall has a similar population size to Kerio, but is only one seventh of the geographic area.

Despite this, Truro has 24 primary schools compared to only 9 in Kerio.

The schools are mostly housed in palm wood structures or rough mud buildings that remain at the mercy of the wind, which blows incessantly across the desert landscape, and the feasting termites, which make light work of any furniture as well as the wooden beams and palm fronds that help to hold up the classroom structures.

The schools have few if any resources: no coloured pictures on the walls and no books or equipment. Yet the bare classrooms are packed with children showing a love and enthusiasm for learning that is seldom seen in countries where education is free and easily accessible. All of the children hope that if they work hard enough at school they can carve out a better, more stable future for themselves.

It is this determination that we try to encourage and reward through the ‘EJOK @ school in Turkana’ project, which gives a

Locher Akwan’s current nursery classroom, which will hopefully be replaced with a permanent building this summer.

Smart boys on parade in their uniforms at Louwae primary school in 2010.

helping hand to the primary schools in the area and the children who attend them. In the past, we have provided pencils and other basic equipment, as well as books. The price of a Kenyan curriculum reading book is between 50p and £1, so a little goes a long way.

Each year we try to do more to help and this coming summer we would like to further ‘cement’ our relationship with the local community by helping them to build and equip a nursery classroom for Locher Akwan primary school, where young children can take their first steps in learning. Five strapping students have offered to provide free labour and Usborne Publishing have generously donated early years books, so we just need to fund the construction materials for this year’s classroom project.

You can find more information about EJOK and donate to this year’s school project at http://ejok.org Read more about the research carried out in Turkana at http://in-africa.org or contact Alex Wilshaw directly at aw386@cam.ac.uk

Local people trying to cross the swollen Kerio River after the rains in 2011.

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S T E W A R D S H I P

A successful

formula

Isaac Newton, Paul Dirac, Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes are among the most well-known and revered alumni of the University of Cambridge. All of them have one thing in common – despite the diversity of their work they all studied Mathematics.

The University of Cambridge has always had a world-class reputation for the quality of its Mathematics teaching and research; a reputation that continues to this day. St John’s is one of the largest colleges teaching Mathematics within the University and therefore wants to continue at the forefront of attracting the most able and promising young mathematicians in the country.

In 2011, two Johnian Mathematics graduates attended a fundraising event in London organised by the College.

Reflecting on ways to help maintain and further the St John’s reputation for excellence and in particular for students of Mathematics, they conceived the idea of a prize awarded for outstanding achievement in preparation for the Mathematical Tripos. After discussions with the College and with key input from Stephen Teal, Development Director, and Matthias Dörrzapf, Senior Tutor and Director of Studies for Mathematics, the two Johnians endowed the £9,000 Pythagoras Prize in perpetuity. It is presented to a first year undergraduate student at their matriculation. The donors, who wish to remain anonymous, were motivated by the desire to encourage outstanding students seeking to study at Cambridge to apply to St John’s, and to increase the accessibility of the College to applicants from all backgrounds who might otherwise be daunted by relatively high tuition fees.

In addition to helping a successful first year candidate with the Pythagoras Prize, the donors were keen to help the College fund a STEP (Sixth Term Examination Papers)

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workshop for prospective entrants coming from schools and colleges that are unable to provide appropriate preparation and support. The examination is essential preparation for studying Mathematics at Cambridge, and is a requirement for conditional offers to students who apply, as it is designed to test the potential of exceptional candidates. It is currently being adopted by other universities in the UK. Attending the first three-day STEP workshop in June 2012 was Adam Gleave from Budmouth College in Weymouth.

Adam performed within the top percentile in both his STEP II and STEP III papers, helping him to secure his place at St John’s. He matriculated in Michaelmas term 2012 and was awarded the Pythagoras Prize in a ceremony presided over by the Master, Professor Christopher Dobson.

The donors recognised the value for their own careers of the rigorous preparation they undertook for the tripos and they appreciated the support the College provided to them by way of scholarships, bursaries and prizes. ‘We are keen that these opportunities should be open to students in the future,’ said the donors. ‘We hope that other Johnians will follow with similar prizes for other subjects that the College offers.

‘We’re optimistic that the Pythagoras Prize can act as a template for alumni who wish to support the College and its goal to attract the most outstanding, talented students for many years to come.’

Lent term 2013

‘We hope that other Johnians will follow with similar prizes for other subjects that the College offers. We’re optimistic that the Pythagoras Prize can act as a template for alumni who wish to support the College and its goal to attract the most outstanding, talented students for many years to come.’

Adam Gleave with his mother and the Master, Professor Christopher Dobson.

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One fine day

B EAU FORT S OCI ET Y ST JOHN’S COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Saturday 13 October 2012 saw the fourth annual meeting of the Beaufort Society in College, celebrated with a lunch in Hall and an afternoon of entertainment.

The central hall of the Divinity School

John Barrett

Pete Oxley and Lizzie Ball

The Beaufort Society continues to flourish and its membership now stands at 202, almost double the number at its foundation four years ago.

On a fine autumn Saturday last year, 70 of those members gathered in a new venue – the freshly redeveloped Divinity School. The Society was the first group to see inside this fabulous building, which now offers the College greatly enhanced spaces for teaching and outreach. The project was partially funded through the generosity of the College’s benefactors, so it was a fitting place for the society to meet.

After a drinks reception in the Central Hall of the Divinity School, members made their way to Hall for lunch, over which they heard from guest speaker John Barrett MBE (1951), the former tennis professional who was the BBC’s Wimbledon commentator for 35 years.

John told stories about his career as the ‘voice of tennis’, and gave a bravura impersonation of Count Jim Moriarty from The Goon Show that reduced many of his audience to hysterical giggles. Musical entertainment followed from Lizzie Ball (1999), who played gypsy violin with her accompanist Pete Oxley.

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Portraits in the Master’s Lodge

As the crowd called for more, the after-lunch activities began, including the opportunity to find out more about the Divinity School refurbishment from two of the St John’s team behind it all – Domestic Bursar John Harris and Deputy Superintendent of Buildings Mike Finch. Guests were also able to learn about the stories told in the familiar Chapel glass and by the portraits in the Master’s Lodge.

Society members made their farewells at the end of the day over tea in the Master’s Lodge. They will meet again in October this year when the College will make welcome this growing group of friends, whose support is so very much appreciated.

The next meeting of the Beaufort Society will be on Saturday 12 October 2013. Membership is open to anyone who lets us know they have made provision for St John’s in their will.

For more information, please contact Sarah Westwood in the Development Office, by e-mail at s.westwood@joh.cam.ac.uk or by phone on 01223 330724.

Lent term 2013

Touring the Divinity School

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www.joh.cam.ac.uk

EVENTS CALENDAR 2013 APRIL 3 12 14 18

MAY 3 10 11 11 16 30

Event in Toronto Event in Washington DC Donor Day (by invitation only) Entrepreneurial Networking Event, London FULLY BOOKED

Port Latin Feast MA Dinner MA Lunch A Celebration of the Samuel Butler Project Manchester Drinks Johnian Society Dinner, Cardiff (see enclosed leaflet)

JUNE 6 Johnian Society Summer Party, London (see enclosed leaflet) 13 Evensong 18 May Ball 20 Garden Party for Graduands 29 Johnian Dinner (up to and including 1952, 1954, 1955 and 1958) 30 Johnian Lunch (up to and including 1952, 2002 and 2003)

JULY 6 7 26-27 TBC TBC

Benefactors’ Dinner (by invitation only) Family Party Johnian Society Golf Competition Event in Vancouver Event in Seattle

SEPTEMBER 7 50 Year Dinner (1963) 21 Johnian Dinner (1993 and 1994) 27-29 Alumni Festival 28 Johnian Society Day (see enclosed leaflet) OCTOBER 12 Beaufort Society Day (by invitation only) 17 Evensong TBC Women’s Networking Event TBC Senior Bursar’s Presentation TBC Event in Houston TBC Event in Chicago NOVEMBER TBC Entrepreneurial Networking Event DECEMBER 6 Choir at Royal Festival Hall, London 12 Varsity Match

For more information, visit our website: www.joh.cam.ac.uk/johnians

Do you receive our monthly enewsletter? If not, send us an email at development@joh.cam.ac.uk to make sure you don’t miss out.

St John’s is now tweeting news and updates.

Follow us @stjohnscam

Join us on Facebook to keep up to date with what’s going on in College. Visit www.facebook.com/stjohnscambridge

The Johnian professional network is extending through LinkedIn. Join the ’St John’s College, Cambridge’ group to find out more about the amazing careers of Johnians.

Development Office St John’s College, Cambridge CB2 1TP Tel: 01223 338700 Fax: 01223 338727 Email: development@joh.cam.ac.uk Registered charity number 1137428