St Edmund Hall Magazine 2024-2025 by St Edmund Hall

St

Edmund Hall Magazine

Editor:

James Howarth (Librarian and Fellow by Special Election)

Deputy

Editor:

Laura Ellis

With many thanks to all the contributors to this year’s edition. Unnumbered thanks to Laura Ellis for stepping in as Deputy Editor for the last six months and without whose unceasing work this issue would not have been possible, and, as ever, much gratitude to Emma Carter and Jake Banyard in the Library and Communications Manager Claire Parfitt for their eagle eyes and wise suggestions throughout production. Huge thanks also to our designer, Katy Dawkins, for her wonderful design work on this and recent issues.

magazine.editor@seh.ox.ac.uk

All the photographs in this issue are from Hall records unless otherwise stated. Special thanks to the Hall’s Photo Interns for 2024–2025 for their wonderful contributions: Chenyu Zhu (2024, MSc Theoretical and Computational Chemistry), Lily Thompson-Mouton (2022, Experimental Psychology) and Lottie Newell (2022, History).

Cover: Wisteria in the Front Quad by Fisher Studios Ltd

Topping-out ceremony: SDC Photography

Section 3 divider: Hufton+Crow

Pontigny Choir tour: Luc Feillée

University Challenge team: Ric Lowe/Lifted Entertainment/ITV Studios

Life reconstruction of Lomankus edgecombei: Xiaodong Wang

Medieval Mystery Plays: Ben Arthur

All-Innovate competition: Fisher Studios Ltd

Consolidated B-24 Liberator: IWM (CF 688)

Section 7 divider: NASA

Asteroid Donaldjohanson: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab

Commander Amy Gilmore: Royal Navy

Matriculation: Gillman & Soame

Magazine 2023–2024 Erratum

Section 7, p. 179: In ‘Three Generations of Aularians’ by Emily Coates, the names Andrew Middleton and Richard Baker were erroneously transposed. We apologise deeply for the mistake.

St Edmund Hall, Queen’s Lane, Oxford, OX1 4AR

01865 279000 | www.seh.ox.ac.uk alumni@seh.ox.ac.uk

The College List 2024–2025

Visitor

GB denotes a member of the Governing Body

The Rt Hon the Lord Hague of Richmond, MA (MBA INSEAD) PC, FRSL Chancellor of the University Principal

Willis, Katherine Jane, Baroness Willis of Summertown, CBE, MA (BSc S’ton; PhD

Camb; Hon DSc Bergen, UEA), FGS, FLS, FRSB

Professor of Biodiversity, Pro-Vice-Chancellor without portfolio Fellows

Priestland, David Rutherford, MA, DPhil

Professor of Modern History, Tutor in Modern History, Vice-Principal GB

Kahn, Andrew Steven, MA, DPhil (BA Amherst; MA Harvard), FBA

Professor of Russian Literature, Fellow and Tutor in Modern Languages (Russian), Library Fellow and Old Library Fellow, Archives Fellow GB

Manolopoulos, David Eusthatios, MA (BA, PhD Camb), FRS

Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, Tutor in Chemistry, Tutor for Admissions GB

Zavatsky, Amy Beth, MA, DPhil (BSc Pennsylvania)

Associate Professor and University Reader in Engineering Science, Tutor in Engineering Science GB

Matthews, Paul McMahan, OBE, MA, DPhil (MD Stanford), FRCPC, FRCP, FMedSci

Professor of Neurology, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, Fellow by Special Election

Barclay, Joseph Gurney, MA

Fellow by Special Election

Johnson, Paul Robert Vellacott, MA (MB ChB Edin; MD Leic), FRCS, FRCS (Edin), FRCS (Paed Surg), FAAP

Professor of Paediatric Surgery, Fellow by Special Election GB

Tsomocos, Dimitrios P, MA (MA, MPhil, PhD Yale)

Professor of Financial Economics, Fellow by Special Election GB

Johansen-Berg, Heidi, BA, MSc, DPhil, FMedSci, FRS

Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Wellcome Trust Research Centre Principal Research Fellow, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Initiatives), Senior Research Fellow GB

Tseng, Jeffrey, MA (BS CalTech; MA, PhD Johns Hopkins)

Professor of Physics and Tutorial Fellow, Chapel Overseeing Fellow GB

Wilkins, Robert James, MA, DPhil

Professor of Medical Education, American Fellow and Tutor in Physiology, Senior Tutor GB

Nabulsi, Karma, MA, DPhil

Senior Research Fellow

Williams, Christopher Wesley Charles, MA, DPhil

Professor of French Literature, Tutor in Modern Languages (French) GB

Riordan, Oliver Maxim, MA (BA, PhD Camb)

Professor of Discrete Mathematics, Tutor in Mathematics, Secretary to Governing Body GB

Yueh, Linda Yi-Chuang, CBE, MA, DPhil (BA Yale; MPP Harvard; JD NYU), FREcon Research Lecturer in Economics, Fellow by Special Election GB

Yates, Jonathan Robert, MA (MA, MSci, PhD Camb)

Professor of Materials Modelling, Tutor in Materials Science, Chattels & Pictures Fellow GB

Dupret, David, (MSc, PhD Bordeaux)

Professor of Neuroscience and MRC Investigator, River Farm Foundation Tutorial Fellow in Neuroscience GB

Edwards, Claire Margaret, (BSc, PhD Sheff)

Professor of Bone Oncology, Fellow by Special Election

Gaiger, Jason Matthew, (MA St And; MA, PhD Essex)

Professor of Aesthetics and Art Theory, Fellow by Special Election GB

Thompson, Ian Patrick, (BSc, PhD Essex), FRSA

Professor of Engineering Science, Fellow by Special Election

McCartney, David Edward, BM BCh, MRCP, MRCGP

Director of Graduate Entry Medicine, Medical Sciences Division, Fellow by Special Election

Willden, Richard Henry James, (MEng, PhD Imp)

Professor of Engineering Science, Fellow by Special Election

Wild, Lorraine Sylvia, MA, DPhil

College Lecturer in Geography, Fellow by Special Election

Lozano-Perez, Sergio, DPhil, PGDipLaTHE (BSc, MSc, PGCE Seville), AMInstP, FRMS Professor of Materials Science, George Kelley Senior Research Fellow in Materials

Taylor, Jenny Cameron, BA, DPhil

Professor of Translational Genomics, Fellow by Special Election

Nguyen, Luc Le, (BSc Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; PhD Rutgers)

Professor of Mathematics, Tutor in Applied Mathematics, Tutor for Graduates GB

Rothwell, Peter Malcolm, MA (MB ChB, MD, PhD Edin), FMedSci

Action Research Professor of Clinical Neurology, Professorial Fellow

Goldberg, Leslie Ann, MA (BA Rice; PhD Edin)

Professor of Computer Science, Senior Research Fellow GB

Pavord, Ian Douglas, (MB BS Lond; DM Nott), FRCP, FMedSci

Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Professorial Fellow GB

Bruce, Sir Peter George, Kt (BSc, PhD Aberd), FRS, FRSE, FRSC

Wolfson Professor of Materials, Professorial Fellow

Karastergiou, Aris, (PhD Bonn)

Associate Professor in Astrophysics, Senior Research Fellow in Astrophysics

Goulart, Paul James, (MSc MIT; PhD Camb)

Professor of Engineering Science, Tutor in Engineering Science GB

Lähnemann, Henrike, MA (MA, PhD Bamberg)

Professor of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics, Professorial Fellow GB

Chankseliani, Maia, (BA, MA Tbilisi State University; MA Warw; EdM Harvard; PhD Camb)

Professor of Comparative & International Education, Fellow by Special Election GB

Zondervan, Krina, DPhil (BA, MSc Leiden; MSc Erasmus), FRCOG, FMedSci

Professor of Reproductive & Genomic Epidemiology, Head of the Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, Co-Director of Oxford Endometriosis CaRe Centre, Fellow by Special Election

Al-Mossawi, Hussein, MA, BM BCh, DPhil, MRCP (UK)

Honorary Research Associate, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, College Lecturer in Medical Sciences, Fellow by Special Election

Huang, Wei, (BA Qingdao; MSc Tsinghua; PhD Sheff)

Professor of Biological Engineering, Fellow by Special Election

McAlpine, Erica Levy, (BA Harvard; MPhil Camb; PhD Yale)

Associate Professor of English Language & Literature, A C Cooper Fellow and Tutor in English Language & Literature GB

Gill, Michael, DPhil (BSc Bath; MA Warw)

Associate Professor of Organisational Studies, Tutorial Fellow in Management GB

Skokowski, Paul Gregory, MA (PhD Stanford)

Professor of Symbolic Systems and Director, Center for the Explanation of Consciousness, Stanford University, Fellow by Special Election

Bannerman, David MacKenzie, (BSc Brist; PhD Edin), FRS

Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, William R Miller Fellow and Tutor in Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology GB

Stride, Eleanor Phoebe Jane, OBE, MA (BEng, PhD UCL), FREng, HonFEIT

Professor of Engineering Science, Professorial Fellow

Williams, Mark Andrew, BA, MPhil, DPhil

Associate Professor of Global Medieval Literature, Fellow and Tutor in English Language & Literature, Garden Fellow, Tutor for Undergraduates GB

Bell, Joanna Rachel, BA, BCL, DPhil

Associate Professor in Law, Jeffrey Hackney Fellow and Tutor in Law GB

Lloyd, Alexandra, BA, PGCE, MSt, DPhil, FHEA

College Lecturer in German, Fellow by Special Election, Senior Dean, Tutor for Visiting Students GB

Burnett, Eleanor, (LLB Leeds), FCA

Finance Bursar and Official Fellow GB

MacFaul, Thomas, DPhil (BA Camb)

Lecturer in English, Fellow by Special Election, Deputy Dean of Degrees

Parry, Luke, MSc (PhD Brist)

Associate Professor of Paleobiology, Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences GB

Prentice, Joseph, MPhys (PhD Camb)

Fellow by Special Election

Jansen, Lars Erwin Theodoor Domingos, (MSc Hogeschool West-Brabant; PhD Leiden)

Professor of Molecular Genetics, William R Miller Fellow and Tutor in Biochemistry GB

Tan, Jack, DPhil (BSc USM)

Principal Investigator at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Fellow by Special Election

Slezkine, Yuri, (MA Mosc; PhD Texas)

Professor of the Graduate School and Jane K. Sather Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, Berkley, Senior Research Fellow

Howett, Carly Jacqueline Amy, DPhil (BSc Essex; MSc UCL)

Associate Professor of Space Instrumentation, Tutorial Fellow in Physics GB

Crawford, Thomas Joseph, BA (PhD Camb)

Lecturer in Mathematics, Fellow by Special Election

Thomas, Rhys Llewellyn, (BSc, MSc, PhD S’ton)

Fellow by Special Election

de Vivo, Filippo Luciano Carlo Guido, (BA Milan; MA, PhD Camb; DEA Paris)

Professor of Early Modern History, River Farm Foundation Tutorial Fellow in History GB

Lazar-Gillard, Orlando, DPhil (BA, MPhil Camb)

Early Career Research and Teaching Fellow in Politics

Nichols, Claire Isobel O’Bryen, (MSci, PhD Camb)

Associate Professor of the Geology of Planetary Processes, Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences GB

Munday, Callum, BA, DPhil

Fellow by Special Election

Howarth, James Alexander, MA (MA York; MA Lond)

Librarian and Fellow by Special Election

Vivian, Andrew, (BA Bourne; PGCE Birkbeck; PGDip UCL)

Director of Development and Fellow by Special Election GB

Kohlhas, Alexandre, (BSc Copenhagen; MPhil, PhD Camb)

Associate Professor of Economics, William R Miller Fellow and Tutorial Fellow in Economics GB

Farrell, Zoe, (BA Warw; MPhil, PhD Camb)

Junior Research Fellow in History

Hollingsworth, Déirdre, BA, MSc (MMus Reading; PhD Camb), FIMA

Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Senior Research Fellow in Mathematics

Saunders, Kate Eleanor Anne, BA, BM BCh, DPhil, MRCPsych, FHEA

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Senior Research Fellow in Medicine

Smith, Steve, BSc (PhD Imp), FRMetS

Arnell Associate Professor of Greenhouse Gas Removal, Senior Research Fellow in Geography, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fellow

McMeekin, David, DPhil (BSc Ottawa; MSc École Polytechnique de Lausanne (EPLF))

Junior Research Fellow in Physics

Koutsika, Gina, (MA UCL; MBA Open)

Director of Audiences and Content, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Fellow by Special Election

Dvornichenko, Daryna, (BA, MA, PhD Odesa I. Mechnikov National University)

Visting Fellow

Blandford-Baker, Mark Rivers, Domestic Bursar and Official Fellow, Senior Treasurer of Amalgamated Clubs GB

Morsing, Mette, (MBA, PhD CBS)

Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Professor of Enterprise and the Environment, Professor of Business Sustainability, Fellow by Special Election

Marquardt, Katharina, (MSc Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen; PhD Technical University Berlin)

Associate Professor in Materials and Tutorial Fellow in Materials GB

Moreno-Mateos, David, (BEng Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; PhD CSIC & Universidad de Alcalá)

Associate Professor in Physical Geography and Tutorial Fellow in Geography GB

Marshall, Brooke, (BA, LLB (Hons) Queensland; PGDipLP ANU; Dr iur Hamburg)

Associate Professor of Law, Sir Richard Gozney Fellow and Tutor in Law GB

Violaris, Elena, (BA, MPhil, PhD Camb)

Junior Research Fellow in English

Pitt-Francis, Joe, MA, DPhil (BSc Lond)

Associate Professor of Computer Science, Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science GB

Regoutz, Anna, DPhil (BSc, DI TU Graz)

Associate Professor of Experimental Inorganic Chemistry, Tutorial Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry GB

Younis, Musab, MPhil, DPhil (BA Nott)

Associate Professor of Political Theory, Tutorial Fellow in Politics GB

Vardi, Reut, (BSc Hebrew University of Jerusalem; MSc, PhD Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Junior Research Fellow in Environmental Sustainability

Pieters, Chloë, (BSc LSE; MA Birkbeck; PhD UCL)

River Farm Foundation Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow in History

Peterson, Katie, (BA Stanford; PhD Harvard)

Visiting Fellow

Evans, Jenyth, BA, MSt

Junior Research Fellow in English

Langstaff, Holly, (BA, MPhil Camb; PhD Warw)

Lecturer in French and Fellow by Special Election

Hess, Benjamin, (BS Wheaton; PhD Yale)

Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow in Earth Sciences

Wenzel, Andreas, (BA Hamburg; MTh Durh)

Senior Research Fellow, Chaplain

Dmitrieva, Sofya, (MLitt, PhD St And)

Junior Research Fellow in European Languages

Keohane, Kate, (MA, PhD St And; MA UCL)

Career Development Fellow in Fine Art and Wellbeing

Rodríguez Otero, Carlos, (MA, MPhil Camb)

Director of Music and Fellow by Special Election

Honorary Fellows

Oxburgh, Ernest Ronald, the Lord Oxburgh, KBE, MA (PhD Princeton; Hon DSc Paris, Leic, Lough, Edin, Birm, Liv, S’ton, Liv J Moores, Lingnan Hong Kong, Newc, Leeds, Wyoming, St And), FRS, FIC, Hon FIMechE, Hon FCGI, Hon FREng; Officier, Ordre des Palmes académiques (France)

Tindle, David, MA, RA, Hon RSBA

Daniel, Sir John Sagar, Kt, OC, MA (DSc Paris; Hon DLitt Deakin Australia, Lincolnshire, Humberside, Athabasca Canada, Indira Gandhi Nat Open University India, McGill Canada; Hon DHumLitt Thomas Edison State Coll USA, Richmond Coll London; Hon DSc Royal Military Coll St Jean Canada, Open Univ, Sri Lanka, Paris VI, Univ of Education

Winneba Ghana; Hon DEd CNAA, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open Univ Thailand, Open Univ Malaysia; Hon LLD Univ of Waterloo Canada, Wales, Laurentian Canada, Canada West, Ghana; DUni Aberta Portugal, Anadolu Turkey, Quebec, Derby, New Bulgarian, Open Univ, Hong Kong, Stirling, Montreal; Hon DLitt & DPhil South Africa; Hon LittD State Univ NY), CCMI, Hon FCP; Officier, Ordre des Palmes académiques (France)

Smethurst, Richard Good, MA

Cox, John, MA

Rose, General Sir (Hugh) Michael, KCB, CBE, DSO, QGM, MA (Hon DLitt Nott); Comdr, Ordre national de la Legion d’honneur (France)

Nazir-Ali, Revd Monsignor Michael James, MLitt (BA Karachi; PGCTh, MLitt Camb; ThD Aust Coll of Theol, NSW; DHLitt Westminster Coll, Penn; DD Lambeth; Hon DLitt Bath, Greenwich; Hon DD Kent & Nashotah)

Roberts, Gareth, MA

Crossley-Holland, Kevin John William, MA (Hon DLitt Ang Rus, Worc), FRSL

Graham, Andrew Winston Mawdsley, MA, Hon DCL

Edwards, Steven Lloyd, OBE, BA

Morris, Sir Derek James, Kt, MA, DPhil (Hon DCL UC Dublin & UEA; Hon DSc Cranfield)

Bowen, David Keith, MA, DPhil (Dip Music; MA Open Univ; PhD RCM), FRS, FIMMM, FInstP, FREng

Byatt, Sir Ian Charles Rayner, Kt, MA, DPhil (DUniv Brun, Central England; Hon DSc Aston, Birm), FCIWEM, FCIPS, CCMI

Burnton, The Rt Hon Sir Stanley Jeffrey, Kt, PC, MA

Mingos, David Michael Patrick, MA (BSc Manc; DPhil Sus), CChem, FRS, FRSC

Josipovici, Gabriel David, BA, FRSL, FBA

Macdonald, Kenneth Donald John, the Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, Kt, BA, KC

Starmer, The Rt Hon Sir Keir Rodney, PC, KCB, MP, BCL (LLB, Hon LLD Leeds; DU Essex, Worc; Hon LLD East Lon, LSE, Reading), KC

Shortridge, Sir Jon Deacon, KCB, MA (MSc Edin; Hon DUniv Glam)

Lee, Stewart Graham, BA

Khurshid, Salman, BCL (BA St Stephen’s College, Delhi)

Banks, Samuel Andrew, MA (BA Florida)

Hawkesworth, Christopher John, DPhil (BA Trin Coll Dublin; Hon DSc Copenhagen), FRS, FRSE

Wainwright, Faith Helen, CBE, BA (Hon DEng Bath), FIStructE, FREng, FICE, FRSA

Hollingworth, The Hon Justice Jane Elizabeth, BCL (BJuris, LLB Univ of Western Australia)

Fletcher, Amelia, CBE, BA, MPhil, DPhil

Ahmed, Samira, BA (MA, Hon DA City Lond; Hon DLitt Kingston, Winc; Hon DCL UEL)

Asplin, Sarah Jane, DBE, BCL (MA Camb)

Dhillon, Sundeep, MBE, BM BCh, MA

Gauke, The Rt Hon David Michael, PC, BA

Haworth, Mark Derek, MA

Morris, Mervyn Eustace, OM (Jamaica) (BA London-UCWI)

Gull, Keith, CBE (BSc, PhD, DSc Lond; Hon DSc Kent), FRS, FMedSci, FRSB

Krull, Wilhelm, (PhD Philipps University of Marburg; Hon Dr Ilia State University, Tbilisi)

Venables, Robert, MA (LLM Lond), KC

Sedwill, Mark, the Lord Sedwill, GCMG, MPhil (BSc St And), FRGS

White, Catherine, MSt (BA Warw)

St Edmund Fellows

Laing, Ian Michael, CBE, DL, MA (MSc London Business School)

Smith, Sir Martin Gregory, Kt, MA (MBA, AM Econ Stanford), Hon FRAM, FRGS

Cansdale, Michael John, MA

Pocock, Francis John, MA, DPhil

Armitage, Christopher Mead, MA (MA Western Ontario; PhD Duke)

Best, Anthony John, BA

Xie, Heping, (BEng, PhD China University of Mining & Technology; Hon DEng Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Hon DSc Nottingham Ningbo University, China)

Broadley, Philip Arthur John, MA (MSc LSE)

Busby, Ian Christopher, BA

Ruvigny, Rupert Francis James Henry, BA

Hwang, Frank

Chairman of the Oxford Chinese Economy Programme (OXCEP)

Johnson, Peter, BA, BPhil

Charles, Jeremy, BA

Emeritus Fellows

Hackney, Jeffrey, BCL, MA

Hirsch, Sir Peter Bernhard, Kt, MA, DPhil (MA, PhD Camb), FRS † 12.09.25

Segar, Kenneth Henry, MA, DPhil

Child, Mark Sheard, MA (MA, PhD Camb), FRS

Worden, Alastair Blair, MA, DPhil (MA, PhD Camb), FBA

Scargill, David Ian, MA, DPhil, JP

Farthing, Stephen, MA (MA Royal College of Art), RA

Dunbabin, John Paul Delacour, MA

Stone, Nicholas James, MA, DPhil

Reed, George Michael, MA, DPhil (BSc, MS, PhD Auburn)

Crampton, Richard John, MA (BA Dub; PhD Lond; Hon Dr Sofia)

Wells, Christopher Jon, MA

Wyatt, Derrick Arthur, MA (LLB, MA Camb; JD Chicago), KC

Borthwick, Alistair George Liam, MA, DSc (BEng, PhD Liv; Hon Dr Budapest University of Technology & Economics), FREng, CEng, FICE, FRSE

Collins, Peter Jack, MA, DPhil

Phillips, David George, MA, DPhil, FAcSS, FRHistS

Slater, Martin Daniel Edward, MA, MPhil

Jenkyns, Hugh Crawford, MA (BSc S’ton; MA Camb; PhD Leic)

Kouvaritakis, Basil, MA (BSc, MSc, PhD Manc)

Roberts, Steven George, MA (BA, PhD Camb)

Newlyn, Lucy Ann, MA, DPhil

Blamey, Stephen Richard, BPhil, MA, DPhil

Martin, Rose Mary Anne, MA, DPhil (BSc Newc)

Cronk, Nicholas, MA, DPhil (Hon DLitt McGill); Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres; Officier, Ordre des Palmes académiques (France)

Podsiadlowski, Philipp, MA (PhD MIT)

Briggs, Adrian, BCL, MA, KC (Hon)

Davidson, Nicholas Sinclair, MA (MA Camb)

Mountford, Philip, MA, DPhil (BSc CNAA), CChem, FRSC

Whittaker, Robert James, MA (BSc Hull; MSc, PhD Wales)

Lecturers

Alexeeva, Iana, MSc, DPhil (BA Calgary) Psychology

Anil, Pratinav, DPhil (BA Institut d’Études Politiques (IEP) de Paris; MSc LSE) History

Ashbourn, Joanna Maria Antonia, MA (MA Camb; PhD Lond SB) Physics

Baines, Jennifer Christine Ann, MA, DPhil Russian

Bhimnathwala, Talav Laher, BA, MPhil Economics

Bogacz, Rafal, (MSc Wroclaw Univ of Technology; PhD Brist) Clinical Medicine

Bradburn, Rebecca, MSt (BA Camb) English

Brain, Susannah, BM BCh (BA, MPhil Camb), MRCP, MRCPysch Clinical Medicine

Buchmann, Nadine, (MA Geneva) German

Chitnis, Rajendra Anand, (BA Sheff; MA, PhD Lond) Czech

Convey, Alison, BM (PGCertMedEd, UCL) Pre-Clinical Medicine

Cosimetti, Antonio, (MB, CHB Brist) Clinical Medicine

Cotton, Daniele, (BEng Imp) Study Skills

Cruz Walma, David, DPhil (DMSc Harvard; DMD Alabama) Study Skills

Di Dodo, Emily, BA, MSt, DPhil Spanish

Dresvina, Juliana, (BA Moscow State; PhD Camb) Study Skills

Elven, Marie, (DEA Paris) French Language

Fanthorpe, Eimear, MPhil (LLB Lond) Law

Fontana, Niccolò, (MSc Warw) Physics

Fountain, Daniel, (BM Camb) Pre-Clinical Medicine

Gilday, Lydia, MChem, DPhil Chemistry

Gundle, Roger, MA, BM BCh, DPhil (MA Camb), FRCS (Eng), FRCS Orth Medicine

Herring, Jonathan, BCL, MA Law

Holcroft-Emmess, Natasha, BA, BCL, MPhil Law

Hurst, Tara, (BSc Bishop’s University; MSc Dalhousiey; PhD Dub; PGCHE Nott Trent; BA, LLB Lond) Biochemistry

Jagger, Ben, MEng Materials

Kehoe, Niamh, (BA, MA NUI; PhD Cork) English

Laird, Karl, BCL (LLB Lond) Law

Laskaridis, Christina, (BA York; MSc, PhD SOAS) Economics

éger, Marie Andrea, (Lic, MRes Stendhal Grenoble) French

Littleton, Suellen Marie, (BSc California; MBA Lond) Management

McIntosh, Jonathan, MA (MA, MPhil Lond) Philosophy

Nicholls, Rebecca, DPhil (MSci Camb) Earth Sciences and Materials Science

Noe, Debrah Pozsony, (BS, PhD Ohio State) Finance

Patterson, Jonathan, (BA, MPhil, PhD Camb) French

Peterson, Scot, DPhil (BA Colorado Boulder; MA Chicago; JD UC Berkley) Politics

Pineau, Jon, (BSc, MSc Colorado Boulder) Physics

Ready, Oliver, BA, DPhil (MA UCL) Russian

Roberts, Paul, MChem, DPhil Chemistry

Shine, Brian, (MB ChB, MD Birm; MSc Lond), MRCPath, FRCPath Medical Sciences

Sytsema, Johanneke, (PhD Free Univ, Amsterdam) Linguistics

Wilk, James, MA, MSc (PhD Brun), FCybS Philosophy

Winkler, Emily Anne, MSt, DPhil (AB Dartmouth) History

Yang, Bob, (BSc, MBBS Imp) FRCS (Urol) Clinical Medicine

Zilic de Arcos, Federico, DPhil (MEng Universidad Austral de Chile) Engineering

Chaplain

Ifode-Blease, Mariama, (MA St And; MPhil, PhD Camb; MA Derby) (until 09.02.25)

Wenzel, Andreas, (BA Hamburg; MTh Durh) (from 01.02.25)

Librarian

Howarth, James Alexander, MA (MA York; MA Lond)

Archivist

Petre, Robert Douglas, (BA York; MArAd Liv)

Dean of Degrees

Gasser, Brian, DPhil (BA Sheff)

College Registrar

Njoki, Melody, (BSc Card)

Director of Music

Rodríguez Otero, Carlos, (MA, MPhil Camb)

Director of Catering

White, Samuel

Lodge Manager (Head Porter)

Guildea, Martin

Decanal Staff

Lloyd, Alexandra, BA, PGCE, MSt, DPhil, FHEA Senior Dean

Woolcott, Clare, (BSc Oxford Brookes) Welfare Dean & Nurse

Charret, Antonin, MSc, DPhil (BA, MA KCL) Junior (Discipline) Dean

Aggarwal, Aneesh, MSc (BA, MB BChir Camb) Assistant Junior Dean, Queen’s Lane

Cotton, Daniele, (BEng Imp) Assistant Junior Dean, William R Miller (until 31.08.25)

Baglieri, Vittoria, MPhil (BSc Bocconi University) Assistant Junior Dean, William R Miller (from 01.09.25)

Allen, Sam, (BA, MPhil Camb) Assistant Junior Dean, Tamesis

Stamoulis, Zoe, (MSc Imp) Assistant Junior Dean, Norham St Edmund

College Staff

Reports on the Year 2

From the Principal

In August, we had one of the largest graduation days that I can remember in my eight years as Principal. The sun was shining and the Front Quad was packed with happy individuals. I greatly enjoy these large events, but they represent a bittersweet moment for me and everyone who has been involved in nurturing these graduates during some of their most formative years at the Hall.

Each cohort represents an exceptional group of individuals that I have come to realise over my time as Principal is a trademark of Teddy Hall. I am always genuinely sad to see them go. But leave they must, not least to go out into the world and do all the incredible things that I often hear about when I meet alumni at our events. However, the point I always make at graduation is to never forget: once an Aularian, always an Aularian. We now have over 11,000 Aularians around the world, and even though you have graduated, you are always part of the College and we are always here to help you, if we can, and provide advice. And so the cycle of the academic year starts once again. As I write, we are at the end of the third week of Michaelmas. The Freshers are all in situ and the College is once again buzzing with student life. I reflected on this last Thursday evening

as I left a Formal Hall celebrating Diwali, with students reading Sanskrit verses and performing a song during the meal. It was wonderful. But as I came out into the Front Quad, I could hear another type of singing – equally joyful, possibly a bit louder, but also celebrating another aspect of Hall life: it was the Football and Rugby Clubs’ evening in the Buttery! And then, as I looked into the Old Dining Hall, there was yet another activity taking place – this time a group of students trying their hand at oil painting, and also enjoying the singing coming from the Bar (or so they told me!). When students are around, the Hall is alive – long may it last.

I am delighted to report that the cohort of undergraduate Freshers we have just welcomed represents a milestone for the College – they are the first group in the Hall’s history, or at least in the past 100 years, that will be able to live in College accommodation for the duration of their course. Norham St Edmund (NSE) is 76% complete, on schedule and to budget, and if it continues this way, it will be complete in April and ready to welcome students this time next year. We plan to celebrate the NSE opening with as many Aularians past and present as possible, not least because it is thanks to so many of you and your generosity that this ambition to accommodate all undergraduates for the duration of their course will finally be realised.

You will read about many other causes for celebration in the pages of this year’s Magazine, with numerous successes in sports, music and drama, including the biennial Medieval Mystery Plays (pp. 93–4) which are co-directed by our Professor of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics, Henrike Lähnemann. Around 350 people attended this day-long event

in April with 150 students and staff taking part, both from within the College and across the University.

Over the past year, Hall students involved in a wide range of extracurricular activities have also made full use of every available space in College, from the Crypt to the recently opened Tower Room in the Library (which those of you who had PPE tutorials with Professor John Dunbabin will remember only too well from climbing the 88 steps for your tutorials!). The Tower Room is no longer used as a tutor’s study, but is instead a bookable space for Hall members and it has already hosted reading groups, small drinks parties and music ensembles playing as part of May Morning celebrations. This room, and the views afforded by its four large windows of the Oxford skyline, is, I think, one of the hidden gems in Oxford.

We have also celebrated some excellent academic successes. Three of our Fellows were recognised in this year’s Recognition of Distinction exercise and have been awarded Full Professorships: Luc Nguyen, Maia Chankseliani and Robert Wilkins (pp. 104–5). Both of our Tutors in Engineering – Professor Paul Goulart and Associate Professor Amy Zavatsky – were awarded teaching excellence awards and, most recently, our River Farm Foundation Tutorial Fellow in Neurosciences, Professor David Dupret, was appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Republic.

We welcomed this past year our first Aularian Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer (1985, BCL), to the Hall for a short visit as well as two other alumni who are currently holding senior political positions: Nick Thomas-Symonds (1998, PPE) and Sir Mel Stride (1981, PPE). They were both recently sworn in as Honorary Fellows alongside a number of other notable

Aularians elected as St Edmund Fellows – you can find out more on the Hall’s website at www.seh.ox.ac.uk/news

As well as highs, there have also been some lows, especially in the tragic passing of one of our second-year students. Deaths are always very hard and felt by the whole college community, but none more so than those just starting out in life. We will always remember this student and support their family in the same way as if they had graduated with us. Losing someone of an older age is also extremely sad and a shock to the community. Last month, the death of Emeritus Fellow Sir Peter Hirsch was another sad announcement I had to make to the Hall. Peter had only recently celebrated his 100th birthday in College. Details of a memorial service to celebrate his life will be shared in due course.

Reading the Magazine, and the richness contained within, always gives me a great sense of pride in the Hall and provides an impactful reminder of how lucky I am to work in such a vibrant and supportive environment, thanks in no small part to the excellent Governing Body and our staff. However, if I had to choose one person in the Hall that I would most like to thank this year, it would be our Garden Fellow and Tutor in English Language and Literature, Associate Professor Mark Williams. Mark has transformed the gardens into a hive of colour and biodiversity, and a place of beauty. Building on the excellent stewardship of our previous Garden Fellows, he has taken our green spaces to a new level. The Hall is flourishing, both metaphorically and literally!

Floreat Aula!

Professor Katherine J. Willis CBE, Baroness Willis of Summertown, Principal

News from the Senior Common Room

Honorary Fellow Samira Ahmed was elected President of the Twentieth Century Society in July 2025. The charity campaigns to protect Britain’s post-1914 modern architectural design heritage. Find out more at: c20society.org.uk/news/samira-ahmedelected-as-new-c20-president.

Her BFI Classics book on A Hard Day’s Night is due to be published by Bloomsbury Books in April 2026.

College Lecturer in Physics Jo Ashbourn reports: “In addition to my teaching as a Lecturer in Physics at Teddy Hall, during this past year I have continued as the Director of the St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics (HAPP), which aims to not just focus on chronicling the history of the discipline as a retrospective exercise, but to also critically engage with the philosophy and methodologies which inform how current research in physics is undertaken. The HAPP Centre celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024 and I edited the commemorative volume, which is structured around four key overarching themes and has been published by the Institute of Physics as a special issue of The Journal of Physics under open access at iopscience.iop.org/ issue/1742-6596/2877/1.

The HAPP Centre continues to flourish and alongside its in-person events in Oxford, it also livestreams one-day conferences to global audiences of up to 1,000 people. Topics over the past year were ‘Paradoxes in Physics’, ‘Physical Origins from the Big Bang to Earth’ and ‘Measure for Measure:

A History of Measurement’. Details of these events with videos of all the talks plus forthcoming events for 2025–2026 can be seen at www.stx.ox.ac.uk/thehapp-centre.”

Over the past year, Emeritus Fellow

Alistair Borthwick has continued to carry out research on offshore and environmental engineering, notably: origami-type wave energy converters; hybrid wind-wave floating offshore platforms; marine cables; hydroelastic plates in waves; Faraday waves; river ice-water flows; the effect of permafrost degradation on the Lena River; sediment flux trends on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; the evolution of the Yangtze Estuary; and flooding in Kathmandu, Nepal (the subject of a Commentary in News & Views, Nature, 636: 47–48).

Alistair again chaired the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland and contributed to the External Advisory Board to the President of University College Cork, Ireland. Along with Honorary Fellow Keith Gull, he was a member of a Senior Promotions Committee at Trinity College Dublin.

Alistair made several visits to China, where he gave keynote lectures at a symposium at Peking University to celebrate 30 years of environmental engineering there. He also gave keynote lectures at conferences at Zhejiang University and Ludong University. While he was at Peking University, it was announced that ‘Old Brother Bo’ was to be given the Zhongguancun Award for International Cooperation by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

Emeritus Fellow Adrian Briggs carried on writing about Private International Law; the eighth edition of Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments was handed up, in its ‘back to the past’ form, in March. After four decades of facing forwards, this corner of the law has catapulted back to the way it was in 1986. If there was a soundtrack to accompany the dreary work, the first and last tracks would be the Grand Old Duke of York.

A sojourn in HKU Law School, as Visiting Professor, happily coincided with the Principal’s meetings with the Aularian community in Hong Kong. The chance to gatecrash the events, and to observe how the Hall’s lawyers, and all of them, appear to be thriving, was an uncovenanted benefit, and great fun. Otherwise, he was called to the Bench of the Middle Temple in November. Call Night was rather moving, and it was especially touching that a number of old members were there to witness the event.

Even so, the absence of Paul Darling (1978, Jurisprudence; whose appreciation is at pp. 235–8), who had – and who alone could have – persuaded him to accept the election was a reminder that the sands of time don’t always run out steadily. Sometimes they sprint.

Special Election

This academic year marked the completion of a major global study led by Maia

Chankseliani, Professor of Comparative and International Education and Fellow

, on how international mobility influences world development. Drawing on 704 interviews across 70 countries and quantitative data from 134

countries, the final report – International Mobility and World Development, 2025 (ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9d767f5ab819-4993-bb65-ed39f6076994/ files/rsq87bw11r) – offers the first global analysis of how returnees translate overseas learning into systemic contributions across sectors like health, education, justice and poverty reduction. The findings call into question narrow economic framings of mobility, revealing instead how international study nurtures forms of critical agency, civic understanding and transnational collaboration. These capacities often translate into institutional innovation, policy reform and social change –sometimes in highly constrained settings.

One strand of the project, published in the International Journal of Educational Research (www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/ pii/S0883035524001435), shows that outbound student mobility is linked to long-term reductions in poverty in lowand middle-income countries, highlighting the broader developmental value of mobility beyond the individual.

In an age of rising geopolitical fragmentation, the study demonstrates that international education is not simply a private good but a potential driver of inclusive development. Publications and future updates are available at: www.education.ox.ac.uk/project/ international-student-mobility-andworld-development.

Honorary Fellow Kevin Crossley-Holland reports: “I delighted in opening once more my battered copy of Sweet’s AngloSaxon Primer before retelling Wulfstan’s

account of his thrilling adventures in King Alfred and the Ice Coffin, superbly illustrated by Chris Riddlell. Walker Books also published my final historical novel for children, Kata and Tor, and the audio version was recorded by my prize-winning son-in-law, Nathaniel Priestley. It’s a love story set during the weeks before the battle at Stamford Bridge.

My third publication during this past year was Spring, a limited edition of lighthearted verse celebrating both the word and the season, illustrated by Rosamond Ulph and published by the Orphean Press. Cecilia McDowall’s and my cantata, The Girl from Aleppo, has been performed widely throughout Europe and the USA, while the Norwegians are leading the way in the reissue of my Arthur trilogy 25 years after first publication.”

Honorary Fellow Sir John Daniel has contributed a chapter, ‘Reflections of a Scholar Gypsy’, on his varied academic career to Portraits of Academic Life within Higher Education: From Hiring to Retiring (eds. Dianne Conrad and Walter Archer; Brill, 2025): sirjohn.ca/ wp-content/uploads/2023/08/daniel_reflections_scholar_gypsy_20230805.pdf

Sir John has also written the opening chapter to the Handbook of Open Universities Around the World (Routledge, 2025) in which 100 authors trace the evolution of these institutions over 50 years. He also provided the foreword to Mega-universities and Opening Education by Design. This book, launched in New Zealand at the 2025 World Conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education, presents contributions from 15 scholars who revisit, after 30 years, Sir John’s seminal book Mega-universities and Knowledge Media:

Technology Strategies for Higher Education (Kogan Page, 1996).

From Filippo de Vivo, Professor of Early Modern History and River Farm Foundation Tutorial Fellow in History:

“This was a rewarding year. I was working on the final section of my forthcoming book, an edition of newsletters concerning the Thirty Years’ War and spanning from the Ottoman Empire to the Iberian peninsula, 1615–1628. The letters were translated from the original Italian by Thomas Hobbes for circulation in England, and I argue that they made an important contribution to the development of his political ideas in a period of his life for which we have relatively little other evidence of his thought. The book will be published as part of the Clarendon Edition of the works of Hobbes.

I published an essay on the comparative history of political communication in early modern Venice and Istanbul, the subject of my talk for the Floreat Aula Legacy Society. It was a very fun subject to research, from information to secrecy to rumours. I also had a short article published about a rare case of an insulting libel found in Venice in 1569 and directed at a future pope. While the subject matter is too scurrilous for the ‘News from the SCR’, anyone interested may ask me about it.

I have continued hosting and jointly running the seminar on the early modern Italian world at St Edmund Hall, mostly in the beautiful surroundings of the Old Dining Hall with colleagues from History, Medieval and Modern Languages, Music and Art History. The seminar is a success, and we also had an end-of-year workshop organised by graduate students.”

Emeritus Fellow John Dunbabin stayed in the Shetlands for five days in the Assistant Lighthouse Keepers’ Room of the old Sumburgh Head Lighthouse, which is perched on a cliff full of puffin burrows (the birds dislike fine weather but pour out when it rains). He has also canoed for 12 miles down the Severn into Shrewsbury, admittedly partly propelled by the stream and partly by his daughter.

His two-volume historical study, The Longest Boundary: How the US–Canadian Border’s Line Came to Be Where It Is, has been presented to the Prime Minister of Canada, hopefully for keeping in the 24 Sussex official residence.

In December 2024, Honorary Fellow Andrew Graham was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Europaeum, succeeding Lord Patten of Barnes. Founded in 1992, the Europaeum is a network of leading universities across Europe with a mission to bring together students, scholars and practitioners to address critical European issues and promote shared European values. Read more on p. 106.

Honorary Fellow Keith Gull continues his research with ex-members of his laboratory around the UK to understand antigenic variation in the African trypanosome and has given research seminars in Dublin and Geneva. Since early 2023, he has also been leading the research of a group at Imperial College London, after the tragic death of their supervisor, Professor Gloria Rudenko. A discovery of significance has been made

in understanding how the trypanosome parasite undergoes antigenic variation to outwit the human immune system.

He continued as a trustee of the Leverhulme Trust but in 2024, after 15 years, finished chairing the Advisory Board of the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens in Ghana.

He visited Prague as a member of the International Advisory Panel of Charles University in addition to acting as a member of the small group advising the Provost of Trinity College Dublin on promotion of Senior Faculty.

This year he will intensify his research into piscatorial opportunities around 660 North in a remote area of Iceland with a series of expeditions, hopefully with continuing success with larger sizes of anadromous salmonids.

Read more about how Keith Gull found Destiny in Iceland on pp. 178–9.

From Roger Gundle, College Lecturer in Medicine:

“Although now retired from clinical practice, I am keeping busy teaching undergraduate medical students at St Edmund Hall as well as University and St Catherine’s Colleges. I examine regularly for the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSEng), mostly in London but recently also in Sri Lanka where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka and the RCSEng.

Some projects have come to fruition of late including publication of a multicentre trial in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that most complex musculoskeletal infections can be treated with oral antibiotics in addition to surgery

rather than the current normal practice which is long courses of intravenous antibiotics: this has the potential to save the NHS large sums of money and resources.

A collaboration with the haematologists has been fruitful: ‘Selective advantage of mutant stem cells in human clonal hematopoiesis is associated with attenuated response to inflammation and aging’ has been published in Cell Stem Cell and ‘Detecting and quantifying clonal selection in somatic stem cells’ has been published in Nature Genetics in July 2025.”

In 2025, Heidi JohansenBerg, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Senior Research Fellow, took up the post of Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives. In this role, she leads the development, implementation and monitoring of strategic initiatives that bridge functional boundaries and drive transformation within the University.

Professor Johansen-Berg also serves as the Associate Head (Research and Innovation) in the Medical Sciences Division and continues to lead her research group, which investigates brain plasticity in the context of learning and recovery from brain damage.

In 2025, Heidi was also appointed to a national role as part of the Research Excellence Framework (REF 29) as Chair of Sub-Panel 4: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

Andrew Kahn, Fellow and Tutor in Modern Languages (Russian), is looking forward to a book launch for his and

Mark Lipovetsky’s All the World on a Page (Princeton) at the Harriman Institute in New York in the autumn. Other publishing highlights of the past year included essays on Maria Stepanova, late Tolstoy and Turgenev, and he is now looking forward to moving back to the eighteenth century.

Most fun has been a collaboration with colleagues at the University of Chicago and large language model data scientists at Helsinki on a new digital humanities project that, he hopes, will transform the work he can do on intellectual history in the period. It’s good to try to remember Russia in the age of reason at this time.

Some highlights from Fellow by Special Election Gina Koutsika’s year in her role as Director of Audiences and Content at the Ashmolean:

“Edmund de Waal had written a new piece on fragments and brokenness, specifically for the Ashmolean Museum and Cultural Programme, and it was truly poetic and poignant. At the event, after the reading and experiencing handling porcelain fragments, participants followed musical performances around the museum by Bette Zhaoyi Yan and Yuchen Zhang, with a repertoire of Chinese art songs and indigenous melodies; Lekan Babalola, Samuel Boateng, Luke Lewis, Kate Luxmorre and Asha Parkinson, who are an improvising collective of musicians from different global traditions and styles; and the Choir of Merton College, directed by Ben Nicholas.

Two new permanent galleries opened in May 2025. ‘Italy before Rome’ focuses on the Italian peninsula, before its domination by Romans, when it was a mixture of cultures including Latin, Samnite and Etruscan. These peoples occupied an area rich in metal ores,

timber and fertile land, and contributed significantly to urbanisation, law and trade, as well as to the transmission of certain aspects of Greek culture. ‘Rome and the Roman Empire’ sees the empire at the peak of its power, in the first and second centuries, presenting the Romans, from emperors to the enslaved, and journeying through the empire from Oxfordshire to Syria, as well as exploring Roman Britain, the city of Rome and Roman homes, and many other areas of Roman life.

Beyond offering a warm and inclusive welcome, Visitor Experience Assistants are central to our mission of making the Ashmolean accessible to all. Following a light-touch external review, Gina and the Visitor Experience Management team launched an inclusive recruitment process and a pioneering 18-month pilot training programme: the team is split into two groups, each with alternate Tuesdays off the floor which provides two dedicated days per month for professional development. These sessions support collaboration across the Museum (and beyond) and empower the team to co-develop projects that reflect their strengths, support institutional priorities and enrich the visitor experience. This is an evolving journey of learning and experimentation – grounded in equity, driven by purpose and fuelled by the creativity of our front-line colleagues.”

As ever, a busy year is enthusiastically recounted by Henrike Lähnemann, Professor

of Medieval

German Literature and Linguistic Studies: “It has become quite a tradition: every year I report on a nuntastic publication and a Reformation pamphlet. This year, there are actually two titles in the nun section: the extended paperback

of Unerhörte Frauen (medingen.seh. ox.ac.uk/index.php/2023/06/03/ unerhorte-frauen/) but much more weighty, and to my immense relief, finally the scholarly edition of the first of the three letterbooks compiled by the nuns of Lüne (weighing a kilo and comprising nearly a thousand pages in total). The Netzwerke der Nonnen (www. mohrsiebeck.com/buch/netzwerke-dernonnen-9783161608988/) is available via open access from the venerable Tübingen theology publisher MohrSiebeck, and our project team is deep into the second volume.

This year’s Reformation pamphlet was the highly enjoyable Dialogue between Canon and Cobbler, by the alter ego of the Nuremberg poet and shoe-maker Hans Sachs, first published in 1524. The witty and sharp exchange made for perfect performance material, both in the original and in contemporary translations into Early Modern Dutch and English. Our cast consisted of a number of students and colleagues from St Edmund Hall, not only Germanists but also a Dutch biochemist and a linguistics lecturer.

The performance of the dialogue was the perfect training ground for the biggest medieval event of the University calendar – the Medieval Mystery Plays. This year, in honour of the #1317Challenge for Community & Giving Week, the cycle featured thirteen plays, including an Adam and Eve play by the aforementioned Hans Sachs but also featuring the whole of the Choir as a host of angels. While I counted the dozens of actors and 300 spectators, I did not count the number of times I blew the trumpet this year, but the literal highlight was certainly heralding our Visitor The Rt Hon the Lord Hague of Richmond on the top of the Villa building for the NSE topping-out ceremony. I hope

to blow the fanfare next time for him from the top of St Peter-in-the-East where he used to go for his tutorials with John Dunbabin.”

Read more about the 2025 Mystery Cycle on pp. 93–4.

This year Alexandra Lloyd, Fellow by Special Election in German, continued her research and engagement work on the White Rose resistance circle and post-war German memory culture. She appeared as a guest on the BBC Radio 4 series History’s Youngest Heroes and gave the opening keynote at the Europaeum Spring School on Resistance and Resilience. She also took part in a roundtable discussion as part of the ‘Holocaust Studies: Navigating the Field’ networking day at the Imperial War Museum, London, and was interviewed about her research for the Life and Faith podcast hosted by the Centre for Public Christianity, Australia.

David Manolopoulos, Professor of Theoretical Chemistry and Tutor in Chemistry, has very much enjoyed his travels again this year. He has been to conferences in Okazaki, Madrid and Telluride, Colorado, and given a Chemical Society Lecture at the University of Heidelberg. He has also published a paper in Science Advances with his former postdoc Johan Runeson which shows that quantum mechanical effects in the motion of the chromophores actually slow down biological photosynthesis rather than enhance it. A great deal has been written in the popular press about ‘quantum biology’ but the majority of it is “utter rubbish”.

From Honorary Fellow

Monsignor Michael NazirAli: “At the beginning of the last academic year, I was deeply honoured to have the opportunity of addressing a wide cross-section of judges, politicians and civic and community leaders in Manchester on the role of religion (both positive and negative) in society and, later on, the Knights of Malta on the making of moral decisions.

There was teaching last year at Blackfriars in Oxford and the beginning of the fifth series of the All Souls’ Seminars, held this year at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The subject was the life and work of R C Zaehner, Fellow of All Souls and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics, and my supervisor at Oxford. I was also privileged to teach again at the Angelicum, the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas. It was good also to teach remotely for the Centre for Muslim–Christian Relations, based in Oxford, of which I am an advisor.

I have continued involvement with SOPHOS Africa, an organisation working with young graduates in Ethiopia, encouraging them to resist endemic corruption and ethnic conflict so that they can achieve the goals they are setting for themselves and their country.

This being the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, I was asked to lecture on this at Forman Christian University, Lahore. The lecture was attended by Muslim and Christian faculty and students.

Sadly, the Amman Conference, hosted by Prince Hassan of Jordan, on cooperation between Christian and Muslim research centres, had to be postponed sine die because of the situation in the Middle East. We are hoping Deo volente to

reconvene next year. I was, however, able to attend a conference arranged by the University of Notre Dame in the USA on freedom of religion and belief both in the West and in other parts of the world.

I continue to supervise a number of research students and share in their sense of achievement when they complete their research projects. I write both for ‘learned’ journals and for the popular press. I am on the Editorial Board of Round Table, the Commonwealth Journal for International Affairs, and contribute to its issues. This year, I also contributed to a publication by the Common Good Foundation on the educational and cultural aspects of rapid demographic change.

This year, our small scholarships fund was able to help 45 students, in challenging contexts, to achieve qualifications they would otherwise not have been able to achieve.

With the teaching in Oxford, I have valued having a base at SEH, as sometimes an overnight stay has been necessary. Floreat Aula, indeed!”

In September 2025, Visiting Fellow Katie Peterson will be a Resident at the James Merrill House in Stonington, Connecticut, a writer’s residency that allows the recipient to live adjacent to poet James Merrill’s apartment and explore his library.

Emeritus Fellow Ian Scargill reports that it is now 25 years since he retired, so quite a drain on the USS pension fund. He and his wife, Mary, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in August 2024, and

later that year he was delighted to be a guest at Emeritus Fellow Rob Whittaker’s retirement dinner and to have the opportunity of meeting former pupils. He and Mary continue to live in Summertown where he celebrated (if that is the right word) his 90th birthday in March 2025 with a family party. He no longer defends the Green Belt in the face of concerted efforts to build all over it.

Paul Skokowski, Fellow by Special Election in Philosophy, is putting the final touches to a new book entitled Sensing Qualia: Solving the Hard Problem of Consciousness. Qualia are the ‘raw feels’ of consciousness and comprise the contents of our sensory experience. These include colours, tastes, pains, smells and other sensory phenomena. Accounting for qualia in the natural world has rightfully come to be known as the hard problem of consciousness. The book uses an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on developments from neuroscience, physics, cognitive science and philosophy to understand the function of our sensory modalities. This analysis provides a framework for studying qualia in the physical world including in androids and AI. Sensing Qualia is written for students and specialists who wish to better appreciate vexing issues about the mind. The first section of the book – ‘A Brief History of the Mind’ – assumes no background knowledge in philosophy. These early chapters bring readers up to speed with the problem of qualia by examining a sampling of the most influential theories of mind since Descartes. The reader is then equipped for the interdisciplinary arguments surrounding qualia and conscious experience in the remaining chapters. Sensing Qualia will be published

by the University of Chicago Press in December 2025.

Emeritus Fellow Martin

Slater’s book The National Debt: A Short History has been updated and reissued in paperback. Martin gave an online talk on the subject to the York University Festival of Ideas 2025 (available on YouTube: youtu.be/7ebeI01QUSU? si=dT580RhhMPjFSyrH).

Professorial Fellow

Eleanor Stride was one of three biomedical engineers who joined presenter Caroline Steel and an audience at a special event staged with the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851; it was also broadcast on Radio 4 as The Engineers: Exploring the Human

Listen to the programme: www.bbc.co.uk/ programmes/w3ct812c.

Jenny Taylor, Fellow by Special Election and Professor of Translational Geonomics, continues in her role as Head of the Translational Genomics group at the University’s Centre for Human Genetics and as Co-Theme Leader of the Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre’s Genomic Medicine Theme.

Her research group focuses primarily on the discovery of novel rare disease genes through the analysis of genome sequencing data from patients in cohorts such as the 100,000 Genomes Project and the NHS Genome Medicine Service. Recent results, published in Genome Medicine (10.1186/s13073-023-012400) and American Journal of Human

Genetics (10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.04.018), highlight the importance of investigating all genetic variants in the genome for potential pathogenicity. More recently, she has turned her attention to the opportunities for genetic diagnoses to inform the development of novel, nucleic acid-based therapeutics and has been a member of the Rare Therapies Launch Pad (10.1038/s41591-025-03547-4), an initiative announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in November 2023, since its inception. Her group also continues to work in the cancer arena, focusing on circulating tumour DNA and polygenic risk scores for improved diagnosis and prediction of cancers (10.1016/j.ejca.2025.115626).

Out of the lab, Jenny has organised the Oxford Women’s alumnae rowers since the beginning of the Women’s Veterans race just four years ago. The Oxford–Cambridge Alumni Boat Races are held on the Tideway in London, the day before the main Boat Race. With the scores being level after a nerve-racking ‘dead heat to Oxford’ last year, the crew was delighted to record a convincing 4.5 length victory this year. Jenny has also just climbed Kilimanjaro, raising funds for educational improvements in an impoverished community in Tanzania.

This past academic year has been a busy one for Honorary Fellow Catherine Joy White, spanning screen, publishing and international advocacy. On screen, she secured roles in a (still undisclosed!) major forthcoming Netflix series, a guest star appearance in the US show The Librarians: The Next Chapter, and a small part in The Capture (BBC/ Netflix).

As a filmmaker, she recently finished her debut documentary, Swim Sistas, featuring Great Britain’s first Black female Olympic swimmer and narrated by Oscarnominated Naomie Harris, set to premiere at Oscar-qualifying DOC NYC. She is also in pre-production on her debut feature, Black Samphire, a folk-horror exploration of water pollution starring BAFTA winners Cathy Tyson and Stephen Fry.

In publishing, Catherine’s debut book, This Thread of Gold, was nominated for the prestigious Zora awards, while her second title, Rebel Takes: On the Future of Food, was published at the end of 2024.

Beyond her creative work, Catherine continues her role as UN Gender Advisor, leading the next phase of Changemakers, a partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the Premier League that has empowered more than 5,000 young women worldwide through sport, gender equality and leadership training.

Emeritus Fellow Rob Whittaker has been working on a number of island-focused research projects and papers over the last year.

In September he was a participant in a meeting in Fuglsang (a particularly flat area of Denmark), which focused on the topic of species extinctions from islands globally. In October he spent a week at the

Jersey International Centre for Advanced Studies teaching for the Island Biodiversity and Conservation MSc. A second teaching week followed in May, in the form of a field course to Tenerife on the theme of conservation action in islands.

He has been a co-author on recently published papers examining the validity of the biogeographical region of Macaronesia, and on anthropogenic extinction across the region, as well as on the loss of functional diversity as a result of human action from island systems across the globe.

Emeritus Fellow Blair Worden was delighted to see so many of his former pupils at a historical conference in April to celebrate his 80th birthday.

Research Lecturer in Economics and Fellow by Special Election Dr Linda Yueh CBE FREcon has been appointed a Founding Fellow of the Royal Economic Society.

Dr Yueh was appointed in recognition of her significant contributions to the field of economics. This honour recognises individuals who have made a significant impact on the discipline through research, teaching, policy and leadership.

Arrivals in the Senior Common Room

Jeremy Charles was sworn in as a St Edmund Fellow in March 2024.

Jeremy came up to the Hall in 1975 to both study PPE and have the pleasure

of representing the University at various levels in cricket, rugby, swimming and water polo.

After university and having trained as a Chartered Accountant at Coopers & Lybrand, he moved into senior roles

within the investment industry, helping to manage businesses including Hoare Govett, James Capel, Coutts NatWest, Thames River Capital, and F&C, finishing at Old Mutual Wealth (Quilter) in 2016.

While employed, he also helped in the charity sector, in particular chairing Sense International for many years, focusing on assisting children with deafblindness in low- and middle-income countries.

Since retirement, Jeremy has continued to help manage various charities, while also mentoring individuals and businesses, but also coming on to the Hall’s Investment Committee in 2018 and the Development Committee after that. In addition, he takes an active role in advising senior Fellows in the general management of the Hall.

Sofya Dmitrieva joined the Hall this year as a Non-Stipendiary Junior Research Fellow in European Languages. Sofya is a historian of art and visual culture, specialising in eighteenth-century France. Her research interests span genre theory, perception studies and the history of collections.

Sofya is also the Astra Foundation Research Assistant in Digital Iconography at the Voltaire Foundation. Building on an extensive collection generously donated to the Foundation by Professor Samuel Taylor, she is developing an open-access digital archive of visual representations of Voltaire. The resulting database will feature high-quality reproductions of Voltaire’s portraits in a variety of media, accompanied by art historical commentary, and offer advanced tools for tracing the evolution of his image. Before joining the Voltaire Foundation and St Edmund Hall, Sofya worked at the Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte (DFK Paris), where she was responsible for

devising and creating The Art Collection of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture database. She holds a PhD and an MLitt in Art History from the University of St Andrews.

Jenyth Evans is a Junior Research Fellow in English at St Edmund Hall and a Departmental Lecturer in Medieval Irish Language and Literature. She read Classics as an undergraduate at Jesus College, Oxford, from 2015 to 2019. She then completed a Master’s in Medieval Studies in 2020, also at Jesus College, before moving to St Edmund Hall for her DPhil in English from 2020 to 2025.

Jenyth’s DPhil research examined two pseudohistorical texts in tandem – the Irish Lebor Gabála Érenn (‘The book of the taking of Ireland’; earliest version composed c. 1025) and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s De Gestis Britonum (‘On the deeds of the Britons’, first circulated c. 1123–1139). She argued in her thesis that these texts were often read together for centuries after their original composition, and that understanding this offers new readings of works written by, for example, Gerald of Wales, Edmund Spenser and the Welsh author Theophilus Evans. Her thesis also examined how unbelievable material within both texts was assessed, criticised or defended by various authors from the medieval period to the modern.

Stemming from this research, her next project will examine frauds and forgeries created in Celtic-speaking contexts. She is also interested in classical reception in the medieval period.

Jenyth teaches on various aspects of medieval Irish and Welsh literature and language. She runs an introductory course to the Old Irish language, available to English undergraduate students as a

special subject option, or to graduate students with relevant research interests in medieval Irish language, history or literature.

Benjamin Hess is an Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow in Earth Sciences. He joined the Hall in January 2025.

Benjamin has always had a love of rocks, minerals and nature, inspiring him to study geology for his undergraduate degree at Wheaton College, Illinois. During this time, he had the opportunity to investigate a glass created by a lightning strike called a fulgurite. It was found to contain rare phosphide minerals that are thought to be important for forming prebiotic biomolecules, suggesting that lightning strikes may be a key source of phosphorus needed for the origins of life.

He went on to complete his PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University where he investigated metamorphic processes that shape Earth’s lithosphere. His research included studies of fluid flow and pulsed magmatic heating during subduction and mountain building events. He has studied rocks from all over the world and has undertaken field work in Norway and the Greek islands.

Benjamin’s work combines field and laboratory methods with mathematical modelling to understand both how physical stresses in the Earth drive chemical reactions and how reactions in turn affect the stresses and physical evolution of the Earth. Examples of Benjamin’s current research include: studying the role of the hydration of oceanic lithosphere in initiating plate tectonics on Earth and Earth-like planets; modelling how hydration reactions can be used to generate hydrogen gas; applying

new methods for using chemically zoned minerals known as ‘crystal clocks’ to estimate timescales of igneous and metamorphic processes; and developing and testing methods to estimate stress magnitudes using mineral chemistry.

Kate Keohane joined St Edmund Hall this year as a Career Development Fellow in History of Art and Wellbeing

Kate is an art historian whose research explores how storytelling, image-making and collective practice shape ways of living, remembering and imagining otherwise.

Her current project, ‘Magic and Medicine: Art as Remedy’, centres on artists who create spaces of care and resistance, weaving connections across bodies, histories and environments. She is particularly interested in how small-island poetics and collaborative intersectional methodologies can expand the interpretive possibilities of art history. Alongside her research at Oxford, Kate is Co-Director of Art Hx, a platform led by Professor Anna Arabindan-Kesson at Princeton University that explores the convergences of health, colonial legacies and practices of radical care.

Her first monograph, Common-Places: Édouard Glissant, the Caribbean and Contemporary Art (under review), develops a geo-poetic method for understanding how artists narrate entangled, placesensitive globalities. She has published in Art History, Afterimage, ICOM Routledge, Wasafiri and Tate, and has contributed writing for the International Curators Forum. With Dr Giulia Smith and curator Daniella Rose King, she is co-editor of Caribbean Eco-Aesthetics: Artistic Strategies for Planetary Survival (Manchester

University Press, forthcoming 2025), a volume that emerged from the online research series ‘Biotic Resistance’ (2021).

She was previously a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Ruskin School of Art (2021–2024), an Associate Lecturer at the University of St Andrews (2020–2021) and St Anne’s College, Oxford (2023–2025), and a Research Fellow in the studio of Sir Frank Bowling OBE (2024–2025).

Kate completed her PhD at the University of St Andrews in 2020, funded by the Horizon 2020 EU–LAC Museums project.

Holly Langstaff was sworn in as a Fellow by Special Election in Modern Languages during Michaelmas term 2024. She is interested in modern and contemporary literature and thought. Her current research project reframes French literature of the last 150 years according to new paradigms and new centres of interest based around working-class experiences and workingclass expression. She has been awarded a British Academy Small Grant to run a workshop as part of the first stage of this project.

Holly’s first monograph, Art and Technology in Maurice Blanchot, was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2023. This book reappraises the influential French thinker Maurice Blanchot’s writing from the 1940s to his late work in the 1980s, demonstrating how Blanchot’s exploration of the question of technology remains decisive throughout his career. It situates Blanchot’s fictional and critical work in the context of his thinking of art as techne – the Greek root of ‘technology’ meaning both craft and art – as it develops out of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy. The book was one of four titles

shortlisted in 2025 for the R. Gapper Prize run by the Society for French Studies. She project-manages the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation and is the codirector, with Ros Schwartz, of Bristol Translates Summer School. Holly is also a regular tutor at the Oxford UNIQ Summer School as well as being involved in several outreach initiatives at the Hall, including the Language Miracles workshops, the Big Think competition, and the Unlock Oxford panels.

Katie Peterson joined the Hall in October 2024 as Visiting Fellow in Poetry. Katie is the author of seven books of poetry, including Fog and Smoke and Douceur en plein visage (selected poems in French with an introduction by Louise Glück), both published in 2024. Her poetry has appeared in the Atlantic, the New Republic, the New York Review of Books, Poetry London and the Yale Review Her edition of the New Selected Poems of Robert Lowell was published by FSG in 2017.

Katie’s work has been recognised with awards and fellowships, including the Rilke Prize from the University of North Texas; a Literature award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts; and a fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Her collaborations with her husband, the photographer Young Suh, have been shown in museums and galleries in the United States and South Korea; their collaborative book, Life in a Field, was published by Omnidawn Books in 2021. When she is not a Visiting Fellow at Oxford, she is Professor of English at the University of California, Davis.

Chloë Pieters is the River Farm Foundation Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow in History, joining the Hall in Michaelmas 2024. She completed her PhD at University College London before becoming a Stipendiary Lecturer in Modern British and European History at Somerville and Exeter College.

Chloë is a social and cultural historian of the European family in wartime, focusing on Belgium and Great Britain. Her doctoral work investigated the relationship between the institution of the family and the state in Belgium and Great Britain during the First World War, considering how the family is centred, in rhetoric and in practice, as a keystone of social, economic and moral life, and how the crucible of war affected this. Her research therefore examines how states have ceded and retained their cultural and material power over families in order to serve their changing wartime and post-war interests, and how families have exercised agency to accept and resist these forces.

Her postdoctoral project investigates social reconstruction in Belgium and Britain, and the attempt to recover from the political, economic, social and emotional impact of war (– both states sought to shape the family to suit the needs of the state and to establish a sense of national unity in the fragmented postwar era). The project will consider not just how the Belgian and British states sought to manage the institution of the family, but how families themselves responded to these interventions, whether supporting, accepting, acquiescing or resisting.

In October 2024, Joe PittFrancis was sworn in as a Tutorial Fellow.

Joe is an Associate Professor of Computer

Science and has been tutoring Oxford Computer Science students since 1999. He works in computational and mathematical biology, and is interested in models of the heart, cancer and blood flow. Joe is active in software development and works with Chaste, a large C++ software library for computational models of biology.

Anna Regoutz has been elected as Associate Professor in Experimental Inorganic Chemistry and Tutorial Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry

Anna leads an interdisciplinary team of experimentalists with key expertise in thin film synthesis, surface and interface chemistry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory. The group’s research vision is to explore the relationship between the structure and electronic structure of inorganic solids and how this manifests in their overall physicochemical characteristics, with the aim of integrating them into optoelectronic devices.

Anna received her BSc (2009) and Dipl. Ing. (2010) in Chemistry (Technische Chemie) from the Graz University of Technology, Austria. She conducted her DPhil on the structural and electronic properties of metal oxides under the supervision of Professor Russell Egdell at Trinity College, Oxford, in 2010–2014. During this time, she was awarded the Stirling Boyd Prize and a graduate scholarship by Trinity College and served as President of its Middle Common Room for two consecutive years, from 2011 to 2013. Following her DPhil, Anna spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton and Imperial College London, before starting her independent career as an Imperial College Research Fellow in 2017. Between 2019

and 2024, she was a Lecturer in Materials Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at University College London.

Anna’s work has received national and international recognition, including the award of the 2025 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry, the 2020 Royal Society of Chemistry’s Joseph Black Award, and, in 2019, the element Praseodymium in the Periodic Table of Chemists by the IUPAC.

Reut Vardi joined the Hall as Junior Research Fellow in Environmental Sustainability in October 2024. Reut is an ecologist and conservation scientist. Prior to joining the University of Oxford and St Edmund Hall, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Tel Aviv University under the Alexander and Eva Lester and the George S. Wise post-doctoral fellowships. She completed her PhD from BenGurion University, exploring the effects of environmental variability on animal behaviour.

Reut’s research interests are mostly behavioural ecology and conservation culturomics, centring around environmental and anthropogenic changes, the effects on animals and challenges for biodiversity. From an ecological point of view, she explores animals’ behavioural and physiological responses to their environments, as well as how future anthropogenic changes will affect animal distribution. From a social point of view, she explores digital human–nature interactions and how novel online platforms can inform conservation science and actions, as well as help reconnect people to nature.

The Revd Andreas Wenzel joined the Hall in February as Chaplain and a Fellow by Special Election.

Andreas is currently Vice-Principal and Director of Pastoral Studies at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, a theological foundation affiliated with the University. He is a graduate of the Universities of Hamburg and Oxford, and is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Erfurt on a commentary on the Mass from the Renaissance.

Catherine Joy White was sworn in as an Honorary Fellow in October 2024.

Catherine (2016, MSt Women’s Studies) is an award-winning author, actor, filmmaker, activist, gender equality expert and CEO of Kusini Productions.

Catherine has been honoured as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2022, longlisted for AllBright’s Innovative Trailblazer Award and heralded as one of ‘Five Activists to Watch’ by the Trouble Club (previous speakers include Gloria Steneim and Margaret Atwood).

Her debut book, This Thread of Gold: A Celebration of Black Womanhood, was published to critical acclaim in the UK in June 2023 by Dialogue Books. Through Kusini Productions she has also produced a slate of multi-award-winning films including Fifty-Four Days, which she also wrote, directed and starred in alongside iconic British actress Celia Imrie. FiftyFour Days was selected for over 50 film festivals worldwide and received BAFTA and Oscar acclaim before being sold to American Airlines.

As a UN Gender Expert, Catherine established Changemakers – a partnership between the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the Premier League. The initiative combined a leadership, gender equality and mental health programme with sport to empower more than 5,000 young women and girls worldwide. She is also a proud ambassador for PAPYRUS, the UK’s national charity for the prevention of young suicide, and a proud mentor on The Page One Project.

On being sworn in as an Honorary Fellow, Catherine commented:

“Accepting the Honorary Fellowship is the greatest honour of my life so far. I arrived at Teddy Hall – and Oxford – with big dreams. The fact that I was a young Black woman from a state school in the East Midlands did not deter me. I knew that the chance to study at Oxford was going to present me with opportunities that I would never encounter otherwise. I leapt in and did not look back.

It was the first place I explored my love for performing and especially for combining art with activism. It was the first place that I felt I was truly taken seriously with each of my many hats. It was also a time of unadulterated joy, friends for life and the sort of experiences that have imbued me with the confidence I now carry with me wherever I go. My promise, to myself, and to my College, is that I will never stop seeing this as an opportunity. I will treasure this moment, lifting others with me as I climb, for the rest of my life.”

Musab Younis, has been elected Jarvis Doctorow Tutorial Fellow in Politics and Associate Professor in Political Theory

Musab did his DPhil at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. He then worked for six years at Queen Mary University of London, where he was a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, before returning to Oxford in September 2024. He has held visiting positions at the European University Institute and at the University of London Institute in Paris.

Musab’s research lies at the intersection of the history of political thought and critical theory, with a focus on the politics of race and empire. His work has explored Black and African anticolonial thought; histories of thinking about race and racism; and the politics of space, scale and globality. His first book, On the Scale of the World: The Formation of Black Anticolonial Thought, was awarded the Sussex International Theory Prize in 2023, received an Honourable Mention for the LHM Ling Outstanding First Book Prize, and was named as one of the best academic books of 2023 by the New Statesman

In addition to his academic research, Musab is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and he has also written essays for Baffler, The Guardian, n+1, Prospect and The Criterion Collection on topics including riots, humanitarianism, Caribbean literature and Japanese cinema.

From the Bursary

Sir Winston Churchill is credited with the phrase “sunlit uplands”; it’s one I like to use occasionally in the summer. This year we have had almost constant sunshine, or at least very little rain, since the beginning of March. I write as the end of Trinity term approaches and the phrase gathers a sense of the Long Vacation. For me, that means medium-sized project work, no committees, time to do what the committees decided, and at some stage a bit of holiday.

The staff team has continued to evolve and adapt. Sam White, our Executive Head Chef, has been made Director of Catering and will now oversee not only the Kitchen but also the catering frontof-house team and the Bar. This builds on Sam’s experience prior to Teddy Hall and supports the Head Butler and the Bar Manager. I hope that, in due course, he will also take charge of the café in the Churchyard – more of that below.

The growth of our conference and events work has led us to create a new post supporting Sue McCarthy, Conference Manager, and we were delighted to welcome Chiara Campioni as Conference & Catering Officer. Chiara joins us from St Hilda’s where she gained a lot of experience in the busy world of providing events, summer schools and conferences. Not strictly related to that new role, but as part of a wish to streamline and de-risk our operations, we are changing our software platform for student accommodation so that it is the same provider and database as we have used for some time for commercial business and public room bookings. I should no longer need to hear staff asking each other if a particular room is available – all will be looking at the same system. This has

involved a lot of planning and training, and I am delighted by the way the team has grasped this challenge.

Projects

The Norham Project is full steam ahead. On 20 June we had a topping-out ceremony with the Chancellor present. A plaque was signed and inserted into the top of the Villa building, with a number of guests watching on a video screen and enjoying refreshments in the common room. This marks a significant moment in the project, coming between the groundbreaking ceremony and the day we open the buildings for use.

Construction is ahead of target and going really well. We have excellent main contractors who are doing a great job of using the advantage of the persistent good weather over the spring and into Trinity term. I am confident that we will be completed on time in early April 2026. Indeed, we are hoping the furniture contractor will be able to begin installing in January to minimise the time needed post-construction and before use. To do this requires the co-operation of the main contractor as the furniture has been commissioned by the College direct from the supplier, one whose sustainability credentials have been examined as closely

as we have the building materials.

As part of our decarbonisation plan, this summer will see the rest of the William R Miller building fitted with Sunamp heat batteries to generate the hot water requirements and thus remove gas from the site. Other areas of our work on sustainability include trialling some new secondary glazing on the Emden building which, if successful, would allow us to make the improvement to that building and to Kelly without the need for scaffolding. We are also starting to secondary-glaze the Library which, once complete, will have a huge impact on heat loss from the building where there is almost more glass than wall.

The plan to convert the old garden office and store into a café that I mentioned last year is grinding very slowly through the dual channels of local authority consent and diocesan permission. As I write, the latter has finally come through, but the routing of the small waste pipe under the outer wall is still not finalised. I hope we might have the conversion works done and the café open for business in early 2026. It will be serving barista-made coffee and other hot drinks as well as items made by the great team in the pastry section of the College Kitchen. Expect cakes, cookies and more! It will be open to all members of College and visitors.

Events

Planning for a ball on Saturday 2 May 2026 is at an advanced stage. The committee has been extremely efficient in putting together a plan and budget and so, by the time you read this, tickets should be on sale. It is a delight to have such an organised and committed student team to work with. They are well ahead of the standard timetable and I am confident that will show through on the night.

Our People

Farewells

We have said farewell to a number of staff members in the last year. Those with longer service are listed below, but we would like to extend our thanks to all leavers and wish them well for the future:

Diogo Mendes Campos, Payroll & Finance Officer

Vahid Kordbacheh (VK), General Maintenance Assistant

Amelio Pinto, Servery Assistant

Jim Ronaldson, Boatman

Sharon Stansfield, Purchase Ledger Assistant

Barry Wixey, Chef de Partie.

Sadly, Nada Milkovic passed away in April. Nada retired from the Hall in May 2022 following 27 years as our Deputy Hall Butler and she is greatly missed across the Hall. An obituary for Nada can be found on p. 229.

Recruitment

It has been another busy year for recruitment, and we are delighted to have welcomed the following new staff members to the Hall:

Elisha Ainsworth, Access & Outreach Coordinator

Edite Alencar, Scout at Norham St Edmund

Vittoria Baglieri, Assistant Junior Dean at William R Miller

Willow Booker, Weekend Lodge Porter

Ellie Campbell, Catering Supervisor

Chiara Campioni, Conference & Catering Officer

Sandro Da Costa Soares da Silva, Scout at Queen’s Lane

Harriet Downes, Payroll Officer

Javad Ehsani, Lodge Porter

Pam Fortescue, Executive Assistant to the Finance Bursar & Committee Secretary

Susan Hatt, Scout at Queen’s Lane

Marta Kowalska, Scout at Queen’s Lane

Sinead Lambe, Catering Assistant

Amine Madaci, Lodge Porter

Sophie Madden, Regular Giving Officer

Rhian Minns, Scout at East Oxford

Alberto Munoz, Purchase Ledger Assistant

Aaron Platt, Junior Sous Chef

Maria Pouridi, Weekend Lodge Porter

Dido Reynolds, Catering Supervisor

Zoe Schroeder, Catering Assistant

Liam Scott, Carpenter

Simon Smith, General Maintenance Assistant at Norham St Edmund

Dylan Warwick-Smith, Assistant Butler

The Revd Andreas Wenzel, Chaplain. Milestones

We have had many reasons to celebrate our staff this year, including the long service of Elaine Kavanagh

From the Finance Bursar

The Hall has made good financial progress in the 2024–2025 financial year and a small surplus is likely to be achieved. This is in no small part due to the efforts of the staff at St Edmund Hall to maximise our income out of term time by ensuring the use of facilities to their fullest extent, with conference and summer school income this year continuing to surpass previous years’ income. From 2026, we will also need to work hard to expand our operations to include the new Norham Gardens

(Housekeeping Supervisor; 40 years), Marija Sarac (Scout; 20 years) and Nina Stephenson (Scout; 20 years).

We have also celebrated several marriages, including those of Tutor in Materials Science Jonathan Yates and Lecturer in History Emily Winkler; Outreach & Admissions Manager Luke Maw; Fellow by Special Election Dimitrios Tsomocos; and Head Butler Molly Higgins (née McCarthy). We would also like to congratulate Head of Alumni Relations (maternity cover) Lydia Smith on her recent engagement.

Lastly, our staff have welcomed nine new babies this year: Head of Alumni Relations

Emily Bruce (baby Izzy); Deputy Librarian

Emma Carter (Eric); Junior Research Fellow in History Zoe Farrell (Theodore); Career Development Fellow in Fine Art and Wellbeing Kate Keohane (Arlo); Jeffrey Hackney Fellow and Tutor in Law Joanna Bell (Emily); Sous Chef Andrea Calia (Martina); Sous Chef Juan Ramirez (Teo); and Dimitrios Tsomocos (twin baby boys). Many congratulations to all.

Mark Blandford Baker, Domestic Bursar and Fellow

accommodation which will be perfect for conferences over the summer. Surpluses are vital as they enable us to build reserves for the future, which can be used for our core purpose of academic learning and research, and to also enhance and update our ageing estate, which is a continuous draw on resources.

In addition to the day-to-day financial running of the College, the Norham Gardens student accommodation project has continued to keep us busy, with now only nine months to go until completion in April 2026. The £40 million project is being funded both through philanthropy and College funds and from the proceeds of the Private Placement that was taken out in 2017. Fundraising for the Norham Project continued to be a focal point this year and we remain grateful to those alumni who have been so supportive, with £10 million in donations being pledged or received by summer 2025. It is very pleasing to know that all undergraduates who start their course this Michaelmas term will have the opportunity to live in College accommodation for their entire degree should they wish to do so, which will make such a significant difference to both their finances and sense of inclusion within the Hall community.

Each year the Hall makes an application to the University’s College Contributions Committee (CCC), which distributes income grants to the less wealthy colleges, financed by wealthier colleges. This year, we made another successful bid, being awarded £236,250, all of which is to be used for maintenance projects, including new fire doors to the student bedrooms in Staircase 8 and Whitehall, together with new windows in Whitehall, electric boilers in the William R Miller building (removing the need for gas), and improving the

thermal envelope of the 26 Norham Gardens student flats. The College match-funds most of these awards from its general reserves. This award brings our total income from CCC over the past ten years to £2.7 million.

The Hall’s endowment funds were valued at £72 million at 31 July 2024. The final valuation of the endowment funds at 31 July 2025 is not yet finalised, but initial indications suggest a final valuation of circa £79 million after taking into account the transfer to income of £2.5 million under the Hall’s agreed 3.5% spend rule and after receiving £2.7 million in endowment donations, £1.25 million of which was given to endow an Early Career Fellowship in Philosophy and £1.1 million to fund a graduate scholarship. I am grateful to the members of the Investment Sub-Committee, especially the external members, for their support. The College holds its investment funds mainly within the Oxford Endowment Fund with a small portion held in an environmental, social and governance (ESG) tracker fund. The Hall’s investment policy can be found on the College website and was recently reviewed and updated, with the key aim to manage and invest the entire portfolio in holdings that meet agreed ESG criteria.

The timing of the Magazine’s publication means that the 2024–2025 accounts are still three months away from being completed, but previous sets of accounts can be found on the website.

Finally, my thanks go to Stephanie Hanks, our College Accountant, and the rest of the Finance Department who continue to perform an exceptional service behind the scenes.

Eleanor Burnett, Finance Bursar and Fellow

From the Library

The Library has continued to be in heavy use this year: at the height of exam season in Trinity term, 166 students were using the Library every day. We’ve also added more than 1,500 books to the working collection, many at student request and sometimes fetched from Blackwell’s 20 minutes or less from the asking.

However, we don’t just provide books and study space to students – we also have board games, jigsaws, cushions, blankets (just returned from the laundry in time for Michaelmas, as I write this) and stress balls. This year our Trinity term ‘squash and biscuit breaks’ in the Graveyard have been enlivened with a selection of lawn games including boules and giant Jenga. We have continued our termly ‘blind date with a book’ event where, on request, we supply a mystery wrapped book to the pigeonholes of staff, students and Fellows.

The office at the top of the Library tower, formerly occupied by John Dunbabin

and Karma Nabulsi, is now a space used for multiple purposes. It has hosted art exhibitions and rather bijou drinks receptions, and been used by Junior Fellows for tutorials. But on Thursday afternoons it is open to students as a relaxation space where they can sit and enjoy the marvellous views out across Radcliffe Square and New College’s grounds. ‘An hour in the Tower’ has proved a very popular event and firmly established itself in the life of the Hall.

Last summer, the Main Library was briefly closed to readers to allow for an update to the Library’s power supply. In addition to safety and efficiency improvements, a full mains power supply was extended to all desks and USB sockets have been installed at all workspaces.

The Old Library and Exhibitions

Thanks to the continuing generosity of Honorary Fellow John Cox (1955, English), a major accession has been

made to collections held in the Old Library.

In October, John donated a unique copy of David Hockney’s Martha’s Vineyard and Other Places (London, 1985) which has three original drawings by Hockney, including two self-portraits.

In Trinity term, a 1799 eighth edition of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary was donated by David Kiggell on behalf of his brother-in-law Alexander Kirk-Wilson (1963, Philosophy). Another notable donation was a ten-volume set of The War Illustrated (1939–1946) donated by Robin Stephenson (1972, Jurisprudence) in memory of his father-in-law Douglas Frederick Cochrane, a veteran of the D-Day landings.

We have continued our programme of public openings and exhibitions showcasing treasures not only from the Old Library but also the Archives and Chattel collections. Subjects of our exhibitions this year have included the Olympic Games, Aularian MPs, ancient Egypt and the history of the Boat Club and boating in Oxford. We have welcomed

more than 3,000 people to the Old Library this year, including opening for the first time for the University Open Days. Even the Prime Minister (Honorary Fellow, 1985, BCL) popped in in February! If you are visiting College, especially with friends and family, and get in touch with us beforehand, we’ll be really happy to arrange a visit to the collection as part of your time in Oxford.

Donations to the Library

We have, as always, been fortunate to receive many donations to the Aularian, Fellows and working collections, for which we are deeply grateful. The Library received some 420 books in 2024–25. We remain particularly keen to receive works written by alumni – our special collection of Aularian authors is a really important part of our holdings and of the Hall’s heritage.

Library Staff

Jake Banyard, our new Early Career Graduate Trainee Library Assistant, has completed his first year with us, taking part

in the Bodleian Library’s long-established trainee programme. In September, Jake will begin a part-time Library Master’s degree at UCL, which will be fully supported by the College as part of his role.

During Trinity term and the Long Vacation, Laura Ellis joined to help us in the Library and also serve as Deputy Editor of this issue, for which we, and the Librarian and Editor in particular, are deeply grateful.

Donations 2024–25

We are also grateful for the firm support and wise counsel of our Library Fellow, Professor Andrew Kahn, who has continued this year despite being on sabbatical – which is above and beyond the call of duty.

Finally, many, many congratulations to Deputy Librarian Emma Carter and her husband, Ben, on the birth of their son, Eric Henry Blacklee, on 7 July.

Over the year the Library was the beneficiary of many gifts for the Aularian Collection, which are listed below:

AKANBI, Gold (2021, MFA)

Source: A Voice for the Voiceless Gold Akanbi, 2001

30 ; 34 : Le Petit Mort Gold Akanbi, 2023

The Art of Overcoming the 600+1 Gold Akanbi, 2023

Nought the Fool Gold Akanbi, 2024

Orion’s Belt

Gold Akanbi, 2024

DIEPPE, Tim (1989, Mathematics)

The Challenge of Islam Wilberforce Publications, 2025

FOX, Jeremy (1964, French)

Scenes from Life Bubok Editorial, 2024

GORDON, Keith (1988, Mathematics)

Closure Notices: Ending HRMC Enquiries

Claritax, 2024

Schedule 36 notices: HMRC Information Requests Claritax, 2025

HAWKINS, John (1970, Physics)

Free Masonry and Christian Canon Law

Unpublished LL.M. Dissertation, Cardiff University, 2024

The Royal Family and the Masonic Charities: The Third Canon Portal Memorial Lecture

John Hawkins, 2024

KAHN, Andrew (Fellow and Tutor in Modern Languages (Russian)), Lipovetskiĭ, Mark Naumovich (eds.)

All the World on a Page: A Critical Anthology of Modern Russian Poetry

Princeton University Press, 2025

LARKIN, Fiona (1983, English)

Rope of Sand Pindrop Press, 2023

Vital Capacity

Broken Sleep Books, 2022

National Poetry Competition Winners’ Anthology 2024

National Poetry Society, 2025

LYNCH, Michael (1961, English)

Dickens and the Law

Acropolis Publishing, 2025

MALIN, Peter (1970, English)

Being Rich in Will: Encounters with Shakespeare and Other Dramatists

Quaint Device Books, 2025

MCALPINE, Erica (A C Cooper Fellow and Tutor in English Language & Literature)

Small Pointed Things

Carcanet, 2025

MUNDAY, Rodney (1967, English)

The Road to Emmaus: A Sculptor’s Journey

SLG Press, 2024

NEWLYN, Lucy (Emeritus Fellow) (ed.)

Edward Thomas: Prose Writings Volume IV – Selected Writings on Poetry

OUP, 2023

The Forum

Lucy Newlyn, 2024

SLATER, Martin (Emeritus Fellow)

The National Debt: A Short History

Hurst, 2025

TRUELOVE, Roger (1963, History)

Inside Left

The Conrad Press, 2024

TYTLER, Graeme (1954, French and German)

Further Facets of Wuthering Heights: Selected Essays

Troubadour Publishing, 2025

WALMSLEY, Roy (1959, Literae Humaniores)

‘Indecency between Males and the Sexual Offences Act 1967’, pp. 400–7 in The Criminal Law Review, July 1978

with White, Karen Sexual Offences, Consent and Sentencing

Home Office Research Study No. 54, 1979

Personal Violence

Home Office Research Study No. 89, 1986

with Charles Lloyd

Changes in Rape Offences and Sentencing

Home Office Research Study No. 105, 1989

Special Security Units

Home Office Research Study No. 109, 1989

with Howard, Liz and White, Shelia

The National Prison Survey 1991: Main Findings

Home Office Research Study No. 128, 1992

Prison Systems in Central and Eastern Europe: Progress, Problems and the International Standards.

HEUNI (European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control) Publication Series No. 29, 1996

with Kriznik, Irena

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Co-operation Visit to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Behalf of Council of Europe, February 1998 Council of Europe, 1998

with Nestorovic, Dragan

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Co-operation Visit to Republika Srpska on Behalf of Council of Europe, November/December 1998 Council of Europe, 1999

Further Developments in the Prison Systems of Central and Eastern Europe: Achievements, Problems and Objectives

HEUNI Publication Series No. 41, 2003

With Coyle, Andrew, Fair, Helen and Jacobson, Jessica (eds.)

Imprisonment Worldwide Policy Press, 2016

WARWICK, Genevieve (1979, History) (ed.)

Art History Special Issue: Art and Technology in Early Modern Europe

John Wiley & Sons, 2016

Art History Special Issue: Art History 40: Image and History

John Wiley & Sons, 2017

Cinderella’s Glass Slipper CUP, 2022

Bernini Ephemeral and Preparatory Sculpture Routledge, 2025

WATSON, Andy (1985, Modern Languages)

Letters from Paris, 2020–2024 Andy Watson, 2024

WILLIS, Rebecca (1980, English)

Life, Death & Getting Dressed: How to Love Your Clothes and Yourself

New River Books, 2024

There were also many gifts of texts for the working collection from Fellows, alumni, student members and others. This year

From the Garden Fellow

Over the last year the careful transformation of the College gardens on the Queen’s Lane site has continued. Building on the dramatic planting of the Forum Garden – now something between a subtropical thicket and a film set, with its shimmering birch, brooding tree-ferns and two romping, huge-leaved Tetrapanax – we’ve begun working our way further around the site.

This year’s focus has been the Broadbent Garden and the graveyard area adjacent to St Peter-in-theEast. The olive tree has shot up to over ten feet, its silvery crown providing a striking focal point for the blue geraniums

particular mention must be made of the donations received from: the estate of Eric Caines (2005, History), Henrike Lähnemann (Professorial Fellow), Holly Langstaff (Fellow by Special Election), Stephen Leonard (1978, Jurisprudence) and Dave Fogg Postles (1967, History).

Gifts were also received from: Isabel Ambrose (2021, Jurisprudence), Kristiana Dahl, Eimear Fanthorpe (Lecturer in Law) and students from the Florida State University Law Summer School, amongst many others.

Thanks to everyone who has remembered the Library. We are grateful for the continued support we receive in this way.

James Howarth, Librarian and Fellow by Special Election

and agapanthus around it. The roses have been particularly good this year, and the beds have been underplanted with scented geraniums and – of all things – tomatoes, which are a favourite filler plant, thickening out tired borders in high summer with a fresh, unassuming green.

Meanwhile, the Graveyard is beginning a quiet shift towards something wilder and more wildlife friendly. A long mown central path is now flanked by areas left

to grow into meadow through the summer months – an experiment to encourage pollinators and bring a different rhythm to the space. Wild plants and old-fashioned fodder plants like sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) have been sown in pots and are growing on for planting out next summer. It is hoped that the sainfoin will be really impressive: an upright, pale pink vetchlike plant, it should fill the Graveyard in waves together with ox-eye daisies, fennel, lady’s bedstraw and knapweed. So far, so promising: wild marjoram and the parasitic yellow rattle are spreading. A major success was the removal – at long last – of the collapsed Thuja (white cedar) near the main college building: this had overshadowed the Graveyard for too long, adding little to its biodiversity in the process.

Elsewhere, the Front Quad continues to evolve after the heavy reworking in 2023–2024. The tulips were dazzling again this year – dense waves of fiery orange and wine-red in March and April – and have been followed by wine-coloured opium poppies. Then came airy clouds of Verbena bonariensis, scarlet Persicaria, red and orange dahlias, and the snazzy, embercoloured Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Torch’.

Two large metal tubs by the doors of the Chapel contain a sinister but beautiful pair of Brugmansia, the long yellow and red flowers of which have breathed out a faintly narcotic-seeming scent on summer nights. The planting on the shadier side remains a puzzle: astilbes and ferns have been trialled here, with mixed success, though Nicotiana sylvestris has once again added height and fragrance.

No garden ever fully behaves itself, though this year has thrown up fewer surprises than last. But the momentum of change is there, and it’s been a pleasure to hear from students and Fellows who have noticed and appreciated the shifts – especially from those pausing to sit or read near the olive tree or enjoy the planting in the metal troughs along the Old

Dining Hall end of the Front Quad. Those who ask have usually found we have some spare seedlings going free, so that people can take a bit of the gardens home. We hope the work ahead will continue to bring the College gardens into new and richer life.

Mark Williams, Garden Fellow and Fellow and Tutor in English Language & Literature

From the Chapel

A year of highs and lows, starting with three memorial services in Michaelmas 2024 and ending on a celebratory note with a joined colourful Corpus Christi celebration together with St Stephen’s House, Oxford.

I am grateful to Mariama Ifode-Blease who steered the life of Chapel for one year as Chaplain from February 2024 to February 2025, and who supported the Choir and College community warmly and prayerfully at a time of bereavements and transitions. Mariama continues her ministry at St James’s Picadilly, and pastoral work with the England women’s teams at the Football Association. Congratulations to the Lionesses!

About the new Chaplain: I am VicePrincipal and Director of Pastoral Studies at St Stephen’s House, an Anglican

theological college in Oxford where those preparing for ministry in the Church of England receive formational training and theological education. Interactions and collaborations between the ordinand body and the Choir and Chapel team of St Edmund Hall are and will be high on my agenda. Together with the Institute of Sacred Music, Oxford (ISMO) and the Choir of St Edmund Hall, we are planning some exciting musical adventures, including a Sung Requiem Mass at St John the Evangelist in November 2025. I will be accompanying the Choir on their annual tour to Pontigny Abbey, France.

At my first Evensong, I was taking my cue from the consecration prayer of our Chapel

from the year 1682 which acknowledges that our human efforts to confine God in time and space are futile. Yet, the prayer also states that we, following the pious example of the servants of God in all ages, have erected and dedicated houses for his service and in all humility, and with readiness of heart “devote and offer up this place, this day, for ever unto thee, and utterly separating it from all profane and common uses, doe desire to Consecrate it to thy Service only, for hearing thy Word, Celebrating thy Sacraments, and offering up the Sacrifices both of Prayer and Thanksgiving; As alsoe for the Costody of the Bodyes of thy servants that shall depart this life…”

Now, at the end of my first full term as Chaplain at St Edmund Hall, I see the role as a great gift to be shared with the wider College community. Our Chapel provides a physical place in this college to step out of the ordinary routines and pressures of life and to enter into silence and connect with our inner selves and one another. At Evensong during Trinity term 2025, we explored themes inspired by the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. It was enjoyable to see, for example, how Sr Clare-Louise from the Sisters of the Love of God brought her perspective as nun

to bear on the birth of Christ, and to be able to discuss with her and members of College community after Evensong and over meals in the Hall.

One particularly noticeable feature was the celebration with students and alumni, including the baptism of a daughter of Aularians in the underground Crypt and two marriages in Chapel, one of which featured the Hall’s first-ever simultaneous reading of the gospel in Mandarin Chinese by the parents of the groom! There were lots of opportunities to bring out the magnificent St Edmund cope. The last event of the year saw a dazzling display of liturgical vestments and even a monstrance in Chapel as we celebrated Corpus Christi together with ordinands and staff from St Stephen’s House. More joint events are planned for the coming year, so watch this space!

During Michaelmas, we will be exploring all the parts and fascinating facets of Evensong itself, including reflections on psalms, canticles, music, silence and prayers as ways of sanctifying time and space. All are welcome to attend Evensong followed by drinks on Sundays in term time, at 6.15pm.

The Revd Andreas Wenzel, Chaplain and Fellow by Special Election

From the Director of Music

Wandering through the Hall this year, you may well have heard music in unexpected corners: the College Choir rehearsing for Compline in the Crypt, a lunchtime recital in the Old Dining Hall, or jazz over breakfast in the Wolfson Hall to cure the ‘Fifth Week Blues’. After the sad loss of my esteemed predecessor, Dr James Whitbourn, music at the Hall has returned with renewed energy and spirit. As a newcomer to the Hall, it has been a joy to see (and hear) our community’s strong commitment to music in many forms, building on the foundations so excellently set up by Dr Whitbourn, while also striking out in new directions.

Of primary importance has been to revive the Music Society, giving our students the structure and support to pursue their own musical interests in College. Under the leadership of clarinettist and student David Hrushovski (2023, Philosophy and Modern Languages), the new committee have shown indefatigable creativity and gusto, organising their own agenda and meetings, elections and a host of events that weave music into daily life. Our lunchtime recitals, launched as a fortnightly experiment, quickly became a weekly highlight, filling the Old Dining Hall or Chapel with junior, middle and senior

members of the Hall, as well as visitors and friends. The sheer range of talent has been astonishing, especially in a college where music is not currently offered as a degree subject.

Beyond formal recitals, the Music Society have also supported informal initiatives, including the successful ‘Week 5 Blues at Breakfast’, headlined by a student jazz band, and several social events including an open mic night. The Society’s continued development will be central to sustaining the broader musical culture that is now flourishing at the Hall, with future plans including a College-wide concert, more social events, joint initiatives with other college music societies and (if rumours prove true) a Teddy Hall musical.

At the heart of this continued growth stands the College Choir. They continue to sing Evensong every Sunday, offering an ambitious mix of music from the choral tradition, balancing well-known pillars of the repertory with modern compositions and rediscovered treasures. For the first time, we now offer individual singing lessons to every member, under the expert teaching of Julie Cooper and, as of last year, Carys Lane. The improvement has been remarkable, not just in terms of the Choir’s vocal development and their improved group sonority, but also their individual and collective confidence and commitment.

The Choir’s weekly schedule has expanded to include candlelit Compline in the Crypt. This popular nighttime service draws in significant numbers of students and members of the public, who find in it a calm and reflective close of the day – helped, no doubt, by port and hot chocolate afterwards. Their busy year has also included participation in the biennial Medieval Mystery Play Cycle; the yearly joint Eucharist in the University Church for Ash Wednesday with the choirs of University, Brasenose and Balliol Colleges, which included a performance

of Sir James MacMillan’s extremely difficult Miserere; and, of course, Carols in the Quad (with a student brass band). They also sang at the memorial services for Professors John Knight and Stuart Ferguson, in representation, and service, of the Hall community.

In Hilary term we welcomed the new Chaplain, Andreas Wenzel, who with his profound liturgical understanding, thoughtful guest preachers and his opening sermon on the symbolism of our Chapel, set the tone for a chaplaincy rooted in deep engagement with Hall life. Evensong attendance has risen significantly, due in no small part to the Choir’s growing musical excellence as well, with members of the congregation

– increasingly drawn from the public –often requiring additional seating in the antechapel.

We welcomed nine new members into the Choir, all but one drawn from across students at the Hall. As Dr Whitbourn wrote here previously, the fact that our choir is almost exclusively comprised of students (and Fellows) from our community is a testament to the importance of music and the Chapel at the Hall, and its impact on our students.

Last year also brought with it some farewells. We said goodbye to Chaplain Dr Mariama Ifode-Blease in Hilary term, with a performance of If ye Love Me by Thomas Tallis (Mariama’s favourite composer), followed by speeches from the Principal and myself. And of course, the final Evensong of Trinity term was not without some tears, with the Choir performing maturely, confidently and generously in an overflowing Chapel. Over dessert in the SCR, I offered some words of farewell to each of our 11(!) Choir leavers individually, with the Principal handing out Teddy Hall bears, and all saying the College toast together – a bittersweet moment of celebration tinged with Hall Spirit. Among them, Senior Organ Scholar Alyssa Chan (2021, Engineering)

leaves for the Birmingham Conservatoire, to continue her musical studies on the prestigious postgraduate course in Organ Performance.

The Hall now boasts not one but three choirs. Alongside the College Choir, the non-auditioned Teddy Hall Chorus, directed by Abigail FernándezArias (2024, Modern Languages and Linguistics) and Luke Mably (2024, Modern Languages), offers a welcoming entry point into music-making. They sang outdoors before Formal Hall in Michaelmas and gave a full recital in Hilary. The St Edmund Consort, led by Professor Henrike Lähnemann, continues to sing two Complines each term in multiple languages, blending scholarship with performance.

Music has also been integral to College celebrations. At the St Edmund Day Feast, Luke Boulton (2022, Medicine), Ekaterina Rahr-Bohr (2021, Modern Languages) and Aaron Rambow Czarny (2023, Mathematics) played an ebullient Beethoven Piano Trio. At the Diwali formal, Manjistha Datta (2024, DPhil Psychiatry) sang a piece of Indian classical music. For Chinese New Year, one of our Organ Scholars, Michelle Ng (2021, Mathematics), played an arrangement of

a traditional Chinese song on the Hall’s magnificent Steinway B. And at the Charter Dinner, alumna and violinist Gabriele Brasaite (2019, Chemistry), now studying at the Royal College of Music, came back to perform a piece of Clara Schumann – on a violin belonging to Professor Lähnemann’s family!

Behind the scenes, quiet improvements have supported this flourishing. The damp Andrew Garlick harpsichord was moved to the Music Room, tuned and restored, and the Choir Vestry has been fitted with new robe pigeonholes and a practice keyboard. The Music Room now has an electric drum kit (generously donated by Theo Breakspear) and new equipment, and will benefit from the installation of some artwork, curated by our Chattels & Pictures Fellow, Professor Jonathan Yates

Looking ahead, next term will see the

launch of Music at St Edmund Hall, a new programme of concerts, workshops and talks that will open our doors wider to the public while giving our students new opportunities to shine. The Choir will return to Pontigny Abbey in September, with the added adventure of performing in the nearby town of Noyers for the very first time. And there are early conversations about bringing music into the classrooms of Orchard Meadow Primary, our twinned school – a chance for Teddy Hall students to share their skills and inspire the next generation.

After a year of transition, musical life at Teddy Hall is once again thriving, built on strong foundations, fuelled by student creativity and set to flourish in the years ahead.

Carlos Rodríguez Otero, Director of Music and Fellow by Special Election

From the Outreach and Admissions Manager

This year marked another successful chapter for outreach at St Edmund Hall. There has been change in the Access & Outreach Coordinator role – Rebecca Smithson sadly left the College in August 2024, after two years of valuable contributions to the outreach programme. Following Rebecca’s departure, Calum Stewart took the role for the academic year 2024–2025, before taking up a teaching position in September 2025. Despite a quieter Michaelmas due to staff absence, our programmes bounced back to life in Hilary, enabling us to engage with over 2,500 prospective students across Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

The Unlock Oxford programme continues to go from strength to strength. The urban stream welcomed over 200 targeted

students from inner-city schools in Derby and Leicester across four residentials in March and April. Students took part in academic taster sessions, tackled Oxbridge myths and gained confidence in their future aspirations, with 82% saying

they are now likely to apply to Oxford. Meanwhile, the rural stream worked with over 220 students from across the two counties, offering guidance on A-level choices, university applications and student finance. Plans are underway to expand the provision for targeted rural schools by hosting enhanced school visits to Oxford, featuring broader content and a more in-depth experience.

Our work as part of the Oxford for East Midlands consortium continues into its fifth year, and through Oxford NextGen we led in-school visits and hosted five college days for our eight partner schools. The highlight for students completing the four-year programme is a residential focused on crafting the most competitive application possible. The residential combines application workshops and leads directly into the University Open Day and a chance to explore the wider university.

The Big Think competition saw more applications than ever before, with over 270 students submitting five-minute video answers on a range of big questions set by tutors at the Hall. You can read more about the competition in Calum’s report on p. 97.

In recent years, the College has partnered with Orchard Meadow Primary School in Blackbird Leys, as part of a ‘twinning’ initiative led by Trinity College and the

Oxford Hub. The school serves an area of high socioeconomic disadvantage, with many pupils having never left the estate where they live. The twinning programme works in-school with pupils and hosts enrichment visits to St Edmund Hall. Students from the undergraduate and postgraduate communities have signed up to deliver mentoring sessions at Orchard Meadow, with 96 of these taking place over the 2024–2025 academic year. In May, a group of Year 3 students visited the Hall and enjoyed a treasure hunt, an engaging talk on fossils from Dr Luke Parry, Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences, and then headed over the road to explore the Botanic Garden. It was a ‘five-star trip’ according to one of the pupils and was very well received by senior staff at the school. Many thanks to the Director of Development, Andrew Vivian, and the JCR, who led the visit. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the coming years.

Our Offer-Holders’ Day in February continues to be rewarding and wholesome, and this year saw 80 offerholders welcomed to the Hall to meet current staff and students and get to know the College they may soon call home. From feedback, encouragingly, all attendees left with a positive impression of Teddy Hall, and 84% felt more likely to accept their offer after attending.

Direct engagement with schools remains at the heart of our work. We hosted 38 school visits to the College and delivered 62 in-school sessions, including a roadshow week in October alongside four student ambassadors that reached over 600 students.

Our outreach work wouldn’t be nearly as effective without the energy and commitment of our student ambassadors. We are lucky enough to have a team of over 60 enthusiastic and engaging student ambassadors who welcome school groups to the College, provide insightful tours

and run small group discussion exercises intended to emulate Oxford’s tutorial teaching. The calibre of our ambassadors is well reflected in a quote from the Executive Director of Post-16 Education at a trust in Derby: “In 20 years of school visits to Oxford, these are the best student ambassadors that I have encountered.”

Our JCR Access Officers, Jade Vohra (2023, Physics) and Alex Berresford (2022, Engineering), also piloted a STEM Study Day in Loughborough, offering subject-specific workshops on admissions tests and interview questions for students looking to apply to subjects in the sciences. This was well received, and we will look to make it a regular fixture in future.

It’s been another rewarding year for outreach at Teddy Hall, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead. With new ideas, strengthened partnerships and the continued enthusiasm of our students and staff, we’re excited to see our work grow even further in 2025–2026.

Luke Maw, Outreach & Admissions Manager

From the Tutor for Visiting Students

This academic year we had 47 Visiting Students at the Hall, studying a wide range of subjects alongside our matriculated undergraduate cohort. I was impressed, as always, by their enthusiasm, and their willingness to navigate new academic systems and the challenges of living and learning at Oxford. Our Visiting Students benefit from the expertise and care of our College tutors and staff, and the warmth and supportive atmosphere of the College community. While our academic programme is rigorous and demanding,

the majority of Visiting Students found time this year to pursue extracurricular activities, including music, sports, drama, and other clubs and societies.

In most practical matters, the Visiting Students engage with the College’s structures in the same way as our matriculated undergraduates, including the Welfare team, College Office and Bursary. This year’s Visiting Students have praised the College staff, the city, the tutorial system, their accommodation and the Teddy Hall community at large. It almost goes without saying that one of their favourite things has been the high quality of our food.

As in previous years, I had the privilege of teaching several students for Comparative Literature and Film Studies. Our Visiting Students have brought a broad base of knowledge to bear on their studies, and it has been a joy to see them getting to grips with the tutorial system and becoming increasingly confident in their analyses and arguments. Whether they are here for a term, two terms or the whole academic

year, our Visiting Students come prepared to get the most out of their experience.

The Visiting Students also benefitted from the guidance of our two Visiting Student Junior Advisers, James Altunkaya (2022, DPhil Population Health) and Shivani Suresh (2023, DPhil Psychiatry). They play an important role in supporting the Visiting Students, welcoming them upon arrival, hosting informal drop-in sessions and providing a source of advice. We bid both James and Shivani farewell this year, and I would like to commend them for their superb work in this role.

Finally, the Visiting Student programme could not function without the outstanding work of colleagues in the College Office, in particular Admissions Officer Scarlett Short and Academic Records Manager Melanie Brickell.

I look forward to the arrival of our new cohort of Visiting Students in October 2025.

Alexandra Lloyd, Fellow by Special Election in German, Senior Dean and Tutor for Visiting Students

From the President of the Junior Common Room

It is my pleasure to report on another fantastic year for the JCR. Enthusiasm and Hall Spirit have long been mainstays within the undergrad community and they were once again on display with many members getting involved in a huge array of activities.

Freshers’ Week was, as always, packed with events, excitement and activity as Teddy veterans helped new faces settle

seamlessly into College life. Our Entz Officers, Harriet Humfress (2023, Fine Art) and Tiffany You (2023, PPE), came back from the summer vac with the perfect social calendar prepared with events and activities spanning all the best places across town, whether that be the ice cream parlour, the ice skating rink or iced drinks at the karaoke bar. It was so lovely to see new friendships form and memories made.

Michaelmas term culminated in the annual Oxmas festivities, as the beautifully decorated Front Quad, equipped with Christmas tree and glistening fairy lights,

was the scene for song and poetry during Carols in the Quad. The Christmas spirit reached a climax with the JCR’s Christmas Dinner in the Wolfson, which concluded with speeches from our beloved outgoing JCR President Fizza Zaidi (2022, English) and Chairman Euan Simmonds (2022, Engineering), followed by the not-sotraditional rendition of WonderHall. Our return in January was marked by the same old Hilary weather. On the other hand, we had a new JCR Committee packed with new talent from our Fresher intake. A particular highlight of Hilary for second years, such as myself, has always been Halfway Hall. This event marks the halfway point for many undergrad degrees and is celebrated with formal dinner at College before a big social.

The high point of the evening is always the ‘most likely to’ section where we as a cohort hold an award ceremony with some weird and wacky criteria. This is an evening filled with nostalgia for how quickly our degrees fly by but also such a wonderful celebration of our beloved Teddy community.

Trinity term also saw the long-awaited Charity Formal, organised by our everdiligent Charity Rep, Nyle Parvez (2023, Experimental Psychology). The evening saw many ways to donate to our chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, including a post-dinner raffle boasting a cheese board, a fruit hamper and fine wine amongst the prizes. Hopefully, as with my predecessor Fizza’s work on the International Women’s Day Formal (which was once again a huge success), this marks the start of a new event in the calendar to celebrate and promote what we love and appreciate at the Hall.

While we’re on the topic of charity work, I am also very proud to report on the ever-strengthening bond we are forging with Oxford Mutual Aid through termly donations and volunteering work. It is so amazing to build strong links with the local community, helping us support and appreciate the people of Oxford.

As May rolled around once more, we experienced the emergence of the sun in all its glory. As a JCR we enjoyed the huge array of lovely green spaces which Oxford has to offer, whether that be University Parks, Christ Church Meadow, or even dips in the lake at Hinksey (for those willing to risk the waterborne diseases). The summer at Oxford is of course not better encapsulated than at Summer VIIIs where we sent a flotilla of boats out onto the water. While our fortunes were mixed on the river, the atmosphere was wonderful and the boathouse BBQ tasty as ever.

What is undoubtedly the focal point of JCR life for many is the sporting side of things. Teddy Hall has a reputation to uphold as the sportiest place around town and we did our best to enter into every Cuppers possible, from the most run-of-the-mill sports to events the mind can scarcely even compute. We had teams in rugby, rowing, netball, cricket, football and swimming while at the same time sending brave souls off to octopush, lifesaving, go-karting and sailing. While our big team sports had less success this year than normal (to our collective sadness), there were some silver linings which must be mentioned. It would be amiss to leave out our glorious Hockey Cuppers win at Iffley Road Sports Centre where a last-second, whistle-beating goal propelled us to glory – another year, another trophy.

Other aspects of social life at the Hall have also been thriving – our artistic side has seen both the regular ‘Knit and Knatter’ and flower-crown making for May Day take place. Welfare drop-in sessions went alongside Bops, WOTH/QUOTH and JCRT (tea). I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to the JCR Committee for doing such a crucial job keeping us entertained, together and fed.

Already we have begun planning to welcome our new crop of eager faces into the Hall. At the very same time we gear up for our final exams and the looming venture out into the big wide world. What remains a constant at the Hall, though, is a great sense of community and togetherness. I also want to wholeheartedly thank everyone who has organised or participated in the many events and activities we have put on over the past 12 months. I can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Jake Tommasi (2023, History)

From the President of the Middle Common Room

As the St Edmund Hall MCR, our mission continues to be the unwavering support of our postgraduate members in all aspects of their College experience –academic, social and personal. This year has been one of transition, renewal and consolidation, marked by both challenges and remarkable progress across our community.

At the heart of our efforts has remained our commitment to ensuring that the MCR is a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for all members. The ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and other parts of the world, and their global reverberations, have profoundly affected many within our community. We have sought to respond with empathy and understanding, by fostering dialogue, offering mutual support and reaffirming the MCR’s role as a space where all voices feel heard and valued.

This year also witnessed steady progress on the Norham Project, which is now nearing completion. The prospect of our graduate community returning to an improved and modernised Norham Gardens site marks a defining step forward

for the Hall’s postgraduate life. We look forward to the reopening of this dedicated space, which will further strengthen the sense of belonging and continuity that lies at the core of the Teddy Hall MCR.

On a lighter note, the College punt was officially back in service this year, a small but much-missed symbol of Hall life that once again found its way to the Cherwell under the expert hands (and occasional missteps) of our members. Beyond the riverbanks, the MCR has seen a vibrant surge of activity in co-curricular areas, with Teddy Hall students excelling in dance, music and drama, continuing to bring energy and creativity to the wider University scene.

The success of this year would not have been possible without the dedication of our committee and the collaboration of the wider college community. In particular, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Duncan Lyster (2023, DPhil Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics), who has been instrumental in supporting the MCR during my absence. His calm leadership, thoughtfulness and commitment to the Hall Spirit have been invaluable, and I am confident that he will lead the MCR with distinction in the coming year.

As we look ahead, we remain guided by the same ethos that has defined our community for nearly six decades – to foster inclusivity, compassion and excellence, and to ensure that every postgraduate member of Teddy Hall finds not just a place to study, but a place to belong.

(H)all the love, Siddhant Dhingra (2021, DPhil Organic Chemistry)

From Student Clubs and Societies

Mark

Blandford-Baker

, Domestic Bursar, writes as Senior Treasurer of the Amalgamated Clubs

The quantity and quality of the various reports below is testament to a thriving level of participation in sports this past year. Many others have been training and competing, or enjoying a recreational approach in many other sports outside of the college club environment. We have also had large numbers winning Blues and Half-Blues at Varsity level, as the list of recipients shows. Taking part in activities like these is great for mental and physical health as well as enjoyable. Time studying in Oxford is also an opportunity to learn new sporting skills or to develop ones learnt at school, including activities not always universally available. The bond of friendship formed in the sporting environment is often one of the strongest throughout life.

The same is true for the various societies

Sports Clubs

Men’s Association Football

Captains: Xandy Feldman and Ishaan

Choudhary

Teddy Hall enjoyed another successful and exciting football campaign in the 2024–2025 season. The 1s, following successive

– it is really heartening to see the revival of a Music Society in College, bringing together a range of talents both choral and instrumental. The ever-increasing demand for yoga and salsa has been met with additional support, and the provision in the Pontigny Room of wall mirrors and a barre. Knit and Knatter was among one of the new societies in the year, and creative writing, social running and art have all been busy. We now give the window of the Staff Room (former shop front) to the Fine Art students to show their work on a rotational basis.

I write as the new academic year is about to begin. It is very encouraging to see so many clubs and societies being registered, including new ones. During this term I am seeking to further improve our access to sports facilities in the city; we already now have a membership for all Hall students to use the Iffley Road gym and swimming pool without cost to the individual.

promotions in the last two years, played in the Premier division, testing ourselves against the very best of the college football scene. The season started solidly with an exciting 2-2 draw against rivals Keble – there were many promising signs of what was to come. Then came Cuppers. Unfortunately, after the huge excitement of last year and reaching the final, the 1s were not able to replicate the same form and suffered a devastating loss at the hands of the eventual winners, St Catz.

The league season continued largely successfully and, after two rounds of fixtures had been played, we had beaten Keble, St Catz and St Peter’s (three of the

four Cuppers semi-finalists) in league matches, giving us plenty of positives to work with next season. Two games that stick in the memory particularly were St Peter’s at home and Keble away. We inflicted a crushing 3-1 defeat on St Peter’s, exhibiting some classy football and some fine goals. The Keble victory was an absolute thriller, ultimately finishing 5-4 to the Hall. Having raced into a lead starting the game with only ten players, a topsy-turvy affair eventually ended in a huge victory, going some way to avenging the Cuppers heartbreak of the previous season. Despite Keble’s all-star line-up, the men of the Hall fought valiantly to come out on top.

The 2s also enjoyed another exciting campaign, reaching the Reserves Cuppers final and finishing runners-up. Overall, another good season for the footballers of the Hall and we are looking forward greatly to what next year will bring, as our 1s head into the season captained by Oli Williams (2024, Modern Languages and Linguistics) and Rory Lewis (2024, Jurisprudence) – two standout performers from this year who will both be in the second year at the start of next season.

Xandy Feldman (2023, Medicine)

Women’s Association Football

Captains: Mara Wuelfing and Assia Storey

Women’s football has had another great season, with members across the College getting involved regardless of prior football experience. The players themselves and the fans who came to spectate brought a buzzing atmosphere which was really positive to see as a progression for women’s football!

Our Cuppers run was noteworthy: we made it to the semi-final, one of the best runs the Teddy women’s team has made over the years. It started off with an easy forfeit from the opposition to take us into the quarter-final. The quarter-finals were against Heaters (St Peter’s and St Hilda’s), opposition we had encountered in the Plate semi-finals last year. This sparked confidence in the squad as we knew we had beaten this team before and we were stronger this year with one Blues player and four University 2s players. There was hope a second Blue, our new Irish national team striker Kate Parsons (2024, Medicine), would be able to join us for our matches. Alas, she was injured for the season so we had to make do without her. And that we did! We comfortably won against Heaters with a 4-1 scoreline putting us on the fast track to the semifinals.

In the semi-finals we faced MMW (Merton, Mansfield, Wadham), the team we beat on penalties last year to win the Plate final. However, this year they had the Blues keeper in goal which made them a difficult opponent. At half-time we were down 0-1, but persistence from the Teddy side meant that after full-time it was 1-1. Extra time followed, which was felt by tired legs. Unfortunately, MMW were able to score another goal in the second half of extra time. It was a valiant effort from the Teddy Football team, but MMW played well and so were able to make it to the final. Regardless of the result, we had lots of spectators to support us and the team was

still proud of how far we had come.

There is lots of promise looking forward to next season, when Assia (2022, Geography) and I pass on captaincy to Kate Parsons (2024, Medicine) and Aoife Reynolds (2024, Jurisprudence).

Mara Wuelfing (2022, Neuroscience)

Boxing

This year brought a brand-new sporting spectacle to the Hall. In early Hilary, Ben Carvin (2024, Physics and Philosophy) and I decided to take the plunge and take part in Oxford’s first official Wilder Fight Night. Being the inaugural event, we had no clue what the next few weeks would have in store for us but that was exactly the type of excitement I was looking for by signing up.

We embarked on over 12 weeks of intense boxing training at Oxford Science Fitness & Boxing Gym with a dedicated coach in preparation for the big night. For me, those 12 weeks consisted of rigorous training (sparring and general gym work) and a strict diet plan to make sure I was in peak condition when I laced up my gloves. There was no other choice; there is simply no hiding in the ring.

I had never so much as thrown a punch before, let alone participated in a combat sport, so I knew just how much of a challenge I had set myself. I still remember getting reprimanded for my first feeble jab or my first wayward cross.

We trained with students from other Oxford colleges and from Oxford Brookes University. It was such a strange feeling knowing that you would eventually be fighting someone you had been training alongside, week in, week out.

Despite being an individual sport, I had never seen such camaraderie and closeness before. We were all thrown into the deep end together and the only way to succeed was to push each other to our absolute limits. There were plenty of setbacks along the way. Fellow Aularian Dhaksha Vivekanandan (2024, Economics and Management) was also meant to fight and was with us for much of the training before a leg injury devastatingly ruled her out.

By sheer coincidence, Ben Carvin and I were paired up to fight each other on the night. It was a battle of the Hall. Kwame Appafram (2023, PPE) organised an impromptu press conference a week before the fight, which took place after a JCR meeting. Members of the JCR bombarded us with probing questions that were met with elusive answers, creating a palpable tension in the build-up.

The night itself was a huge success. Oxford Town Hall’s elegance was on full display as the backdrop to our canvas. The event was sold out and the crowd were itching to see some excellent boxing on display. Whilst they did not get that all night, every fighter showed an unbelievable amount of courage and tenacity that only someone who has been in the ring can understand.

Our fight was the first of the night and so the crowd were truly gripped by the suspense. We both had brought fellow students and friends from home to cheer us on. I chose fellow Aularian Joseph Omoluogbe (2023, Economics and Management) to be in my corner and

shout words of encouragement to keep me going, which he did excellently. After some theatrical walkouts, we both took our spots in our respective corners and stared each other down. Much of the fight after the first bell is a blur. In that type of situation, your instincts kick in and you rely on all your training to get you through the fight. Any semblance of a game plan is difficult to stick to.

The Colosseum-like atmosphere is something I will never forget. The crowd roared at every heavy exchange or near miss. We could just about hear the rallying cries of motivation from our friends penetrate the general clamour which seized the Town Hall. In the end, after three exhausting rounds and a very close fight, Ben was declared the winner.

This whole event was really about something much bigger. Oxford Fight Night raised over £6.5k for the OddBalls Foundation. This is a charity that focuses on raising awareness of testicular cancer. This included a generous £500 donation from St Edmund Hall JCR to support us as fighters. After every hard gym or sparring session where I started to doubt myself, I remembered what I was fighting for and it made me push on. I now have an unwavering respect for the sport – it has taught me so much about myself and has allowed me to grow as a person.

Ishaan Choudhary (2023, Jurisprudence)

Chess

Captain: Rick Chen

This has been a monumental year for the Teddy Hall Chess team. With almost all existing members graduating last year, nerves were in the air at the start of the year as we waited for new people to join. The Freshers did not disappoint: Elizabeth Finn (2024, Mathematics and Statistics), Zexuan Huang (2024, Mathematics and Statistics) and Benjamin Lemkin (Visiting Student) all answered the Hall’s call. Led by Captain Rick Chen (2022, Mathematics) and Treasurer Aaron McKenzie (2022, Mathematics), the team headed for the prize of every Oxford chess player’s dream – the Chess Cuppers.

To bring ultimate glory home, every college chess team must battle through an eight-round group stage before the final round. Chess may not be a physical game, but its intensity can be overlooked. With each game taking as much as 30 minutes, the whole event typically lasts seven hours, making it easily one of the longest sport competitions at the University.

The team was off to a fantastic start as we entered the playing hall with an extra player, a feat few other colleges had achieved. This victory was short-lived, however, as the organisers soon requested for one of our members to fill the gap in another team. Reluctant to leave anyone behind, we ultimately decided to roll the wheel of fate. Aaron ended up being the one to leave the team.

Unfortunately, memory gets blurred once the games started. It is hard to put the actual games into words. For me, Chess Cuppers is not only a battle of wits, but also more importantly an emotional rollercoaster. Every handshake, every eye contact, every exchange of words plays a part. What makes the competition so special is not the games themselves, but the fact that every win and every loss was shared by fellow teammates. One highlight of the day was when the team grabbed

sandwiches from Taylor’s and had lunch together in the Front Quad. After nine rounds of tough battles, Hall members returned with a solid overall placement. A special shout out to Aaron who got second place as part of the formidable team of substitutes!

Next year, we are looking forward to further expansions of the team (hopefully with some non-mathematicians joining). With the fresh talents we got this year, the future of chess at Teddy Hall is surely secured.

Rick Chen (2022, Mathematics)

Croquet

President: Jasper Singh

Captain: Charles Sharpe

On the back of an extraordinary Cuppers campaign last year, winning at the final bell, the confidence in this young and vibrant group this year was ‘bubbling’, to put it succinctly. As a result, the team saw a straight triple bypass, placing us directly into the round of 16 for our first match. The squad made the most of these three back-to-back-to-back byes by practicing their croquets, roquets and, most importantly, continuations. The first training session saw many familiar faces,

and also many old ones. World-renowned Australian International Charles Sharpe (2023, DPhil Astrophysics) rallied the troops as SEHACC welcomed the likes of Cassandra (Tatenda) Mbanje (2024, MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology) and James Bacon (2024, DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) into the squad. Unfortunately, the expertise of Edward Blackman (2023, Environmental Research (NERC DTP)) was greatly missed this year, with him out for the season.

They say you should never meet your heroes. Keble College Association Croquet Club met Oliver Ogden (2019, Engineering) and Jasper Singh (2021, DPhil Materials) in the fourth round. 26-0.

Charles and Daisy Bressington (2022, DPhil History) tidied the corners, 1-0, whoomph.

Off the back of this win and the victory last year, the group decided to take things up a notch. A big change in preparation followed – from low-intensity-interval training (LIIT) to a high-intensityinterval training (HIIT) approach – a true testament to the squad’s dedication to raising their standards once again this year. However, it soon became clear the squad was most definitely not in HIIT condition.

A messy mismatch saw SEHACC pitted against a Blues-squad-filled Pembroke side. Daisy and Jasper were unfortunately unavailable to participate in the match due to academic commitments, however, once again, Ronald Cvek (2023, CDT SABS) stepped in to fill the gaps alongside household name, Charles Sharpe. Tatenda and Kevin also took off the training wheels in what was an exhilarating match.

Unfortunately, after a tale filled with twists, turns and fumbles, a few indecisive calls, and some inconsistent officiating, SEHACC were knocked out by the underdogs

PCACC. Not the season the squad hoped for, however, many lessons were learned. Until next year – SEHACC will be back.

Floreat Aula!

Jasper Singh (2021, DPhil Materials)

Hockey

Captains: Alex Adair and Sara Riolo

SEHHC has enjoyed a truly remarkable season, capped off with an historic victory in the Mixed College Hockey Cuppers final against LMH/Lincoln/Corpus Christi.

The final was nothing short of a thriller. In the sweltering heat, the prospect of an umpired 70-minute game appeared an almost Herculean task, but the Hall produced a performance full of grit, flair and determination.

An early strike from Alex Burson (2022, Geography) gave Teddy a deserved lead, before goalkeeper Ollie Monblat (2023, PPE) was called into action, pulling off a crucial penalty flick save to keep us ahead at the break. Fuelled by JCRfunded refreshments and the unwavering support of the Hall ultras on the touchline, it was all to play for. However, as legs tired and the heat grew oppressive, the Hall fell firmly under the cosh. Unable to escape our own half, even with Fresher Henry Henderson (2024, Medicine) bombing aerials downfield, Teddy’s stoic

defence was forced to hold firm for what seemed like hours. Heartbreakingly, with just two minutes to go, LMH/Lincoln/ Corpus Christi equalised. Yet Teddy never wavered. As the final seconds fell off the clock, Fresher Jess Cottee (2024, Geography) intercepted on the halfway line, and danced through the midfield with a weaving run, before finding Tom Rawlinson (2023, Earth Sciences) at the far post to smash home a winner with what would be the very final touch of the game. Jubilant pandemonium rightfully ensued.

Our road to the Cuppers final had been equally memorable. A feisty draw against Hertford, and a hard-fought victory over St Catz/Somerville saw us win our group. Having then dispatched Brasenose/St Anne’s in the quarters, we were confronted by a formidable Trinity/ Wadham/Queen’s team composed almost entirely of Men’s University players in the semis. The Hall emerged victorious in characteristically dramatic fashion thanks to the return of ex-Vice-Captain Poppy Buckley (2021, Cell and Systems Biology), who rocketed a late winner from the tightest of angles.

Huge credit goes to the entire extended squad. From past Captains Leo Brake (2021, Mathematics) and Bella Brown (2022, English) to the extremely skilful cohort of Freshers, every member of SEHHC was incredibly enthusiastic and committed. Much is owed to our weekly team brunches too, which fuelled performance and amended hangovers alike.

Best of luck to new Captains Agi Crowther (2024, English) and Evie Chappell (2024, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry): back-to-back Cuppers titles pending… Alex Adair (2023, English)

Captain: Jack Gillespie

It is safe to say that the Hall was not the favourite in Lifesaving Cuppers, with no members of the team actively training in the sport. However, closer inspection of the scratch team revealed that they were not to be underestimated: aside from possessing bags of Hall Spirit, Erin FraserSmith (2023, Medicine) brought twelve years of competitive lifesaving experience to the team, while Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography) was an active beach lifeguard. Blues swimmer Tobias Lloyd (2022, Chemistry) and triathlete Luke Nijkamp (2022, Engineering) rounded out the team, supplying the necessary aquatic ability.

After having the ruleset explained to us several times by the eternally patient Oxford University Lifesaving Society, we learned that the contest consisted of relays in throw-line and swimming rescues, and in completion of an entertaining underwater obstacle course. Taking to the course with enthusiasm if not expectation, we set a good time in what we considered to be our strongest event: the obstacle course. This was followed by a surprisingly good performance in the throw-line event, despite occasional fumbles. This left us head-to-head with the favourites, Balliol, for the swim rescue, where we alternated between acting as the ‘rescuer’ and as

the world’s most cooperative casualties. By the third leg, it was apparent that our technical inexperience was outweighed by a combination of swimming skill and the ability to be very streamlined ‘unconscious casualties’.

After an anxious and very cold wait to receive the results generated through lifesaving’s infamously arcane scoring system, it was revealed that Teddy had unexpectedly claimed victory in every event, as well as winning overall. The surprising win against supposedly superior opponents surely reaffirms the fundamental superiority of Hall students compared with those from all other colleges.

Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography)

Netball

Captain: Lydia Pedley

SEHNC has had an incredible year, full of perseverance and team spirit. We played weekly matches in the Michaelmas League and, despite occasionally being short on players, we finished joint fifth – just ahead of Christ Church and St Anne’s. It’s been fantastic to welcome back returning players while also seeing lots of new faces getting involved in college fixtures and Saturday training at Magdalen College School (MCS).

Saturday sessions at MCS were a huge

success, with strong attendance and amazing enthusiasm. These sessions not only improved our skills but also helped strengthen team spirit on the court.

One of the real highlights of the season was Women’s Cuppers. We put in an outstanding performance, winning three out of four pool matches and only narrowly missing out on a semi-final spot on goal difference. The team played brilliantly throughout, showing resilience and determination, particularly in our final match against Balliol. Unfortunately, during that game, our star player Annie Oakes (2023, Jurisprudence) suffered a knee injury, which ultimately contributed to our loss. We’re wishing Annie a speedy recovery and can’t wait to have her back on court soon!

After the success of Women’s Cuppers, we were hopeful for Mixed Cuppers. But, despite some fantastic games resulting in one win, one draw and one loss, it wasn’t quite enough to make it to the quarterfinals. All of the team played valiantly until the final whistle blew – it was a great effort from everyone who played and it was great to have some sideline support!

A huge thanks to everyone who has played this year. It’s been an exciting and rewarding season for SEHNC and hopefully we can continue this into next year!

Lydia Pedley (2023, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry)

Octopush

Captain: Thomas Early

After a year’s hiatus, Teddy Hall Octopush returned to the Rosenblatt Pool in force, determined to reclaim the title. Indeed, the team were so focused that hitherto unheard-of measures such as ‘practice’ and ‘organisation’ were implemented. The team consisted of star forward Felix Mottram (2022, History), aquatic

sports stalwart Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography), breath-holding specialist Dean Freeley (Visiting Student), and first-time octopushers Thomas Early (2022, Mathematics) and Abi LovelockBlair (2024, Geography) bolstered by two international transfers, Akaraseth Puranasamriddhi (2022, DPhil Geography and the Environment) and Arnaud Bedrossian (Visiting Student), both hailing from the octopush superpower of Canada. The tournament was intense, with a second place finish in the round robin leaving an uphill struggle in the elimination rounds. A hard-fought semi-final resulted in a narrow 7-5 victory against a skilled and very physical chimera team comprised entirely of Blues water polo players. Exhausted and coming up against their round-robin nemesis, Merton/Brasenose, the Hall team were very much underdogs going into the final.

Sustained positional play prevented Merton/Brasenose from building too much of a lead against the exhausted Teddy side, while slowly grinding down the opposition until we could bring our underwater advantage to bear, eventually resulted in several brilliant line-breaks allowing for us to equalise. With the match now in added time, the golden goal was scored after an extended underwater battle by Felix, securing his status as perhaps the Hall’s greatest ever octopush player. The departure of a number of core players next year leaves a large gap in the team, but we have complete confidence that incoming Freshers will quickly be trained up in the vital octopush skills of mild violence, butterknife-control and, most importantly, a willingness to half drown yourself for the Hall.

Thomas Early (2022, Mathematics) and Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography)

President: Q Sun

Vice-President: Diana Jaramillo

Women*’s Captaincy team: Cat Dillman and Sabi Sulik; Angelica Rossi-Hawkins (Vice)

Men*’s Captaincy team: Will Randell; Rohit Sahasrabuddhe and Felix ClaytonMcClure (Vice)

Captain of Coxes: Ben Keates

Treasurer: Cyril Schroeder

Secretary: Ben Keates (interim)

Water Safety Officer: George Lister

Social Secretaries: Erin Fraser-Smith and Lucy Robinson

Communications Officer: Verity Black

The Boat Club, in its 164th year, found itself blasting past expectations for both the Torpids and the VIIIs, despite the challenges of poor weather, cancelled events and a large turnover of 1st boat rowers. 2024–2025 was a year full of historic happenings: a historic flood in Michaelmas, a historic win for the Women’s 4+ and a historic rise for the Men’s 3rd VIII.

As the year began, extreme rainfall

upstream of Oxford led to the Isis breaking its banks and providing an unrowable river for the beginning and the end of Michaelmas term, hampering recruitment and training, alongside cancelling the much-anticipated Tamesis Regatta (the regatta for novices). Despite this, the senior rowers rose to the challenge in the period when the river was rowable and Women’s and Men’s seniors entered a coxed four (4+) to compete in Autumn IVs, a side-by-side regatta held on 10 November on the Isis. The Men’s 4+ was, unfortunately, defeated by an extremely strong Jesus crew in the first round. The Women’s 4+ powered through the heats, beating their opponents with ease, emerging victorious from the semi-final and beating Balliol’s 4+ in the final by “not very much at all”. This was the first Autumn IVs win for SEHBC since the event’s revival in the early 2000s, constituting a historic win for the side and for the Club!

As the rains returned in Hilary term, Torpids was cut into half divisions and, thus, only our 1st Women’s and Men’s Torpids were able to race. Over a gruelling four days in Sixth Week, both the W1

and M1 tested their mettle against other college crews with an assortment of coxswains from different clubs who could navigate the stream conditions. On the Saturday, however, the W1 were able to return James O’Neill (2022, PPE) to his rightful coxing seat! Due to substantially less water time than the crews around them and a good number of rowers training for The Boat Race (Oxford University Boat Club [OUBC] triallist rowers cannot row in Torpids), both crews emerged from Torpids with steep falls: the W1 down 4 places (-1, -1, -2, RO) and the M1 down 8 places (-3, -3, -1, -1). A disappointing result for this event, however, the Club will hopefully achieve terminal velocity in the race back up the charts next year!

The Club was proud to see several current and former members participate at the OUBC Trial VIIIs in December and to represent Oxford at The Boat Race. We are particularly proud of current SEHBC members Sebastian Harker (2024, Earth Sciences), Will Randell (2023, DPhil English), Sabi Sulikova (2022, DPhil Earth Sciences), Erika Dutton (2020, Medicine), Verity Black (2020, Medicine), and alumna Tara Sallaba (2021, History), who all bled dark blue for OUBC from September until April.

After The Boat Race, and as conditions improved before Trinity term, the Captains organised the Easter training camp on the Isis, training up novice athletes, and providing empty waters for seniors to hone their technical abilities in time for VIIIs. The camp culminated in a huge row down to Abingdon and back, followed by a whole club barbecue! Once term began anew, all five boats were hard at work, with the Men’s 1st VIII having a taste of side-by-side racing at Bedford Regatta, with all crew training at least every other

day until Fifth Week, when Summer VIIIs was underway.

The competition saw a meteoric rise of the Men’s 3rd VIII, the crew achieving a triple overbump on Balliol M3, and bumping Linacre M2, Oriel M3, St Hugh’s M2 and New College M3, achieving 11 bumps (+7, +1, +2, +1), and gaining the record for the greatest rise in one VIIIs, shared with only three other crews since the event’s inception in 1815. The Hall’s M3 now sits as the third highest M3 on the river.

The Women’s 2nd VIII bumped St Hugh’s and Hertford, going +2 (+1, 0, 0, +1), and there was a valiant effort from the Men’s 2nd VIII, who succumbed to Brasenose, Hertford and Reuben (their 1st VIII) but held off Merton’s 2nd VIII and Exeter’s 2nd VIII on Saturday, with a net change of -3 (-1, -1, -1, 0).

The Women’s 1st VIII, with half the original crew injured, ill or unavailable, was the Club’s latest recipient of spoons, being bumped by Wolfson, Balliol, Keble and Magdalen, going -4 (-1, -1, -1, -1). The Men’s 1st VIII were caught by extremely strong New College, Trinity and Merton crews, going -3 (-1, 0, -1, -1). As the saying goes: “spoons one year, blades the next!”

As the season drew to a close, the Club had an enjoyable few races at the not-soserious Oriel Regatta in Seventh Week, capping off a year of great Hall rowing. With the Long Vacation, the Club continues to put boats out in preparation for the next season, while hoping to enter some regattas, such as Henley Town and Visitors and Molesey, after watching world-class rowing at Henley Royal Regatta, of course!

Throughout a difficult year, a spirit of pure resilience and determination has been championed by the entire SEHBC Committee. They excel in their roles without much witness or reward. The Club is especially indebted to Diana Jaramillo (2023, DPhil Geography and the Environment), our Vice-President, who will be leading the charge as President for next year, alongside our thankless Captains: Sabi Sulikova, Cat Dillman (2023, MPhil Global and Area Studies), Will Randell, Angelica Rossi-Hawkins (2023, DPhil

History), Rohit Sahasrabuddhe (2022, DPhil Mathematics), Felix Clayton McClure (2021, Modern Languages) and Ben Keates (2021, Materials). It is the commitment of these Aularians that allows SEHBC to excel.

The Club continues to owe a great amount to Claire Nichols, our Senior Member and Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences, and Domestic Bursar Mark Blandford-Baker, our Senior Treasurer, who are invaluable in their advice, assistance and support throughout the year. Ultimately, we must also thank our alumni society, the Friends of SEHBC, for their experience and support of the Club for countless years.

I have full faith that, under the leadership of our strong Committee and Captaincy team, SEHBC will find immense strength and growth in the 2025–2026 season.

Floreat Aula!

Q Sun (2021, Materials)

Captain: Tommy Bromage

After the short Cuppers run last year, with the team falling at the quarter-final stage, the boys arrived in Oxford with a chip on their shoulder and the bit between their teeth. Having lost some of the finest players to ever don the maroon and gold jersey, such as Hector Skipworth (2020, Earth Sciences), Seth Dockery (2021, Geography), Teddy Thomson (2021, Economics and Management) and Harry Mehta (2020, Chemistry), all Cuppers winners themselves, the odds seemed stacked against us for the 2024–2025 season. However, as if the rugby gods answered our prayers, we were delivered a new batch of talented, hungry and gnarly players, undergrad and postgrad.

As is the tradition, the year began with the famous Old Boys’ fixture, a game in which victory has eluded the Teddy Hall XV for one too many years. Not this year though. A close physical clash saw us come out on top 12-10 with a late conversion miss from the Old Boys. The dinner at Vincent’s Club followed, everyone buzzing with positivity from the team’s performance after only having been back in Oxford for a week – it was the perfect start for the

season to come.

With games fast approaching, the team knuckled down in training and early morning fitness sessions. Something unique to Teddy is the bond between the undergrads and postgrads. With players like John ‘Jock’ Dearlove (2024, DPhil Materials), John ‘Burp/Meatball/Belch/ Troll’ Belcher-Heath (2024, Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems (EPSRC CDT)) and James ‘Kev’ Bacon (2024, DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) joining the team during their postgraduate studies, it boosted our skill level and, despite it being their first year in the club, helped to fill a gap of experience which the team needed having lost some great players and leaders.

The first game was against the old foe: New College. With both teams not at their full strength due to university commitments, it was a great opportunity to blood some new players into the team. In miserable conditions and a game riddled with handling errors, we won with huge shots and a solid defence. The game ended 13-12, with New College battering away at our try line for the last five minutes of the game, but to no avail.

Although it was not our finest performance with some key areas clearly needing work, it was a step in the right direction.

A few weeks later was our first Cuppers game against Trinity/Exeter/Univ. The training over the previous few weeks or so had clearly worked with the team dominating possession, collisions and territory, but errors in the final third saw us only come into half-time with a 14-5 lead. Some great individual displays from Alex Burson (2022, Geography), Henry Henderson (2024, Medicine) and James Bacon saw the game finish 31-15 to the Hall. Chaos in the Buttery followed.

Games against Keble and Saints (St Anne’s/St John’s) allowed the team to add to our tally of victories. The quarter-final stage of Cuppers was a breeze with Teddy Hall racking up around 50 points to 0. The semi-final was against Magdalen/St Hilda’s, a game which would prove much more of a contest. Despite having most of the possession, the opposition’s defence held out well in the beginning. The smaller pitch combined with some nervous hands led to lots of unforced errors in the final third and, crucially, in our own twenty-two, with Magdalen/St Hilda’s gaining the first score. Unable to convert in the first half, we went in 14-0 down at half-time.

The boys regrouped with senior members calming the team and reminding them that Cuppers-winning Hall teams have overcome worse deficits in the past, most recently in the 2023 final. The message clearly worked – it was as if a new team had taken the field in the second half. We were more aggressive, carried with intent and didn’t give an inch in defence.

Two tries deservedly came our way, one in the corner with a difficult conversion and one under the posts. Unfortunately, a rare error from our kicker, who had an immaculate season from the tee, saw

us miss both conversions. We attacked relentlessly for the final 15 minutes with the opposition hardly touching the ball. We came agonisingly close to scoring multiple times, with two held-up tries and a knockon on the five-metre line. The final whistle blew. The team was distraught – it was meant to be a Cuppers final year but we fell painfully short.

Despite the pain of this loss and losing a player – Alex Burson, who has given everything he could in his three years in the maroon and gold jersey and who was instrumental in this year’s campaign – the team knew that this was just the beginning. Aims are even higher for next year and I’m confident the new committee, led by Captain Hugo Walsh (2024, Experimental Psychology), will deliver to an elite standard.

It has been one of the greatest honours to lead the Teddy Hall team this year, one that I will cherish forever. The journey we have been on this season has been one of my favourite experiences: the early morning conditioning sessions; little talks about game plans with Alex Burson and James Maddocks (2023, Physics) over food in Wolfson; Archie Powell (2022, Modern Languages) regularly returning from his year abroad in Prague to support us; and of course the raucous drinks in the Buttery. Floreat Aula!

Tommy Bromage (2023, Engineering)

Sailing

After achieving a respectable ninth place finish at university national finals, a sunny June weekend saw the Oxford University Yacht Club dinghy sailing squad take to Itchenor Sailing Club near Portsmouth for the annual Varsity match against Cambridge.

The three-day event consisted of two team racing matches – mixed and women’s – in Chichester Harbour with three Swallowclass keelboats per team. Each boat was crewed by a group of three sailors and the handling of these boats was unfamiliar to us all, in an effort to level the playing field. After sailing around the course, whilst attempting to slow the opposition and give them penalties, the team with their three boats in the lowest total positions wins the race. First to four race wins won each match.

Oxford ended the practice day optimistic after sailing far ahead of the Cambridge crews in every race. Unfortunately for us, the Cambridge mixed team appeared to learn the ropes overnight and, although it was never plain sailing for them, they ended the first race day 3-1 up. On the last day, some close quarters racing and dramatic collisions resulted in Oxford penalties for rule infringements and Cambridge came away with a 4-1 victory. All was not lost, though, as the Oxford women’s team held on to the bitter end to beat Cambridge 4-3.

That night saw Blues sailors from as far back as the 1960s attend the annual Varsity Dinner. Speeches were made by former Oxbridge Olympians, pints were enjoyed in the sun and everyone left in high spirits. All sailors selected for the match were awarded a Half-Blue for their efforts.

Thomas Farnsworth (2021, Engineering)

Skiing

Captain: Ned Finney

Teddy Hall once again claimed victory at the 101st Varsity trip, extending our winning run which began in 2020. This year’s event took place in Tignes, France, with perfect conditions making for a great day of racing.

Representing the Hall were Stefan Martin (2020, Geography), Adélaïde BoucherFerté (2024, Engineering), Lorenzo Usai (2022, Engineering) and Ned Finney (2023, Geography). The competition this year was exceptionally strong, with Somerville fielding an impressive team that included three University Blues. The early rounds delivered some tense, closely fought finishes which provided great entertainment for spectators. The first round was especially close, with the team beating New College by just half a gate. Following two more races, we made it through to the semi-finals where we faced Christ Church who fielded a very strong team. We were slightly surprised to beat them by over half a course length to make it into the final.

Whilst the final was meant to be a headto-head race, some inconsistencies on the slope meant that it was converted into a time trial against Queen’s College. The Queen’s team were very strong and the times looked so close that both teams were left in suspense for the afternoon

while we waited for the results. When the prize-giving finally arrived it was announced that we won by just under half a second (in a two-minute race) highlighting the skiing talent at the Hall.

Special recognition goes to Stefan, who returned to compete even after completing his time at Teddy, and to Adelaide, who competed just a day after racing in the Varsity match against Cambridge. Congratulations also go to Lorenzo who delivered the winning run in the quarter-finals despite not having raced for ten years.

While we are sad to bid farewell to Stefan next season, we hope to keep the Teddy Hall Cuppers legacy alive into 2025. We continue to look for future members of the squad in the hope of having two teams for the 2025 races in Val Thorens, France.

Ned Finney (2023, Geography)

Swimming

Captain:

Annie Oakes

The St Edmund Hall Aquatics Club, led by Captain Annie Oakes (2023, Jurisprudence), had yet another fantastic year at the annual Swimming Cuppers competition. The Hall fielded three teams (out of 11 entered in total!) with Teddy Hall ‘A’ finishing in second place.

The competition followed the same format as in recent years: 30 minutes to swim as many lengths as possible, as a

relay, in teams of eight. The first half of the competition saw Teddy Hall ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams take to the water. The teams showed great grit and determination completing 93 and 90 lengths of the 25-metre pool respectively, beating Merton College A team.

After a short break and warm-up the Teddy Hall A team were ready and raring to go. It was clear from the start that this was the strongest team that the College had produced in recent years and the energy and excitement on poolside was immense. After a gruelling 30 minutes for the swimmers, the results were in: we had swum an incredible 116 lengths, four lengths up on last year. However, a composite team from Oriel and Corpus had beaten us by just three lengths leaving us runners-up.

Whilst we will strive to deliver a win next year, we remain incredibly proud of having the largest and most inclusive team of all the Oxford colleges, a testament to our Hall Spirit.

Tobias Lloyd (2022, Chemistry)

Triathlon

Captain: Jack Gillespie

Following some excellent individual performances in Varsity, especially by Luke Nijkamp (2022, Engineering) and Non Watts (2023, Modern Languages),

Teddy undertook a Cuppers title defence with a team almost double the size of the previous year’s team and despite some unfortunate absences. The team featured two returning triathletes, Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography) and Luke Nijkamp, joined by recent convert Thomas Early (2022, Mathematics), Harvey Gorman (2023, Chemistry), Samuel Wareham (2023, Physics), Noah Allwicher (Visiting Student), and Half-Ironman completionist Lottie Waldron (2023, Earth Sciences).

With restrictions at Iffley again rendering a full triathlon impractical, the race was conducted in a sprint format consisting of a 200m swim section followed by a 3km run. Competition was stiff this year, with many colleges entering large teams, some bristling with Blues athletes. Rumours of a Corpus team featuring two Olympians failed to materialise, leaving the door open for another Hall win.

Scoring was again based on the combined times of the fastest three competitors in a

Cultural, Social and Volunteering

Arts and Culture

JCR Arts and Culture Representatives: Kayla Helsby and Isabella SpencerMcDaniel

The Hall was abuzz with excitement for

team – this year Luke, Jack and Thomas, totalling 38 minutes and 6 seconds. This was enough to clinch a narrow victory and an improvement on last year’s time by 6 minutes and 30 seconds – testament not only to the rapidly rising standards of the event but also to the dedication of the team and to the effectiveness of the training programme offered by the University Triathlon Club. Special mentions are due once again to Luke and to Lottie, both for coming third in their respective individual categories.

Having retained the coveted Cuppers title, the team looks forward with confidence to next year as it continues to grow and improve to meet the rising standard of competition in this increasingly popular sport. I wish them every success with this as I sadly depart the team and note that another win next year would make Teddy the most successful college triathlon club since Cuppers began – no pressure then!

Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography)

May Morning this year. The incoming JCR Arts and Culture Representatives, Kayla Helsby (2024, Materials) and Isabella Spencer-McDaniel (2024, Materials), hosted a very well-received May crownmaking workshop in the JCR the evening before the big morning. Many beautiful stems of flowers were provided for students across all years to bind together with wire into beautiful accessories. Those brave enough to wake up early for the singing atop Magdalen Tower were spotted wearing their Hall-made crowns up and down the High Street. Teddy students also enjoyed taking part in the Morris dancing, helping to keep this glorious tradition alive!

The Arts and Culture Reps also organised a Eurovision 2025 watch party in the JCR. Around 20 students enjoyed watching the acts battling it out to win the crown. Almost unanimously the students’ favourite act was Estonia’s Tommy Cash singing ‘Espresso Macchiato’.

Isabella Spencer-McDaniel (2024, Materials)

Christian Union

Christian Union Representatives:

Abi FernàndezArias and Margaret McLean

Since Trinity term of 2025, the Teddy Hall Christian Union, newly joint with Queen’s College, has hosted several events offering spaces for Christians in the two colleges to connect with each other and share their faith with fellow students. Our events have included Bible studies, socials, prayer meetings and college outreach, allowing us to spend time learning more about the Bible, have fun together over food, talk about our experiences of Christian living and invite our friends and peers to discover and investigate Christianity along with us.

In our small Bible studies group in Trinity term, we looked at three passages from the Gospel of John, in which Christ encounters three different people with very different problems. Spending time thinking about Christ’s answers to these problems of suffering, dissatisfaction and our need of salvation helps equip us to better love and care for the people around us, but ultimately to remind us of our identities as sons and daughters of God.

As well as supporting the needs of the Christians at Teddy and Queen’s, we also

welcome anyone interested in learning more about the good news of the Gospel, the teachings of the Bible, the basis of our belief in God and everything else. Our social and outreach events are aimed at inviting the whole college to get to know us as a community and to get involved. None of our events are formal and no form of commitment is ever required from our members. Our meetings are casual, meaning anyone can feel comfortable joining in, observing or simply popping by.

Led by myself and Abi FernàndezArias (2024, Modern Languages and Linguistics), representatives of the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, the Teddy x Queen’s Christian Union’s main focus is to provide enjoyable and safe opportunities for all members of the colleges to discuss, explore and even question the Christian faith together in an honest and friendly environment. As we look forward to another year, we hope to encourage both Christians and non-Christians alike to consider how the message of Jesus Christ can make us better students, better contributors to our college communities, better friends and better representatives of Christ’s amazing love for us.

Margaret McLean (2024, English)

Creative Writing

At creative writing this year, we’ve had a lot of firsts: our first sessions in the Crypt; the first edition of a new publication called

Disaster! which included pieces by several Teddy students (+1 Wadhamite) and should hopefully be followed by a second edition next year; and even the first time (to my memory, at least) that someone has brought a play script.

We have also had dozens of poems and plenty of prose (including a lot of material that falls somewhere in between), which we’ve read, discussed and drawn some pretty lasting in-jokes from, in locations varying from the Old Dining Hall to the Welfare Room.

Creative writing at Teddy encourages anyone to bring anything they might have written, in whatever form it might take (poetry or prose, a first draft or something you’ve been working on for a long time), to share with everyone else who has come along to a Wednesday evening session and allow for a discussion of its merits and weak points. It also provides a great opportunity to hang out with people with similar interests in writing and the arts.

This Trinity, we’re saying goodbye to a couple of long-term members who are leaving us (to the wide world and a year abroad), so we’d love to see some new faces coming along in Michaelmas!

Laura van Heijnsbergen (2023, English)

Poems from Disaster! appear on pp. 198–202.

Music Society

President: David Hrushovski

When the St Edmund Hall Music Society returned to College life this year after a period of dormancy, it brought with it a programme of regular music-making for the enjoyment of all members of the Hall. The Society was reinstated with David Hrushovski (2023, Philosophy and Modern Languages) as its President and Recitals Manager, Abhipsa Panda (2024, Economics and Management) as Treasurer, and Tobias Heath (2022, Modern Languages) and Kayla Helsby (2024, Materials) as Events, Outreach and Accessibility Managers.

The Society’s weekly Saturday lunchtime recital series, which began in Michaelmas and ran all through the year, became a regular attraction for students, Fellows and tourists alike. The musical offerings were varied – from Baroque chamber music to electric guitar – and gave students the perfect platform to showcase their musical talents in an open and welcoming environment. Most recitals were held in the Old Dining Hall, with some also taking place in the Chapel, and, as the Society’s publicity efforts expanded throughout the year, so too did more and more listeners flock to fill these cherished spaces.

While the recitals have been the Society’s most prominent and frequent events, they were hardly the only ones. An open mic night, a karaoke night and many social events for musicians were among the other activities organised. As well as these events, the renascent Music Society led several internal processes aimed at revitalising the music scene at College. An inventory of the Music Room was taken so that it could be restocked with more equipment and a database was compiled of Teddy Hall musicians, so that students would be able to more easily form ensembles or bands. Both of these

efforts constitute the first steps in longterm projects for music at the Hall which the Society eagerly anticipates continuing in the coming years.

The activities of the Music Society over the past year have been a testament to the value of having an active, student-run society to support the musical flourishing of Hall musicians and music-lovers alike. As the Society learns and develops over the future years, the benefits it will bring to all members of College can only increase.

David Hrushovski (2023, Philosophy and Modern Languages)

Salsa

Organiser: Antonin Charret

Salsa has grown into one of Teddy Hall’s most distinctive activities, and this year the programme was upscaled in an important way. What began only a few years ago as a small collaboration with Lincoln College has now expanded to include Kellogg, St Catz, New College and Harris Manchester. This broader partnership has allowed students to connect not only within Teddy Hall but across a network of colleges, building friendships and a shared community through dance.

The results have been remarkable. More than 100 students took part in the sessions this year, reflecting the popularity of salsa as both a social and cultural activity. Many of those

who first stepped into the class at Hall have since gone on to become part of Oxford’s wider salsa scene: joining the University’s performance teams, dancing regularly at local socials or even attending international salsa congresses.

The idea of introducing salsa to Teddy Hall was first inspired by a wish to diversify extracurricular life and give students a creative outlet beyond the lecture hall. Salsa, with its infectious energy and openness to beginners, proved an ideal choice. The programme has always been inclusive, welcoming students with no prior dance experience alongside those with a background in dance. The expertise and enthusiasm of the instructors have been vital to the success of the project, creating a welcoming environment in which students could challenge themselves and grow.

Over time, the classes have evolved beyond weekly practices. They have become lively, social spaces where students can relax, support each other and steadily improve their skills. More advanced techniques have been introduced as dancers gained confidence, while the atmosphere has remained light-hearted and encouraging. Above all, the sessions have nurtured a growing intercollegiate community centred on a shared love of salsa.

Now firmly established, salsa has become a hallmark of student life at Teddy Hall. It combines physical activity, cultural appreciation and the chance to belong to something larger than oneself. Looking ahead, the programme will continue to expand, with an introductory session planned for Freshers’ Week, followed by a Latin Dance night where new students can showcase their first steps and join this flourishing tradition.

Antonin Charret (2020, DPhil Education)

Yoga Teacher: Jasmine Laing

Another year teaching yoga at the Hall has been a joy. Holding most sessions on Monday evenings provided students and myself with an opportunity to unwind from the weekend that had passed and prepare for the new week ahead. The final session of the academic year was held in the Broadbent Garden, behind the Library. The weather being on our side made it a tranquil end to the yoga season.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to teach Teddy Hall students yoga over the past three years. With so many new and old faces attending over the weeks, it is a great testament to the close-knit and inclusive community the Hall fosters. Having a nice mix of JCR and MCR members attending each week was also encouraging to see.

This year, my aim was to curate classes that contained a mixture of meditation and stretching at the beginning and end,

and the opportunity to challenge oneself through learning new poses and flows in the middle. The addition of meditation and reflection was well received by attending students, highlighting the importance of slowing down and taking inventory of one’s emotions, thoughts, physical sensations, gratitudes and aspirations. I too enjoyed the meditations, as it can be so easy to be swept up in the excitement and fast-paced lifestyle that Oxford offers; any chance to unwind and slow down is always welcome. Practising yoga has many benefits. From a physical standpoint, studies have shown that regularly practising yoga improves heart health, sleep, balance issues, chronic pain, arthritis and women’s health issues. Yoga has also been found to be associated with many psychological benefits like reduced stress, better selfcare, improved mood and greater energy and alertness. Lastly, yoga is a great equaliser and a vessel for connection and community. I have personally felt the benefits of practising yoga regularly over the years and am grateful that I can share these benefits with others, through the support of the Hall.

Entering my final year as a DPhil student at the Hall will also mark the final year of teaching yoga here. During the year, I look forward to meeting more new faces, creating space for students to come together and connect, and sharing the magic of yoga.

Jasmine Laing (2023, DPhil Experimental Psychology)

The Year Gone By 3

Sustainability at St Edmund Hall

College Kitchen Goes Gas-free

As of summer 2024, the College Kitchen officially became gas-free, replacing the gas chargrill – the last piece of equipment fuelled by gas – with a brand-new electric version. The equipment upgrade provides the College with multiple important benefits such as improving the working environment for Kitchen staff and reducing our carbon footprint and energy consumption.

In particular, gasless cooking reduces air pollution for both our staff and diners. Cooking with a gas stove produces nitrogen dioxide and fine airborne particles that can irritate the lungs, while gas-free solutions also help reduce streetlevel air pollution around commercial kitchens.

Great Big Green Lunch 2025

We were proud to take part in the Great Big Green Lunch this June – a sustainability challenge organised by Good Food Oxfordshire. Across the week, the Hall lunch menu focussed on plant-based and locally sourced ingredients, served to our students, staff, Fellows and guests.

Some of the highlights included:

• Fraisier macarons

• Chilli nachos with guacamole and salsa

• Berliner doughnuts with local strawberries

• Thai red tofu curry with fragrant rice

• Pear and jasmine panna cotta, with pistachio shortbread.

Every bite helped make a difference to our planet and reflects the College’s ongoing commitment to climate action and sustainability.

Claire Parfitt, Communications Manager

Update on the Norham St Edmund Building Project

On schedule to complete in April 2026, the Norham St Edmund (NSE) project includes 127 ensuite study bedrooms and spacious communal facilities, comprising three new buildings constructed to Passivhaus standards and a refurbishment of 17 Norham Gardens. The design prioritises sustainably sourced materials and low-embodied carbon, with a prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) frame forming the superstructure.

Progress to Date

The NSE site has transformed over the last year. Completion of excavations and piling work over the summer months was followed by the arrival of CLT structures on site, with the new buildings then quickly beginning to take shape and gain height during Michaelmas term. Despite the seasonal weather, development continued at an impressive pace and from spring, students, Fellows, staff, alumni and friends of the Hall joined tours of the site to see the progress in person.

Topping-out Ceremony

On 20 June, the Hall community and NSE project partners came together to celebrate the topping-out of the development, a traditional milestone that marks a building reaching the highest point of construction.

To mark the occasion, representatives of the College, including Principal Professor Baroness Willis and The Rt Hon the Lord Hague of Richmond, the University’s Chancellor and Hall Visitor, secured a commemorative plaque on the roof of the tallest building – the Villa. The proceedings were livestreamed to a reception hosted in the new NSE common room, together with musical accompaniment provided by Professor Henrike Lähnemann.

During the reception, the gathered Aularians also heard from the Principal, the Chancellor and Carl Bennett, the Director of SDC, the firm in charge of construction. The Principal welcomed everyone to the milestone event and concluded with many heartfelt thanks to the Hall’s Governing Body Fellows, staff, project partners and Aularians who have so generously supported the development.

A highlights reel from the day can be viewed at youtu.be/WGvEWTh03Nc.

Looking to the Future

This transformative project marks a major step towards supporting Hall students from lower-income backgrounds by enabling all undergraduates to live in College accommodation for the duration of their course. With a strong focus on inclusion and sustainability, it reflects a shared commitment to a more equal

and environmentally responsible future. Following completion in the spring, NSE will welcome its first cohort of students in Autumn 2026.

Find out more about the development and the latest progress on site at hallmarkscampaign.seh.ox.ac.uk/latestprogress.

Pontigny Choir Tour 2024

Last September, the Choir of St Edmund Hall returned from their annual tour to Pontigny, France, led by new Director of Music Carlos Rodríguez Otero. The trip involved two public performances, the first of which was a late evening service of Compline. This primarily featured plainchant, as well as pieces by Thomas Tallis and Eric Whitacre.

On 6 September, the Choir gave their main concert to a large and enthusiastic audience in Pontigny Abbey. Music for the concert included works by Taverner, Stainer and Byrd, as well as contemporary pieces by Eleanor Daley and Joanna

Forbes L’Estrange. The concert also featured performances on the newly restored organ by the College’s Organ Scholars.

The concert was part of an ongoing relationship between the College and the Abbey, where the remains of St Edmund of Abingdon, after whom the College is named, rest in a stunning golden casket above the High Altar.

On another successful tour to Pontigny, Carlos commented:

“This year’s tour to Pontigny was a fantastic showcase of our Choir’s talent and dedication. We enjoyed spending six days together, preparing a challenging and varied programme of music and enjoying each other’s company in the beautiful Burgundy region of France. It was certainly a baptism of fire for me, it being my first time meeting the Choir! But I couldn’t have hoped for a better start than two extraordinary performances (the audience asked for two encores after the Friday concert!) and the opportunity to sing in the amazing acoustic of Pontigny Abbey.”

Domestic Bursar Umpires at the World’s Largest Head Race Event

In late October, Mark Blandford-Baker, Domestic Bursar, umpired at the Head of the Charles – the world’s largest head race event. During the event, crews are timed over the course and ranked, across 80 or so different boat classes, and age categories, for men, women, and mixed crews. The weather was glorious – New England in the fall. Oxford was represented through the OUBC.

St Edmund Hall Outreach Roadshow 2024

The 2024 St Edmund Hall Roadshow took the Outreach team from Buxton to Leicester, engaging with over 600 students across 11 schools. Four enthusiastic Student Ambassadors accompanied Luke Maw, the Hall’s Admissions & Outreach Manager: Finn Galway (2023, Medicine), Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography), Jade Vohra (2023, Physics), and Molly Hill (2022, German and Russian).

Together, they delivered interactive workshops to Key Stage 5 students, focusing on the Oxford application process. Luke also gave talks to Key Stage 4 and 5 students to help demystify Oxford and offer guidance on how to submit competitive applications. Luke commented:

“The roadshow is a fantastic opportunity to connect with students who might not have had the chance to visit Oxford. It allows us to bring Oxford directly to them, especially in more remote areas. Our Student Ambassadors share their own experiences and subject-specific tips, giving KS5 students the tools they need to approach their applications with confidence.”

Hall Team Takes on University Challenge

At the end of last year, the Hall once again competed in University Challenge, the longrunning quiz show hosted by Amol Rajan. The team consisted of captain Sophia Bursey (2022, English) alongside team members Jeffrey Liu (2023, DPhil Politics), Daisy Pendergast (2021, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry), Robert Elkington (2018, Modern Languages and Linguistics), and James O’Neill (2022, PPE; in reserve).

The eagerly awaited first-round match aired on 11 November 2024, with the Hall team taking on SOAS University of London and winning the match 195-155. The second round followed on 20 January, against Christ’s College, Cambridge, and despite a solid performance, the match went to the opponents who eventually won the series.

Reflecting on the match, Sophia commented: “While the outcome of the second round wasn’t quite what we would have hoped, it was still really fun to film. There were quite a few moments where we had the answers but buzzed in a split second too late, and unfortunately the bonuses fell so that lots of our specialisms went to the other team while we had some really tricky ones. […] We lost to a really strong team in Christ’s and they were very gracious winners!”

Conversations in Environmental Sustainability

The Conversations in Environmental Sustainability series brings together leading thinkers and decision-makers from academia, business, government and NGOs to examine a specific topic related to environmental sustainability.

In November, the Hall welcomed a panel of expert speakers for a lively debate on ‘Lab-grown, real, or plant/fungi-based meat – which is best for the environment?’

Hosted by the Principal, the event included presentations from Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Professor of Population Biology and Director of the Oxford Martin School; Dr Ivan Wall, Co-Founder and CEO at Quest, which is working to make cultivated meat affordable through lowcost cell culture ingredients; Rose Dale from Rose Dale’s Organic Farm, producing organic, grass-fed meat; and Jim Laird, Co-Founder and CEO at ENOUGH, which has developed a versatile mycoprotein as a sustainable alternative to meat.

The next event followed in May with a focus on the future of river deltas. The audience heard from guest speakers Professor Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks at Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute; Professor Veronica Strang from the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography; architect Dilip da Cunha; and Professor Katherine Ibbett from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. Together, the speakers explored the past and present of deltas, and how we can ensure a sustainable future for their communities, biodiversity and entire ecosystems.

Find out more about the series and access recordings and event summaries at www.seh.ox.ac.uk/discover/ces.

New Publication in Honour of Professor Nicholas Cronk

Professor Nicholas Cronk, Emeritus Fellow and Director of the Voltaire Foundation, has been presented with a Festschrift honouring his work on Voltaire and the French Enlightenment.

The volume, published by Liverpool University Press last November, was edited by two of Nicholas’ former graduate students: Dr Gillian Pink (Oxford) and Professor Thomas Wynn (Durham). The title – L’Écriture est la peinture de la voix (translation: Writing is the Painting of Voice) – is a quotation from Voltaire’s Questions sur l’Encyclopédie, a work edited by Nicholas as part of the Complete Works of Voltaire published by the Voltaire Foundation.

The Festschrift, which comprises essays by internationally eminent scholars, is a fitting tribute to the esteem and affection in which Nicholas is held as a colleague, teacher and mentor, and reflects the invaluable contributions he has made to 18th-century studies and our knowledge of Voltaire.

Spectacular New Fossil Arthropod Discovered in Fool’s Gold

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Luke Parry, Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences, unveiled a spectacular new 450-million-year-old fossil arthropod (the group that contains spiders, centipedes and insects). Besides being an extraordinary-looking new scientific species, the specimens are entirely preserved by fool’s gold.

The new fossil, named Lomankus edgecombei, after arthropod expert

Greg Edgecombe of London’s Natural History Museum, belongs to a group called megacheirans, an iconic group of arthropods with a large, modified leg (called a ‘great appendage’) at the front of their bodies that was used to capture prey. Megacheirans like Lomankus were very diverse during the Cambrian Period (538–485 million years ago) but were thought to be largely extinct by the Ordovician Period (485–443 million years ago).

This discovery offers important new clues towards solving the long-standing riddle of how arthropods evolved the appendages on their heads: one or more pairs of legs at the front of their bodies modified for specialised functions like sensing the environment and capturing prey. Such appendages include the antennae of insects and crustaceans, and the pincers and fangs of spiders and scorpions.

Life reconstruction of Lomankus edgecombei.

Meet the Poet Series Hosts Ange Mlinko and Professor

Katie Peterson

In Michaelmas, American poet and critic Ange Mlinko treated a large audience in the Old Dining Hall to the first Meet the Poet reading of the academic year. She read from her new collection Foxglovewise, which was published in January by Faber. Ange also generously answered questions from the audience on topics including poetry’s relation to the visual arts and the necessities of form, especially rhyme and stanza.

The next event of the series followed in Trinity term, with a reading by Katie Peterson, Professor of English at UC Davis and Visiting Fellow in Poetry at the Hall. Katie is the author of seven books of poetry, including Fog and Smoke, which was published in 2024 and named a Book of the Year by the Times Literary Supplement. Booklist notes that the collection “is a triumph of observation and intimacy that invigorates the reader to act for the natural world.”

‘Magnifying Glass’, a poem by Katie Peterson, can be found on pp. 205–6.

2025 Emden Lecture Delivered by Professor Catherine Hall

On Friday 24 January, the Hall was delighted to welcome Professor Catherine Hall, Emerita Professor of History and Chair of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, University College London, to deliver this year’s A B Emden Lecture.

Catherine’s well-received lecture –‘Slavery and capitalism across the C18 Atlantic world’ – focussed on the history of racial capitalism with particular reference to the 1774 History of Jamaica by contemporary historian Edward Long. Long’s work provides a detailed account of the intricate interconnections of the plantation economy, the slavery business as it operated across the Atlantic, and the forms of racialisation on which the system depended. During the lecture, Catherine explored the impact of this source in the

18th-century Atlantic world and how the insidious myths and stereotypes it contains have shaped our present and continue to affect contemporary society. Catherine has written extensively on the history of Britain, gender and empire, and from 2009 to 2016 she was principal investigator on the Legacies of British

Slavery project (www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs).

In 2021, she was awarded the highly prestigious Leverhulme Medal and Prize in recognition of her ground-breaking work. Her latest book is Lucky Valley: Edward Long and the History of Racial Capitalism (2024), which tells the story behind the history of a slave-owning family that prospered across generations together with the destruction of such possibilities for enslaved people.

The lecture is part of an annual series in

memory of A B Emden, a distinguished medievalist and historian of universities who was Principal of the Hall from 1929 to 1951. Established in 1992, the Emden Lecture attracts eminent historians from around the UK and beyond to speak on topics of particular contemporary relevance to a non-specialist audience. The 2025 lecture is available to watch on the St Edmund Hall YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=rNc70beqygM.

Lord Hague Officially Admitted as Oxford University’s Chancellor

Lord Hague was officially admitted as Oxford’s 160th Chancellor on 19 February, in a ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre. During his inaugural address, he expressed heartfelt gratitude for the warm welcome he received:

Dr Tom Crawford Steps into Maths Corner on Countdown

Dr Tom Crawford, Fellow by Special Election in Maths, joined Countdown – the UK’s longest running game show – for a three-week stint in February.

Tom, who is already known to the internet via his Tom Rocks Maths YouTube channel, joined the programme while Rachel Riley MBE took a short break to work on another

“I thank all of you, the Convocation, for electing me as your Chancellor and for your enthusiastic welcome in recent weeks. Every visit I have made so far and every conversation has deepened my excitement about the years to come. I happily dedicate myself today to working with you and for you.”

Following the inauguration, Lord Hague has joined St Edmund Hall as Visitor and took part in the celebrations at the NSE topping-out ceremony in June.

Read more about the NSE topping-out ceremony on p. 78.

project. Alongside lexicographer Susie Dent, Sir Stephen Fry was in Dictionary Corner for Tom’s first show, with other guests including Jenny Powell and Vick Hope on screen over the following weeks. Before joining the show, Tom commented:

“All of my work online is about sharing my love of Maths with the world whilst trying to make it accessible for everyone. Countdown has been doing that for a generation, so it really is a dream come true to be joining this iconic show to cover Rachel.”

The Prime Minister Visits Teddy Hall

At the end of February, the Hall welcomed back Prime Minister and Honorary Fellow The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer (1985, BCL).

During his visit, Sir Keir had a tour of the Hall, accompanied by the Principal and Emeritus Fellow Professor Adrian Briggs, and met with members of the Fellowship, staff and students. His tour included a visit to the Library and Old Library as well as to student accommodation.

Geddes Trust 2025 Journalism Lecture, Prizes

and Masterclass

Philip Geddes Memorial Lecture 2025

On Friday 7 March, the Geddes Trust and St Edmund Hall held the annual Philip Geddes Memorial Lecture and prizegiving, with the lecture delivered by award-winning journalist and podcaster Gabriel Gatehouse.

Gabriel has reported from almost every recent conflict around the world, winning numerous awards for his journalism, including the 2023 Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Podcast (The Coming Storm) and a 2020 Foreign Press Association award for his coverage of the Hong Kong protests. He has also reported extensively from the USA on Donald Trump’s presidency.

The thought-provoking lecture entitled ‘Trump 2.0. What America’s rabbit holes tell us about the future’ examined how cultural, societal and political changes in America over the past four years will shape the future. Gabriel asked what constitutes “a fact” and examined the role “alternative facts” have in news coverage and politics. Journalists should not, he warned, “ignore the weird guy” – they

will have stories to tell that are “pearls of truth”. Chris Wilson, the founder of the Geddes Trust and a colleague of Philip Geddes (1977, English) who was sadly killed by an IRA bomb in 1983, described the evening as “spectacularly successful, brilliant, heartwarming”.

A recording of the lecture is accessible online via the Hall’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=TSy6RtseUq0.

Geddes Student Journalism Prizes 2025

Shortly before the lecture, a prizegiving reception was held for this year’s recipients of the Geddes Student Journalism Prizes. The prizes recognise and support emerging journalistic talent, with the awards contributing towards a media project or expenses needed to support an internship in the media.

In addition to the existing prizes, the Paddy Coulter Prize for Opinion Journalism was awarded for the first time in memory of Paddy Coulter, a highly committed board member of the Trust and trailblazing journalist turned activist who sadly died last year.

Philip Geddes Memorial Prize: Anuj Mishra

Anuj is a final-year English Literature student at Exeter College.

Anuj has already notched up significant journalistic experience with stints as Editor-in-Chief, Culture Deputy Editorin-Chief and Stage Section Editor at the Cherwell.

His internships have included the Manchester Evening News, MyLondon, and The Bolton News

His winning project is to travel to America to explore the influence Indian Americans are having on politics in the United States and the links between India’s BJP party and the Republican party.

Ronnie Payne Prize: Simar Bajaj

Simar is a first-year Master’s in Health Science student at St Anne’s.

Simar has substantial freelance experience that includes writing for The Washington Post, Scientific American, TIME, The Atlantic and STAT News, the medical arm of The Boston Globe newspaper.

He will report on the issue of stigma in contemporary society. He plans to spend two weeks travelling across rural America, investigating stigma in healthcare and speaking to patients whose stories have gone untold.

Clive Taylor Prize: Samantha Martin Samantha is a second-year History student at Somerville.

Samatha, a horse racing fan, wrote a couple of hard-hitting pieces for The Times last year that captured the chaos of the Cheltenham Festival.

She will spend the Geddes prize money reporting from France on the sporting and cultural differences between France’s top race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Britain’s Grand National at Aintree. She hopes to place the report in The Times in October.

Paddy Coulter Prize: Flora Prideaux Flora is a third-year History student at Somerville.

Flora has already chaired Oxford Student Publishing Limited and The Oxford Blue along with work experience at the Daily Mail

Flora will travel to the next UN Climate Change Conference – COP30 in Brazil – to report on how the proceedings can be made more relevant to people experiencing the climate crisis around the planet.

Geddes Masterclass 2025

Two Geddes Masterclasses were held over the last academic year for student journalists across the University. On 20 November, Ed Conway, Sky News Economic and Data Editor, author and Times columnist, addressed the topic ‘There is no such thing as data journalism’. This was followed on 31 January by a talk entitled ‘It’s social media’s world and we’re all just living in it’, delivered

by Marianna Spring, the BBC’s first disinformation specialist and social media investigations correspondent. Both events were well-attended and provided valuable insights into the speakers’ work at this critical time for journalism.

Student Photo Intern Exhibition in the Pontigny Room

Following on from last year’s success, Hilary term saw a re-run of the popular student #HallLife campaign, with three photography interns tasked with capturing all aspects of student life at St Edmund Hall.

Chenyu Zhu (2024, MSc Theoretical and Computational Chemistry), Lily ThompsonMouton (2022, Experimental Psychology) and Lottie Newell (2022, History) were selected as this year’s interns. Their weekly updates were shared on the Hall’s social media channels to give prospective students an insight into what it is really like to live and study in Oxford, with the images covering a broad range from daily Hall and Oxford life – including studying and social events – to sports and cultural events, around Oxford and further afield.

The internship culminated in an exhibition of their photos in the Pontigny Room, running from Trinity term and throughout the Long Vacation.

Inaugural Community & Giving Week

From 25 April to 2 May, the inaugural Community & Giving Week took place in College, bringing together students, Fellows, staff, alumni and friends in a week-long celebration of community, growth and giving.

The main focus of the week was the 1317 Challenge. Inspired by the first documented reference to the Hall in 1317, Aularians around the world were asked to take part in a range of exciting activities with a focus on the College and the number 1317.

The Aularian community responded with enthusiasm, sending in a wide range of creative and exciting challenges, including hikes, poetry, baked goods, rowing challenges, and musical and theatrical arrangements. A notable highlight was a performance by current student Luke Boulton (2022, Medicine) of an original piano composition which was written by alumnus James Harpham (1959, History) especially for the 1317 Challenge.

Across the week, the College raised funds in support of four key areas: Student Support, Access and Outreach, Sports

Clubs, and Music, Arts and Culture. The fundraising campaign exceeded all expectations with over £140,000 raised in total, surpassing the original goal of £131,700.

More than 200 Aularians participated, spanning generations from matriculands of 1951 to current students, Fellows and staff. This collective effort is a demonstration of the enduring strength, enthusiasm and generosity of our Hall community.

A full summary of the week and completed challenges can be viewed at hallmarkscampaign.seh.ox.ac.uk/home/ sehcommunityandgivingweek/.

Medieval Mystery Plays Return to Teddy Hall

The fourth iteration of the Oxford Medieval Mystery Plays took place on 26 April, performed to an enthusiastic audience of around 350 members of the College, University and public across the day.

The programme included 13 short plays staged by 150 participants – actors, directors, singers, costume designers and musicians – at various locations around the Hall. Led by 17 directors, the plays were delivered in medieval English, Dutch, German, French, and Latin, with prologues in modern English.

The plays were a very popular form of drama in the Middle Ages, with different

groups performing short plays telling stories from the Bible. Together, they provide a whistlestop tour from Creation to Last Judgement, featuring devils, angels and a whole ark full of animals.

The play cycle was first performed at the Hall five years ago and it has since become a firm Oxford tradition, co-directed by Henrike Lähnemann, Professor of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics.

Find out more about this year’s cycle and watch recordings from the day at www.seh.ox.ac.uk/mystery-cycle/ mystery-cycle-2025.

Her Story: A Celebration of Women of the Hall

On 8 May, Maeve Hagerty (2024, MPhil History), the MCR Women’s and Gender Equality Rep, hosted a panel discussion celebrating the contributions and experiences of women at St Edmund Hall – past, present and future.

Maeve was joined by an inspiring panel including Lucy Robinson (2023, Biomedical Sciences; JCR Women’s Rep); Cat White (2016, Women’s Studies; writer, actor, Gender Advisor to the UN and Honorary Fellow); Emma Carter (Deputy Librarian); Donatella Inchingolo

(Pastry Chef); and Professor Henrike Lähnemann (Fellow and Professor of Medieval German Literature and Linguistics).

The audience was especially honoured by the presence of women from the College’s first cohort of female undergraduates, who came up to the Hall in 1979. Following the discussion, Maeve hosted a drinks reception to foster community and networking. The evening concluded with a special Compline service in the Crypt.

Visit from the Former President of Nigeria

On 9 May, the Principal was joined for tea by His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria (1999–2007), His Excellency Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State, Nigeria, and other dignitaries. The delegation was in Oxford for the West Africa in Transition conference, marking the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States. Both President Obasanjo and Governor Mohammed are deeply involved in sustainable development, environmental

governance and natural capital in Africa –areas that were discussed during tea with the Principal.

Hall Students Participate in the World Health Assembly

The World Health Assembly is an annual event that brings together global health leaders from the private sector, governments, development partners and civil society organisations to discuss and shape priorities for multilateral collaboration that strengthens health systems globally. This year, with the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions, the main discussion centred on funding for global health challenges, ranging from climate change and antimicrobial resistance to youth mental health.

Two Hall students attended this year’s assembly in Geneva in late May: Cassandra Mbanje (2024, MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology) and David Odhiambo (2024, MBA). Cassandra hosted a youth-led and centred meeting session for the Global Alliance for Surgical,

Obstetric, Trauma and Anaesthesia Care (G4 Alliance) as well as supporting G4 Alliance’s official in-person side events during the assembly. David participated as a Global Youth Advisor for the Being Initiative, a youth-focused organisation working to promote mental health and wellbeing. As part of his role, David joined a panel on community-based mental health interventions and the need to mainstream mental health in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Charity Formal Hall Fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support

Third Week of

Trinity term saw the return of the annual St Edmund Hall Charity Formal, this time in support of Macmillan Cancer Support. The event raised a generous sum from raffle sales alone, with the Cellar and Servery’s suppliers kindly donating a bottle of champagne and hampers of cheese and fruit, respectively.

Throughout the year, a range of themed Formal Halls celebrated the diversity

of the College community, including Diwali, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Burns Night, International Women’s Day – with guest speaker Air Commodore Victoria McPhaden CBE (1998, Geography) –and an Iftar buffet during Ramadan. The events have continued to grow in popularity and are such a success thanks to the support of the Kitchen, Servery and Bursary teams who provide a delicious menu and ensure the evenings run smoothly.

2025 Big Think Competition

The 2025 Big Think competition saw a recordbreaking 272 entries, each responding to one of our tutors’ ‘big’ tutorial-style questions in a five-minute video essay. This year’s prompts included ‘Does intelligence guarantee success?’, ‘What can literature do that AI probably never will?’, and ‘Should we send people to Mars?’

We are thrilled to report that Alana Cunnane (for English) won first prize in this year’s competition, with Sahana Sethuraman (for Physics) taking second place overall. In addition, 13 students were awarded a subject-specific prize across the 13 disciplines represented in the competition, and a further 30 students were recognised with a commendation for their high-quality work.

In June, we welcomed Alana, Sahana, and the subject prize-winners to Teddy Hall, where they met the tutors who marked their entries and toured the College with current students.

Beyond the competition itself, we continue to see strong numbers of Oxford applications from participants. We are delighted that of the 224 Year 12 and Year 13 participants in last year’s competition, 84 participants applied to Oxford for 2025 entry (38%). Of these, 29 were made an offer, representing 35% of applicants and 58% of those shortlisted for interview. For comparison, the University-wide UK offer rate for 2025 entry was 20%, underlining the continued high calibre of Big Think participants from state schools across the UK.

A full list of winners and commendations, and their fantastic entries, are available on the College website at www.seh. ox.ac.uk/study/outreach/events-andcompetitions/big-think-2025-winners.

Calum Stewart, Access & Outreach Coordinator

Teddy Hall under the Stars by Sarah Savić Kallesøe

Over the summer, a photographic exhibition depicting various Teddy Hall locations at night was installed in Wolfson Hall. Photographer Sarah Savić Kallesøe (2022, DPhil Population Health) explains the inspiration behind her work and how she produces these striking images:

When I first began experimenting with astrophotography ten years ago, I was captivated by the idea that a camera could reveal what the eye alone cannot. Long exposures gather starlight over hours, unveiling constellations, galaxies

and colours invisible to the naked eye. The process requires patience, planning, hours beneath the stars and meticulous editing, but the reward is a glimpse into the vastness of the night sky.

Although my academic work is in public health and bioethics, I continued to moonlight as an astronomer. During my undergraduate studies at Simon Fraser University in Canada and my master’s at Cambridge, I had access to observatories where I practiced capturing images of deep space. Arriving at Oxford, I could

not find my way into an observatory, which proved a blessing in disguise. It encouraged me to adapt my skills and explore wide-field photography with more accessible equipment. Using a phone camera, tripod and editing software, I learned to create something new: images of historic buildings framed by star trails. This fascination became the foundation of a new permanent exhibition now on display in the Hall. Since February 2025, I have been working with Dr Jonathan Yates, Chattels & Pictures Fellow, to co-create a ten-piece collection featuring Teddy Hall under the night sky. Each photograph captures a different facet of College life, from the Front Quad and quiet Library nights to the main entrance and off-site accommodation, all woven

together with the stars above.

My process is part art, part science. Each image begins with research: scouting locations in daylight, checking forecasts and planning around the Moon’s brightness. When conditions align, I spend hours on site capturing hundreds of exposures of both sky and foreground. Editing is then the work of weaving these layers together into a balanced image, ensuring the stars shine clearly while the College remains warmly illuminated.

This collection aims to place Teddy Hall in perspective: a reminder that our community, though rooted in history and tradition, is also part of something far larger and more enduring.

Sarah Savić Kallesøe (2022, DPhil Population Health)

Wisteria in the Front Quad The wisteria on the north range blooms in May/June. There has been a wisteria here since the second half of the 19th century.

Opposite: Queen’s Lane Polaris, the North Star, shines above the Library Tower.

Right:

Above: 19 Norham Gardens

Built in 1877 by the architect Frederick Codd in the Gothic Revivalist style. It is Grade II listed.

Opposite: St Peter-in-the-East, College Library

The church was built during the 12th century. In the 13th century the nave was extended further south, and the tower added. The church was deconsecrated and since 1970 has served as the College Library.

From Teddy Hall under the Stars, a bespoke astrophotography collection by Sarah Savić Kallesøe. See more at oxfordbynight.square.site or on Instagram at www.instagram. com/oxford_by_night

Visiting Aularians Overseas

A host of overseas events were held last year, attended by more alumni than ever. These events provided a wonderful opportunity for guests to catch up with Aularian friends old and new, and to hear the latest updates from the Hall.

On 28 November, the Principal and the Director of Development, Andrew Vivian, hosted a drinks reception for Aularians at the Fondation Universitaire, Brussels. The event was advertised across the Benelux countries and brought together nearly 20 alumni from not only Brussels but also The Hague, Amsterdam and Luxembourg.

The same day, just over 40 Aularians met for an informal drinks reception at Fountain & Ink in Southbank, London. The casual pub setting encouraged alumni of all ages to attend – matriculands from 1960 up to as recently as 2021 –including several attendees joining for their first alumni event. Dr Alex Lloyd, Fellow by Special Election in German and Senior Dean, also hosted a small gathering of alumni in Vienna while she was in the city for research purposes.

At the end of Michaelmas term, the Principal, accompanied by Senior Tutor Professor Robert Wilkins and colleagues from the Development and Alumni Relations Office, attended a drinks reception and dinner in New York to meet with Aularians from across North America.

Tai-Heng Cheng (1996, Jurisprudence) kindly hosted drinks and canapés on 12 December, as well as a ‘fireside chat’ with panellists Congressman Jim Himes (1988, MPhil Latin American Studies), who represents Connecticut’s 4th District in the House of Representatives, and MacKenzie Sigalos (2010, MSc Education), an awardwinning journalist who is a cross-platform contributor to CNBC, NBC and MSNBC.

The 39th Annual New York Dinner took place on the following evening at the Links Club, generously hosted by Justus O’Brien (1979, PPE).

Shortly before the start of Trinity term, the Principal together with the Finance Bursar, Eleanor Burnett, and the Director of Development travelled to Hong Kong and Singapore to meet with Hall alumni. Following a similar successful visit last year, the trip aimed to further strengthen the Aularian community in Asia, highlight the HALLmarks fundraising campaign and report on the latest progress at the Hall’s NSE development.

The event in Hong Kong was held in the beautiful setting of the Library at the China Club and was kindly hosted by Aaron Yeo (PPE, 1995). Emeritus Fellow Professor Adrian Briggs also joined the event where several Jurisprudence and BCL alumni had the chance to catch up with their former tutor.

This was followed a few days later by another alumni event in Singapore, held in the heart of the city at the Cricket Club, which had incredible views of the skyline and was kindly hosted by Mark Fisher (1992, Geography).

Towards the end of the academic year,

the Principal and Deputy Development Director, Tom Sprent, co-hosted an alumni drinks reception in Paris, together with Aularian Andy Watson (1985, Modern Languages and Linguistics). They enjoyed meeting alumni from 1975 all the way to recent graduates from 2016 in the historic setting of Quartier Jeunes, immediately opposite the Louvre.

Drinks in Tokyo and New York rounded off the year, with the New York event kindly hosted by Bob Gaffey (1975, Jurisprudence) and coinciding with a visit from Professor Leslie Ann Goldberg, Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Computer Science

Honours, Awards and Prizes

As ever there have been many admirable achievements of SCR members, current students and worldwide alumni during 2024–2025. These are chronicled in Sections 2, 4 and 9 of this magazine. Here, special mention is made of some of these awards and prizes, and of other successes deserving to be placed on record.

Aularians Honoured by the King

Many congratulations to the alumni recognised in the New Year Honours List and King’s Birthday Honours List this year: Air Commodore Victoria McPhaden (1998, Geography), Honorary Fellow Faith Wainwright (1980, Engineering Science), Lyssa McGowan (1996, Geography) and Robin Osterely (1975, Human Sciences).

Victoria received a CBE in the Military Division of the New Year Honours. She is currently Head of People Services for the

Royal Air Force (RAF). Much of her early career focussed on infrastructure delivery, programming and planning at the RAF Infrastructure Branch, on station at RAF Leuchars and as a Wing Commander in the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. The Hall was delighted to welcome Victoria as guest of honour at this year’s International Women’s Day Formal Hall.

Faith has been awarded a CBE for services to engineering. With a distinguished career spanning more than

four decades, she is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a former Director of Arup. Faith writes: “For everyone starting out on a career in Engineering, I hope this award is an inspiration for the impact that engineers have in the world, and the wonderful and diverse careers open to them. Teddy Hall gave me a brilliant start, studying structural engineering under the wonderful late Joe Todd, and building life-long friendships.”

Lyssa received an OBE for services to retail in recognition of her transformational work as CEO of Pets at Home since 2022. In the role, she has created an integrated petcare business providing veterinary, retail and grooming services, which has driven strong growth, with consumer revenue rising to nearly £2 billion in 2025.

Robin has been awarded an OBE for services to charity. Robin is the Chief Executive of the Charity Retail Association and has carried out wonderful work to raise the profile of charity retailing in government, media and among the general public since 2015.

Hall Academics Awarded Professorships by Oxford

St Edmund Hall extends congratulations to the following Governing Body Fellows who have been awarded Professorships at the University of Oxford in recent Recognition of Distinction exercises:

Paul Goulart was conferred the title Professor of Engineering Science last summer and has also recently received a Departmental Teaching

Award for his excellent lectures; Maia Chankseliani has become Professor of Comparative and International Education;

Luc Nguyen is awarded the title of Professor of Mathematics;

Robert Wilkins has been conferred the title Professor of Medical Education.

They commented on this prestigious achievement:

“I am grateful for this recognition of work that spans borders and disciplines. Comparative and international education is not only about studying systems elsewhere; it is also a way of rethinking what is possible in our own. Becoming Professor is a moment to reaffirm the importance of rigorous, socially engaged scholarship that asks public questions – how universities matter, for whom and under what conditions – and to continue asking what responsibilities universities carry in a changing world, and how they might live up to them.” – Professor Maia Chankseliani

“I’m very honoured to have been awarded the title of Professor of Mathematics. Special thanks go to my students, collaborators and mentors, without whom this recognition would not make any sense. I’m also much indebted to the wonderful colleagues at the Mathematical Institute and at St Edmund Hall for their continued support and inspiration.” – Professor Luc Nguyen

“I am delighted to have been awarded this title and very grateful to all of the colleagues who have supported me over the years as my career has progressed.” – Professor Robert Wilkins.

Professor Dimitrios Tsomocos

Elected to Prestigious Fellowship

Dimitrios Tsomocos, Professor of Financial Economics at the Saïd Business School and Fellow by Special Election, has been elected as an Economic Theory Fellow at the internationally renowned Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET) – one of the highest honours in the field.

Economic Theory Fellows are selected for their scientific excellence, originality and leadership, high ethical standards, and scholarly and creative achievement. The research contributions of fellows may exist in many areas of theoretical economics, including pure and applied research, and government service. The primary qualification for fellowship is to have substantially advanced economic theory work.

Besides Dimitrios’ work on macro-finance and financial stability, he is currently working on economic research into climate finance and its ramifications for financial stability, monetary policy and wealth inequality.

Professor Claire Nichols

Receives MPLS Award for Outstanding Research Supervision

Each year, the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) Division celebrates exceptional commitment to mentoring and supporting colleagues through the Awards for Outstanding Research Supervision.

Claire Nichols, Associate Professor of the Geology of Planetary Processes and Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences, is among this year’s recipients in recognition of her ability to inspire confidence, foster collaboration and support her students both academically and personally, enabling them to flourish during their time at Oxford and beyond.

Read more about the MPLS awards: www.mpls.ox.ac.uk/latest/news/ winners-of-the-2024-25-mpls-awardsfor-outstanding-research-supervisionannounced.

Hall Fellow Awarded Geological Society’s Lyell Medal

Professor Hugh Jenkyns, Emeritus Fellow and former Vice-Principal, is the recipient of the 2025 Lyell Medal, awarded by the Geological Society of London for his pioneering research.

The Lyell Medal is awarded annually for contributions to soft-rock studies and is among the Society’s most prestigious awards. It was established under the will and codicil of Sir Charles Lyell (1797–1875), the author of Principles of Geology, which popularised the idea of uniformitarianism.

Hugh is an internationally recognised sedimentary geologist, stratigrapher and palaeoceanographer. His pioneering research centres around understanding major global events in Earth history by examining their sedimentary and geochemical records, with a focus on Jurassic and Cretaceous marine and lacustrine sediments.

Maia Chankseliani Appointed Chair of UKFIET Executive Committee

Professor Maia Chankseliani, Fellow by Special Election in Comparative and International Education, has been appointed as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Education and Development Forum (UKFIET), a leading organisation in the UK committed to promoting and strengthening international education and development for all. Having served as a member of the Executive Committee since April 2021, she now leads UKFIET’s initiatives, enhancing Oxford’s influence in the field.

New Europaeum Appointment for Honorary Fellow

Honorary Fellow Dr Andrew Graham has recently been appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Europaeum. Founded in 1992, the Europaeum is a network of leading universities across Europe with a mission to bring together students, scholars and practitioners to address critical European issues and promote shared European values. On the appointment, Andrew commented, “I am honoured to take this position at such a pivotal time for Europe and higher education. The Europaeum is a thriving network, well placed to make an even greater impact now than in the past.”

Hall Fellow Appointed

Arnell Associate Professor of Greenhouse Gas Removal

Dr Steve Smith, Senior Research Fellow, has been appointed Arnell Associate Professor of Greenhouse Gas Removal. The new title was created courtesy of a generous gift from Jamie Arnell and family to support a decade of research into greenhouse gas removal at the University, beginning in 2026. Steve is also the Executive Director of two research initiatives (CO2RE and Oxford Net Zero) and lead author of the international State of Carbon Dioxide Removal reports.

Chris Hawkesworth Receives 2025 Victor M. Goldschmidt Award

Chris Hawkesworth, Honorary Fellow and Professor Emeritus at the University of Bristol, received the 2025 Victor M. Goldschmidt Award of the Geochemical Society in July. The award is presented annually for major achievements in geochemistry over a whole career. His work has helped transform geochemistry by emphasising its applicability to understanding the processes operating over the entirety of Earth’s existence.

Dr Linda Yueh Becomes a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society and Joins Newly Created UK Soft Power Council

Dr Linda Yueh CBE, Fellow by Special Election in Economics, has recently been recognised as an inaugural Fellow of the

Royal Economic Society. It is professional recognition for those who have made a significant contribution to the discipline.

Earlier in the year, Linda was also appointed to the UK Soft Power Council. Co-chaired by the Foreign Secretary and Culture Secretary, the newly established Council brings together those with expertise in growth, security, climate and nature, and development to help the Government deploy the UK’s soft power assets more effectively on the global stage.

Core to the Council’s mission is the pursuit of economic growth, ensuring that the renewed approach to soft power will bring tangible economic benefits to the people of the UK. The Council will also identify opportunities to strengthen our reach and reputation by building partnerships at home and abroad.

Professor Nicholas Cronk

Elected to the American Philosophical Society

Emeritus Fellow

Professor Nicholas Cronk has been elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society (APS). The APS is the oldest and most distinguished learned society in North America; it was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin to bring together creative thinkers in the sciences and other fields of study for the broad purpose of “promoting useful knowledge”

This year’s new members represent outstanding achievement in the sciences, humanities, social sciences and technology, as well as leadership in industry, higher education and nonprofit administration.

Professor Anna Regoutz Receives IUPAC Emerging Innovator Award

Professor Anna Regoutz, Tutorial Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry, has been awarded the IUPAC Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry for 2025.

The award is given for her leadership of an interdisciplinary team of researchers exploring the structure-electronic structure relationship in inorganic solids with a goal of integrating such materials into opto-electronic devices.

Every two years the Analytical Chemistry Division presents two awards for outstanding contributions to the field of analytical chemistry. The IUPAC Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry recognises outstanding research achievements by an early career stage scientist in the field of analytical chemistry.

Hall Fellow Appointed Pro-ViceChancellor

Governing Body Fellow

Professor Heidi Johansen-Berg took up the post of Pro-Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives in 2025. In this role, she leads the development, implementation and monitoring of strategic initiatives that bridge functional boundaries and drive transformation within the University. Heidi also serves as the Associate Head (Research and Innovation) in the Medical Sciences Division. She is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences where her

research group investigates brain plasticity in the context of learning and recovery from brain damage.

Fellow Awarded Mercator Fellowship

Professor Andrew Kahn, Fellow and Tutor in Modern Languages (Russian), has been awarded a Mercator Fellowship by the Federal Government of Germany. The award will enable a collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of the European Enlightenment (IZEA) in Halle, Germany, which has received substantial funding.

Subedi Prize for the Best Doctoral Dissertation Awarded to

Hall Student

Aiden Lerch (2021, DPhil Law) has been awarded the Subedi Prize for the Best Doctoral Dissertation by the Faculty of Law. The annual Subedi Prize is awarded for the thesis that makes the most exciting and original contribution to the relevant field of scholarship and is best-crafted in terms of organisation, style and presentation. Aiden’s thesis focused on ‘Injunctive Relief in Tort Law’.

Aiden spent two years at the Hall pursuing his doctoral studies. After completing his thesis, he worked as an Associate at the High Court of Australia for the Honourable Justice Jacqueline Gleeson. He currently works as a solicitor in commercial litigation at Arnold Bloch Leibler in Sydney, and his thesis is being published as a monograph by Hart Publishing later this year.

Student Awards and Achievements

Sport

Warm congratulations go to the following students who were recognised this year for their participation at University level:

Alex Adair (2023 English) Hockey, Blue

Sam Allen (2023, DPhil Geography) Lacrosse, Half Blue

Evie Chappell (2024, Biochemistry) Hockey, Blue

Jessica Cottee (2024, Geography) Hockey, Blue

Daniel Cryer (2022, Engineering) Hockey, Blue

George Davison (2024, Chemistry) Hockey, Blue

Thomas Early (2022, Mathematics) Canoe Polo, Half Blue

Thomas Farnsworth (2021, Engineering) Dinghy Sailing, Half Blue

Christopher Gallagher (2021, DPhil

Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Science: Responsible and Reproducible Research) Water Polo, Half Blue

Robert Hardwick (2020, Medicine) Cricket, Blue

Sebastian Harker (2024, Earth Science) Lightweight Rowing, Blue

Maisy Heggie (2024, French and Spanish) Athletics, Half Blue

Sergey Ichtchenko (2024, MSc Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science) Gliding, Half Blue

Madelyn Letendre (2024, MSc Clinical and Translational Neuroscience) Swimming, Blue

Caleb McKenna (2024, DPhil Engineering)

Australian Rules Football, Half Blue

Sama Malik (2021, Engineering) Tennis, Blue

Evie Mayhew (2023, Earth Sciences) Cricket, Blue

Nanami Mizoshita (2023, PPE) Kendo, Half Blue

Matthew Morgan (2023, Geography)

Taekwondo, Half Blue

Luke Nijkamp (2022, Engineering) Triathlon, Half Blue

Annie Oakes (2023, Jurisprudence) Swimming, Half Blue

Katherine Parsons (2024, Medicine) Football, Blue

George Prior (2021, Physics) Basketball, Blue

Aoife Reynolds (2024, Jurisprudence) Football, Half Blue

Sara Riolo (2023, PPE) Netball, Blue

Lucas Rollinson (2022, Economics and Management) Volleyball, Half Blue

Sophie Shams (2022, DPhil Earth Sciences) Rugby, Blue

Anna Marie Stankova (2021, Engineering) Golf, Blue

Anastasia Storey (2022, Geography) Football, Blue

Leah Tavasi (2023, Environmental Research (NERC DTP)) Sailing, Half Blue

Lily Thompson Mouton (2022, Experimental Psychology) Taekwondo, Half Blue

Jake Tommasi (2023, History) Karate, Half Blue

Edwin Walker (2024, Jurisprudence) Water Polo, Half Blue

The Hall’s Amalgamated Clubs gives awards to Hall members for obtaining the distinction of a Blue (£200) or Half Blue (£100). Thanks to the continuing

generosity of Richard Luddington (1978, Modern History), the Luddington Prize was awarded to Sama Malik (2021, Engineering) and George Prior (2021, Physics) for having achieved both a First in Finals and a Blue during their undergraduate careers.

Simonian

Prizes for Excellence in Leadership

Thanks to the continuing generosity of Aularian Professor Simon J Simonian (1962, Animal Physiology) and his family, the Simonian Prizes for Excellence in Leadership went to:

Cassandra Mbanje (2024, MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology)

James O’Neill (2022, PPE)

Masterclass Fund Awards

The aim of these awards of up to £1,000 is to facilitate further development and achievement for individual students. This year, 17 awards were given to the following students to help them pursue advanced training in the extracurricular activities – creative or sporting – in which they excelled:

Olivia Allen (2021, Earth Sciences) –Cheerleading

Nayantara Arora (2024, DPhil Clinical Medicine) – Violin

I-Ting Chou (2021, Chemistry) –Powerlifting

Frances Hand (2022, DPhil Law) – Sports coaching

Sergey Ichtchenko (2024, MSc Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science) – Flying

Sarah Savić Kallesøe (2022, DPhil Population Health) – Skiing

Christina Kassab (2022, DPhil Engineering Science) – Bookbinding

Helena McCormick Paice (2022, Engineering Science) – Painting

Anna Oakes (2023, Jurisprudence) –Swimming

Emma Pardo (2023, Psychology and Philosophy) – Dancesport

Daisy Pendergast (2021, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry) – Singing

Hugh Simmons (2023, DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) – Singing

Jasper Singh (2021, DPhil Materials) –Rugby

Vincent Straub (2023, DPhil Population Health) – Writing for public audiences

Sophia Suganuma (2022, PPE) – Public speaking

Joseph Walford (2023, Modern Languages) – Volunteering

Katja Rose Worth (2022, DPhil Oncology) – Cheerleading

The Hall remains extremely grateful for the sponsorship which supports this successful Masterclass Fund Awards scheme.

Culture Fund Awards

Introduced for the 2024–2025 academic year, the Culture Fund supports the development of cross-cultural activities within the Hall, combining a mixture of performances, writing, painting, music, literature, film and sport. Individual students are eligible to apply for up to £500 per project per term.

Caeli Colgan (2024, English) – Production of Blood Wedding

Tom Meldrum (2023, Fine Art) – Art supplies

David Odhiambo (2024, MBA) – Africa Night event

Vincent Straub (2023, DPhil Population Health) – Photo Oxford entry

Keith Gull Fund

The Keith Gull fund is used at the discretion of the Principal to provide direct support to current Hall students who wish to undertake special projects such as charitable work, choral and drama tours, travel for unusual academic opportunities and to assist others. Keith Gull initiated this fund during his tenure as Principal at the Hall (2009–2018), reflecting his commitment to both ‘Hall Spirit’ and supporting student ambition.

Emily Garratt (2023, Biochemistry)

Eliza Hogermeer (2021, Modern Languages)

Xuan Li (2023, PPE)

Cole Mason (2024, MSc in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance)

Ewan Messenger (2023, Geography)

Nanami Mizoshita (2023, PPE)

Samuel North (2024, Chemistry)

Maria Nozdrina (2021, Medicine)

Yash Suribhatla (2022, Medicine)

Student Start-up Wins at AllInnovate Competition

Hall student Tiffany Truong (2023, DPhil Primary Health Care) was among the winners of this year’s All-Innovate competition, hosted by EnSpire, the University’s entrepreneurship hub. The competition is designed to foster earlystage entrepreneurial thinking and it provides participants with the opportunity to develop, refine and present their innovative ideas.

Together with fellow student Yanni Zhou (2022, Wolfson College, MPhil Islamic Art and Architecture), Tiffany has founded winning start-up Oeuvre, which aims to use tokenisation and decentralised autonomous organisations to facilitate

fractionalised ownership and communal collecting of artworks and, in the future, other high-barrier assets.

Winners of This Year’s Undergraduate Engineering Competition

Many congratulations to Mark Simmons (2021, Engineering), who won this year’s Hall undergraduate engineering ThreeMinute Fourth-Year Project (3M-4YP) competition with his presentation on machine learning for double-dot tuning in quantum technologies.

There was a tie for runner-up between Alyssa Chan (2021, Engineering) and Thomas Farnsworth (2021, Engineering). Alyssa’s project concerned ways to recognise British Sign Language in video using deep learning, while Thomas’ project involved the design of a novel 3D-printed gripper.

The prizes for the competition were provided by the Joe Todd Award fund.

Hall Student Awarded Associate Fellowship of Advance HE

Nick Sidwell (2024, DPhil Geography and the Environment) has been awarded an Advance HE Associate Fellowship.

As a charity, Advance HE works across universities to help develop and promote the highest standards in higher education teaching and learning. Nick’s Associate Fellowship follows teaching work over the last year with the University of Bristol. He is hoping to find more opportunities to teach in Oxford now he is at Teddy Hall.

Top 100 Women in AI List Recognises Hall Student

Sruthi Viswanathan (2022, DPhil Computer Science) has been named in the 2025 100 Women in AI list compiled by Flybridge and Xfactor Ventures. She is a computer scientist specialising in human–AI interaction. As Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of The Spaceship AI, she leads the development of AI trainers for sustainability across energy, fashion, travel and business. Her research journey spans roles at Google, INRIA, Signal Ocean, Naver Labs Europe and Limbic AI.

Sruthi comments: “Truly humbled to be named among the greats and honoured to represent the Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) community, and to keep pushing for AI that is understandable, controllable, and keeps improving in alignment with humans.”

And Finally: An Interview with Deputy Head Butler Craig Hughes

Craig Hughes joined the Hall in 2023 as Deputy Head Butler, having previously worked at New College and Wadham. We recently interviewed Craig to find out more about his role including the project to reorganise the Hall’s cellar, which took place earlier this year.

Could you tell us about your role here at St Edmund Hall?

My role involves assisting Head Butler Molly Higgins in the day-to-day catering function at the Hall, both during and outside of term, as well as overseeing the silverware collection – this includes cleaning, organising the silver safe, and helping Chattels & Pictures Fellow Professor Jonathan Yates to catalogue all of the pieces. About a year ago now I also took over the day-to-day running of the wine cellar so I assist Professor Robert Wilkins, Senior Tutor and Cellarer, with ordering and tastings.

What does a typical day look like?

I arrive at College nice and early to get a good grasp of what’s happening that day. First, I go through the daily operations to get an idea of how to organise my team. Typically, I will also be returning wine from a previous function and collecting for another. It’s very important that the front of house team works closely and in harmony with the Kitchen team as we all need to be on the same page, so we organise meetings in the morning and afternoon to ensure smooth running of the department. New wine deliveries come in weekly, so I am always having to keep up with the housekeeping in the cellar to make space for more of the good stuff coming in. I am also always conducting regular checks in

the silver safe to make sure all items are cleaned and ready for use on the tables.

Where did you work before joining the Hall?

Before joining the Hall, I worked at New College, from 2015 until 2020, then at Wadham from 2021 to 2023. While working at New College, the Head Butler sparked my interest in wine – I really enjoyed hearing him talk about the industry and where particular wines originated. I now really enjoy learning more about the science behind the taste – how the grapes are grown and harvested, what affects the grape/production, biodynamics, and of course the end product. I recently completed the WSET Level 3 Award in

Wines to help support my work in the wine cellar and I hope to move on to a diploma in the future.

What do you enjoy most about working here?

I enjoy all aspects, especially front of house and handling the wine. It is wonderful to combine my interests with event hosting at the Hall, and seeing how it brings people together, for example discussing wine with Fellows and guests at Formals or graduation, and discovering new wines together.

Could you tell us about the recent project to reorganise the cellar?

We used the recent cellar renovations as an opportunity to remove everything, reorganise the space, value the collection and implement a new system for wine ordering and stock-checking. The system – kindly built by IT Manager Andrew Breakspear – enables us to manage the cellar more efficiently. We use it to catalogue what we have, and can include useful information such as cost, year, tasting notes and label imagery, all of which is really helpful for the wider team

when they need the information quickly. The reorganisation was a very physically demanding process which took six months, and we needed to ensure the wine was stored appropriately in the meantime. Once complete, all of the stock had to be moved back into place – we managed to achieve this without any breakages!

Robert and I will routinely evaluate older wines in the cellar to get a better understanding of what can still be cellared and how we can best use wines reaching the end of their drinking window. This helps with determining the true value of the cellar and space management, but can also offer some pleasant surprises when we suspect something might be past its best but it has actually managed to hold up and be of good quality.

Lastly, any wine recommendations to share?

Everyone has different tastes but, most importantly, different occasions call for different wine. Personally one of my favourites is Viña Ardanza Reserva, La Rioja Alta.

From the College Office

The Senior Tutor’s Year

October 2024 saw over 200 new students arrive at the Hall. 107 undergraduates were joined by 97 graduate students, undertaking taught Masters or doctoral study. In addition, during the academic year, 49 Visiting Students joined our undergraduates, studying at the Hall for one or more terms.

These students came from far and wide. In addition to 110 students from the United Kingdom, we welcomed 25 from across Europe, along with 58 from North America, 48 from Asia, 7 from Africa and 6 from Australia. The Hall truly is an internationally diverse college.

As you will read elsewhere in this issue (pp. 49–51), the College’s outreach work goes from strength to strength under the direction of Luke Maw, working to encourage high numbers of direct applications from highly qualified, wellinformed students. Our regional work with schools in the east Midlands is now well-established and is starting to bear fruit in terms of application numbers and successful outcomes both to the College specifically and more generally across the University.

Last year, I related that we had appointed a Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science in readiness to restart admissions in the subject and its Joint Schools in October 2025 after a more than 15-year hiatus.

I am very pleased to report that the first students were selected last December and arrived at the Hall earlier this month. The subject will now build year-on-year as successive admissions exercises give us a full cohort in three years’ time.

I am also delighted to report that the College has now joined the University’s Astrophoria Foundation Year Programme. This is a one-year foundation programme

for UK state school students. It is aimed at those with significant academic potential, who have experienced severe personal disadvantage or disrupted education which has resulted in them being unable to apply directly for an Oxford undergraduate degree programme. During 2024–2025, the College made offers to foundation courses that will prepare students for the undergraduate English and Materials Science courses. Students who successfully complete the programme will enter the first year of those courses in October 2026.

We have also bolstered our study skills provision for undergraduates. In addition to providing graduate teaching assistant support to help individual students hone their skills, we have appointed a College Lecturer to lead the development of a range of resources to address common difficulties that students encounter when making the transition from school to the University.

In addition to those Fellows whose appointments I recorded last year, we welcomed a number of other new colleagues during the academic year. Dr Benjamin Hess joined us as an Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow in Earth Sciences, Dr Kate Keohane took up a Career Development Fellowship in History of Art and Wellbeing, while Dr Sofya Dmitrieva and Jenyth Evans took up Junior Research Fellowships in European Languages and English, respectively. Professor Katie Peterson, Professor of English at the University of California, Davis, also joined us for the academic year as a Visiting Fellow in Poetry, collaborating with Professor Erica McAlpine.

I am pleased to report that three colleagues already at the Hall were also elected to Fellowships. Carlos Rodríguez Otero, the Director of Music, and Dr Holly Langstaff, College Lecturer in French, became Fellows by Special Election, while Dr Antonin Charret, Junior (Discipline)

Dean, was elected as a Junior Research Fellow. In addition, The Revd Andreas Wenzel took up the role of Chaplain early in 2025 and was elected to a Fellowship by Special Election.

Two further appointments to Early Career Fellowships were made during the academic year: Dr Dahab Aglan (Economics) and Dr Aisha Djelid (American History) took up their roles earlier this month.

We bid farewell at the end of the year to Dr Callum Munday (Fellow by Special Election in Geography), who left to take up a Tutorial Fellowship at St John’s College, and to Dr Orlando Lazar-Gillard (Politics) and Dr David McMeekin (Physics) whose fixed-term Fellowships came to an end. Finally, it is with great sadness that I must record the death of Emeritus Fellow Sir Peter Hirsch, Isaac Wolfson Professor of Metallurgy and Professorial Fellow from 1966 until 1992.

Professor Robert Wilkins, Senior Tutor

Student Numbers

On the College register at the start of Trinity term 2025 were 414 undergraduates, 333 postgraduates and 42 Visiting Students.

New Students 2024–2025

Undergraduates

In the 2024–2025 academic year, 107 students joined the College as undergraduates from the following schools, colleges and universities:

Acton Cerys Arthur Terry School

Ali Zain Wesgreen International School

Applebaum-Kahn Zohar Woodhouse College, Finchley

Balkrishna Rohit Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet

Batt Rex Canford School

Begum Iqra Rochdale Sixth Form College

Boucher-Ferté Adélaïde St Mary's School, Ascot

Bridge Samuel The Perse School

Burn Samuel Northampton Academy

Carr Phoebe Westminster Kingsway College

Carvin Ben JFS School

Chappell Genevieve St Marys School, Ascot

Chen Tianyu Shanghai Guanghua Qidi College

Christie Dylan Bexley Grammar School

Clarke Ben King's College School

Colgan Caeli European School Luxembourg I

Cottee Jessica Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Crowther Agatha Latymer Upper School

Danovaro Alessandro Maiden Erlegh School

Durston Jasmine The Blue School

Eagleson Fiona Brampton Manor Academy

Edwards Cormac St David's Catholic College

Egan Ptolemy Eton College

Elrayess Arwa Doha College

Eren Elif The Koç School

Fernández-Arias Abigail Urmston Grammar

Finn Elizabeth Bexhill College

Fong Seng Junn Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar

Forbes Lola Bristol Cathedral Choir School

Fu Zichen Ulink College of Shanghai

Garner Grace Lord Williams's School

Glazebrook Haniya St Paul's Girls' School

Griffiths Eve University of the Arts London

Hardwick Eli The Skinners' School

Harker Sebastian St Paul's School, London

Harris Alexander Poole High School

Hay Finley Churchill Academy & Sixth Form

Heggie Maisy Silverdale School

Helsby Kayla Wheatley Park School

Henderson Henry Rugby School

Herbert Sophie Hinchingbrooke School

Hill Clara Brighton Metropolitan College

Hilton Charlotte Hitchin Girls School

Hong Yilun Guangdong Country Garden School

Huang Zexuan Colegio Mas Camarena SL

Huang Zhuoer Wuhan Britain-China School

Hudson Alexandrina Magdalen College School, Oxford

Jiang Letian Ulink College of Shanghai

John Lottie Dame Alice Owen's School

Julius Carolina Francis Holland School

Kajal Jasmine Barnsley College Higher Education

Ketheeswaran Abhinaya Brampton Manor Academy

Keung Cheuk Yin HKBU College of International Education

Kim Tae Hwan Ivy Collegiate School

Kumar Anvi Tanglin Trust School, Singapore

Lee Katherine Stafford College Careers Centre

Lejietis Valters European School Brussels

Lewis Edward Manchester Grammar School

Lewis Rory King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford

Lovelock-Blair Abigail Royal High School, Bath

Mably Luke Freman College

Malik Ruhan Elthorne Park High School

Martins Simone St Dominic's Sixth Form College

McLean Margaret Eirias High School

Moon Chaehyeon Korean Minjok Leadership Academy

Mynors-Wallis Harry Poole Grammar School

Ng Hong Wei Hwa Chong Institution

North Samuel Monmouth Comprehensive School

Orledge Alexander Monmouth Comprehensive School

Panda Abhipsa Indian Education School, Kuwait

Park Eren The Kings Priory School

Parry Maya Latymer Upper School

Parsons Katherine North London Collegiate School

Pejhan-Sykes Ethan Penistone Grammar School

Pendlebury Rosalia Channing School

Peng Shushen Changwai Bilingual School

Petipher Molly HSDC Havant

Postins Natasha International School Basel

Quintin Alex The John Warner School

Rainbow Nina Greenhead College, Huddersfield

Rana Krish Harrow School

Reynolds Aoife The Becket School

Rimmer Stanley Exeter Mathematics School

Shepherd Madeleine Harington School

Simpson Josephine Ilkley Grammar School

Smith Elsa Shanghai Guanghua College

Spencer-McDaniel Isabella Highcliffe School, Christchurch

Staff Emily The Sixth Form College Colchester

Stenings Luke Norton Knatchbull School, Ashford

Streets Hugo Tonbridge School

Taborn Bonnie Alleyn's School, Dulwich

Vasquez Montoya Carlota Lycée Français Louis Pasteur, Bogotá

Vere Luca London Academy of Excellence Tottenham

Vivekanandan Dhaksha King Edward VI High School for Girls

Von Sponeck Iris The Godolphin and Latymer School

Vora Tara Peponi Secondary School, Kenya

Walker Edwin Falkirk High School, Falkirk

Walsh Hugo Cranbrook School, Australia

Wang Yurun Scots College

Watremetz Oliver Barton Peveril College

Widuch Julia Akademeia High School

Wijnne Guus Hillhead High School

Williams Oliver Royal Alexandra and Albert School

Williams Tycho The London Oratory School

Wu Shulin Dipont Education Management Group

Yuan Yuze

Kingston University

Zhou Zibo Radley College

Postgraduates

In the 2024–2025 academic year, 97 students joined the College as postgraduates from the following schools, colleges and universities:

Abdulkareem Madinat University of Ilorin

Abedin Zaynul University of Dhaka

Armero Piñeiro Maria

Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine

Arora Nayantara University of Oregon

Bacon James University of Cambridge

Bratton Elizabeth University of Cambridge

Bruce Thomas University of Manchester

Bui Hai Yen

Caballero Cardozo Bruno

University College London

Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Campanile Simona University of Exeter

Chandrasekera Dhammitha School of Pharmacy, University of London

Chen Yingye University College London

Clare-Hunt Charlotte University College London

Cook John University of Oxford

Coutu Philippe École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC), Montréal

Cox Amy Trinity College Dublin

Crestani Dominic University of Durham

Crowther Polly Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine

Dağlar Ali Emir

Dartmouth College

Datta Manjistha King George’s Medical University, Lucknow de la Torre García Daniela La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving

Dearlove Jonathan University of Queensland

Despositos Isabella University of Cambridge

Draycott Alice George Washington University

Drexler Alexandra University of Essex

Dugan Gabrielle Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Foster Samantha University of Southampton

French Conrad Yale University

Fu Hao-Lun

National Cheng Kung University Taiwan

Gan Junyu University of Warwick

Guckenberger Melissa University of Colorado Boulder

Guo Yaxin

London School of Economics and Political Science

Hagerty Maeve Tufts University

Houghton Georgia University of Kent

Ibrahim Nada University College London

Ichtchenko Sergey University of Helsinki

Jenman Natasha University of Durham

Kalinina Melaniia State University – Higher School of Economics

Kaufmann Anna-Lena Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Kennedy Lewis University of Strathclyde

Kowalska Aleksandra University of Cambridge

Kraitem Celine Lebanese American University

Krull Hannah University of York

Kulkarni Akshara Ashoka University

Kurillová Martina University of Amsterdam

Kwong Benjamin University of Oxford

Lai Vy Wien Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine

Letendre Madelyn US Air Force Academy

Li Haoyuan Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine

Li Liangxiao University of Nottingham

Li Xuan Tsinghua University

Lu Shiyang University College London

Magwood Katharine Queen’s University Belfast

Mason Cole Williams College, MA

Mason Sophie Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine

Mbanje Cassandra University of the Witwatersrand

McKenna Caleb University of Western Australia Nedlands

Meehan Padraig University of Oxford

Mól Wiktoria University of Cambridge

Muraoka Yuta University of Tokyo

N. M. Abushahla Alaa Al-Quds University

Nakate Vanessa Makerere University Business School

Neal Abigail University of Oxford

Nguyen May Asian University for Women, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Odhiambo David Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology

Ostrov Daniela University of Illinois Chicago

Pattaruveettil Meera Menon University College London

Perry Mia University of Cambridge

Petraro Hope Brown University

Pirani Alykhan Columbia University

Powell Timothy University of Oxford

Qiu Shengkun Peking University

Quarsie Jeffrie Queen Mary University of London

Rhéaume Michel University of Montreal

Rice Alexandra Johns Hopkins University

Sahai Shubh Jindal Global University

Saul William Berklee College of Music

Sidwell Nick University of Bristol

Simon Ruben University College London

Steinfeld Leonardo London School of Economics and Political Science

Storer Kieran University of Oxford

Tramsen Fenja Swarthmore College

Tudose Maria-Alexa University of Oxford

Umaraliev Alisher University of Warsaw

Veale Colin University of Oxford

Villiers Lucy King's College London

Walsh Coleman Stanford University

Wang Yizhen University of Cambridge

Wanyama Conrad University of South Wales

Wright Lucy University College London

Xing Zheng National University of Singapore

Yorke Charlotte University of Durham

Young Emily University of the West of England

Zhou Hongjian University of Oxford

Zhou Jin University of California, San Diego

Zhu Chenyu University of Leicester

Žižková Anna University of Amsterdam

Visiting Students 2024–2025

Allen Alexandra Cornell University

Bayazitoglu Osman Princeton University

Bedrossian Arnaud École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC), Montréal

Bell Makayla Columbia University

Bhattacharjee Riya Wellesley College

Boulos Samuel Northwestern University

Castleman Sagar Columbia University

Chandrasekar Priyanka Bryn Mawr College

Chen Oscar University of Sydney

Dexter Nathaniel Vassar College

Dumortier Chloe Cornell University

Duong Thi Thao Vy Trinity College, Hartford

Edwards Annette Northwestern University

Freeley Dean Holy Cross College

Garg Sara Emory University

Hessler Noam Vassar College

Hopkins Milly Columbia University

Hughes Gabrielle Swarthmore College

Iboshi Will University of Richmond

Imamberdieva Nika Harvard University

Jessen Anne Holy Cross College

Kamal Sreenidhi Bates College

Karaganis Joseph Columbia University

Kim Katelyn Bryn Mawr College

Knightly Kyle Rice University

Lemkin Benjamin Princeton University

Liang Yuwen Hamilton College

Ma Qikai University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mirick Benjamin Amherst College

Muthusamy Ved Northwestern University

Nguyen To Nhu Trinity College, Hartford

Ratcliffe Talulah Harvard University

Schwier Jacob University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Shapovalova Sofiia Princeton University

Siegel Emily Porter Rider University

Sponiarová Anna Ostrava University

Stauff Marissa Rider University

Walton Satchel University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Wang Hongrui The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Wang Madeline Swarthmore College

Ware Mary Lawrence Columbia University

Weiner Zackary Cornell University

Wood Georgia University of Richmond

Yan Phillip Columbia University

Yang Zhuojian University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Yang Ziyang University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Zhai Zihan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Zhang Ruoyao University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Zhou Emma Wellesley College

Student Admissions Exercises

In the Undergraduate Admissions exercise 2023, St Edmund Hall received 627 applications for entry in 2024 and beyond. Nearly 300 of these applicants were invited to interview. All applicants were interviewed online via Teams.

Following the conclusion of December’s interview period, the Hall made a total of 122 offers of undergraduate places for entry in 2024 (compared to 121 offers the previous year). Eleven of these were open offers. In addition, five deferred offers of places were made, for entry in Michaelmas term 2025. The Hall also ‘exported’ a small number of applicants, for offers of places at other colleges.

In terms of gender, 49% of offers of undergraduate places were made to applicants who identified as male and 51% to female. The applicants receiving

offers comprised 70% UK nationals and 30% of students from overseas, including from EU countries. In respect of previous education, of the 88 offers made to UK applicants, 69% were to state-educated applicants and 31% to students attending an independent school (2022: 56% state, 44% independent).

Graduate offer-holders for entry in 2024–2025 represent over 40 nationalities: they will be undertaking a range of taught and research programmes in disciplines from across all four of the University’s academic divisions. The expected eventual intake of new graduate students in Michaelmas term 2025 is approximately 110.

At the time of writing, this year’s Graduate Admissions exercise had so far seen the Hall consider over 300 applications.

College Awards, Prizes And Grants

College Scholars 2024–2025

Alexander Adair

Olivia Allen

Bliss Ashley

Aryaman Babbar

Matthew Bartlett

Alexander Burson

Lucy Cade

Isaac Chan

Rick Chen

Rachel Chia

Felix Clayton McClure

Ben Colleran

Alexandra Dawson

Julia Domaracka

Thomas Early

Gideon Futerman

Weijia Gao

Suchir Gella

Jack Gillespie

Catherine Gower

Sophie Griffith

Xilin Gu

Tobias Heath

Benjamin Holland

Toby Holmes

David Hrushovski

Harriet Humfress

Mehmet Efe Kiliç

Chengyu Kuang

Joseph Lacey

Cheuk Lai

Hei Shun Lam

Tobias Lloyd

Sama Malik

Evie Mayhew

Haojun Miao

Niamh Murfin

Iris Murphy

Charlotte Newell

Kelvin Zhu Hao Ngu

Luke Nijkamp

Osaruonamen Osifo

Daisy Pendergast

George Prior

Dylan Radford

Rathi Ramakrishnan

College Exhibitioners 2024–2025

Misha Behrens

Daniel Cryer

Thomas Farnsworth

Alexander Feldman

Devaassenan Mahenthiran

Toby Mann

Lydia Pedley

Madeleine Rodriguez

Mark Simmons

Stanley Smith

Academic Progress Prize 2024–2025

Rex Batt

Rick Chen

Felix Clayton McClure

Jena Curtis

Jasmine Durston

Molly Hill

David Hrushovski

Zexuan Huang

James Maddocks

Hong Ng

Samuel North

Maya Parry

Lydia Pedley

Aaron Rambow Czarny

Stanley Smith

Lili Sreter

Aaron Rambow Czarny

Daniel Record

Shuzhe Ren

Lucas Rollinson

Ella Soni

Qianyi Sun

Sidharth Thapliyal

Jake Tommasi

Zachary Turinsky

Eric Ji Da Wang

Matilda White

Ioan Whomsley

Yu Ming Alexis Wong

Mara Wuelfing

Shaojing Xie

Xingcan Yi

Jincheng You

Henry Zhao

Yihan Zhao

Hongyi Zheng

Zihan Zhuang

Oliver Spencer

Yash Suribhatla

Jessica Taal

Lily Thompson-Mouton

Carlota Vasquez Montoya

Jade Vohra

Iris Von Sponeck

Joseph Walford

Oliver Watremetz

Gus Wijnne

Xingcan Yi

Antunes da Silva Politics Award

Anandita Abraham

Nanami Mizoshita

Bendhem Fine Art Bursary

Eve Aspland

Daniela de la Torre García

Freya Foster

Ella Soni

Olivia Stevenson

Yu Ming Alexis Wong

Bernard Bewlay Science and Engineering Bursary

Daniel Cryer

Thomas Early

Luke Nijkamp

Aoife Taylor-Torney

David J Cox Prize

Lenny Bailleux

Gareth Roberts Award

2023–2024

Max Challener

Joseph Lacey

George Series Prize

Matilda White

Proxime accessit

Olivia Allen

Julia Domaracka

Kim George

Toby Holmes

Niamh Murfin

Michelle Ng

Graham Midgley Memorial Prize for Poetry

Celine Gu

Proxime accessit

Sophia Bursey

Lola Forbes

David Hrushovski

J R Hughes Book Prize

Grace Garner

Joe Todd Award

Yat Kam

Euan Simmonds

Ogilvie-Thompson English Prize

Caeli Colgan

Proxime accessit

Laura van Heijnsbergen

Peel Award

Rick Chen

Aaron Rambow Czarny

Undergraduate English Award

Laura van Heijnsbergen

Cochrane Scholarship

Eve Aspland

Graham Hamilton Travel Award

Conrad French

Theana Johnson

Duncan Lyster

Matt Greenwood Travel

Scholarship

Agatha Crowther

Michael Pike Travel Fund

Anastasia Storey

Luke Tamblin

Richard Fargher Bursary

Anandita Abraham

Cormac Edwards

Indigo Haynes

Michelle Ng

Elena O’Connor

Joseph Walford

Non Watts

Richard Luddington Prize for Outstanding Academic and Sporting Achievement

Sama Malik

George Prior

Choral Scholarship

Luke Boulton

Edmund Finney

Elsa Giles

Omer Mihovic

Isabella Nichols

Daisy Pendergast

Ekaterina Rahr-Bohr

Organ Scholarship

Alyssa Chan

Michelle Ng

Tiffany You

Choral Exhibition

Oscar Chen

Abigail Fernández-Arias

Julia Hackler

Tobias Heath

Antonia Horan

Harriet Humfress

Mehmet Efe Kiliç

Samuel North

Edward Taylor

James Wright

College and University Bursaries

A total of 34 students received the income-related Oxford Bursary. The College components of these bursaries were supported by: 1971 and 1972 Aularians; Adrian Briggs Bursary, supported by a number of generous Aularians in honour of Professor Adrian Briggs; Ann Taylor Bursary, set up in memory of Dr Taylor; Aularians Mr Chris Ashton and Mrs Natasha Ashton; Buttery Bursary; many Aularians in memory of Carol McClure; Aularian Chris Armitage in honour of his parents Charles and Edith Armitage; Thomas Peel and the Charles Peel Charitable Trust; Aularian David Harding and Mrs Gale Harding; Derek Statham Scholarship, funded by Chris Statham in honour of his father; Dr Francis Rossotti’s benefaction; George Bull Bursary; Aularian Tony Laughton; the Lipsig Family Scholarship, funded by Ethan Lipsig; Lotus Foundation Bursary; Maureen and Neville Haile Bursary; Aularian Mr Peter Johnson; Mrs Dorothy Pooley, Mrs Lucy Webber and Mrs Frances Georgel in memory of their father, Aularian Mr Philip Saul; River Farm Foundation; many Aularians in memory of Sir David Yardley; Bernard Bewlay in honour of Sir Peter Hirsch; the Noel Bater Bursary; Aularian Mr Tony Best in honour of his parents Mr and Mrs Ron Best; Tony Doyle; the generous bequest of Aularian Mr William Asbrey.

A further 16 students received the University’s income-related Crankstart Scholarship, Reuben Bursary and Santander Bursary.

University Awards and Prizes

Armourers and Brasiers’ Prize for Year 2 Business Plan Team Presentation: 2024–2025

Yizhou Gu

Rohan Iyengar

Rohan Patel

Daniel Record

Prize for Best Team Design Project: 2024–2025

Kelvin Zhu Hao Ngu

Lili Sreter

College Graduate Awards and Prizes

Emden-Doctorow Scholarship

Zhouhan Chen

Gao & Ning DPhil

Chemistry Conference Award

Siddhant Dhingra

Harriet and Joan Neal Graduate Research Scholarship into Amyloid Angiopathy

Samantha Foster

Mitchell Scholarship

May Nguyen

Postgraduate Writing-up Grant

Siddhant Dhingra

Isaac Holmberg

Yinghan Li

Routledge Scholarship

Alexandra Drexler

Tony Doyle Graduate Science Prize

Kit Gallagher

Duncan Lyster

Nicole Mitchell

Piya Rajendra

Haopeng Xu

William Asbrey BCL Scholarship

Simon Ruben

William R Miller Scholarship

Duncan Lyster

Partnership Graduate Awards and Prizes

Clarendon and Badman Scholarship

Monica Perri

Clarendon Fund and Besse Scholarship

Zaynul Abedin

Clarendon Fund and Brockhues Scholarship

Hongjian Zhou

Weidenfeld-Hoffmann

Oxford-Hoffman – Julius Baer Scholarships

Vanessa Nakate

David Odhiambo

Alisher Umaraliev

Clarendon Fund and Bruce Mitchell Scholarship

Ali Emir Dağlar

Clarendon Fund and St Edmund Hall Scholarship

Samuel Allen

Clarendon Fund and E P A Cephalosporin Scholarship

Carla Nel

Scholarships

Oxford-Hoffman – Shuaib

Chaudhary Scholarship

Alaa Abushahla

Clarendon Fund and Justin Gosling Scholarship

Sarah Savić Kallesøe

Clarendon Fund and KerrMuir Scholarship

Sophia Abusamra

Degree Results

Final Honour Schools 2025

These are the Finalists who agreed to the publication of their exam results.

Biochemistry

Class I Isaac Chan, Weijia Gao, Daisy Pendergast, Eric Ji Da Wang

Class II i Chloe Abraham

Class II ii Edward Robinson

Cell and Systems Biology

Class II i Katie Booth, Poppy Buckley

Chemistry

Classs I I-Ting Chou, Daniel Espanhol

Class II i Cherry Marsh

Class II ii Harkiran Kaur, Harry McWilliam

Earth Sciences

Class I Olivia Allen, Catherine Gower, Sophie Griffith, Joseph Lacey

Class II i Max Challener, Erica Harrison-Scott, Caspar Soyoye

Economics and Management

Class I Usmaan Nadeem, Osaruonamen Osifo

Class II i Xilin Gu, Tinu Reji, Lucas Rollinson

Class II ii Fengzhuoyang Zhu

Engineering Science

Class I Sama Malik, Ioan Whomsley, Jincheng You

Class II i Alyssa Chan, Thomas Farnsworth, Madeleine Rodriguez, Mark Simmons, Anna Stankova

Class II ii Chili Dai

English Language and Literature

Class I Sophia Bursey, Tom Kennedy, Freya McCauley-Wright

Class II i Isabella Brown, James Sambrook, Fizza Zaidi

Experimental Psychology BA

Class II i Sophie Cumberpatch

Fine Art

Class I Eve Aspland, Ella Soni, Olivia Stevenson, Alexis Wong

Class II i Freya Foster

Geography

Class II i Lenny Bailleux, Alexander Burson, Jack Gillespie, Stefan Martin, Rathi Ramakrishnan, Anastasia Storey

Geology

Class I Gideon Futerman

Class II i Shaojing Xie

History

Class I Rachel Chia, Cheuk Lai, Conrad Moe

Class II i Zev Bitel, Anisha Das, Felix Mottram, William Murphy, Charlotte Newell

History and Modern Languages

Class II i Elsa Giles

Jurisprudence

Class II i Mikail Ashraf, Stephanie Goreli, Madison Read, Maha Waqar

Jurisprudence (with Law in Europe)

Class II i Isabel Ambrose

Materials Science

Class I Qianyi Sun

Class II i Isabel FernandezVictorio

Class II ii Benedict Keates, Lin Zhu

Mathematics and Philosophy BA

Class II ii Freyr Tulloch

Mathematical and Theoretical Physics

MMathPhys

Distinction Aryaman Babbar

Mathematics BA

Class II i Yating Zhang

Mathematics MMath

Distinction Luke Tamblin

Medical Sciences

Class II i Jemima Begum, Luke Boulton, Finn Galway, Suchir Gella

Modern Languages

Class I

Tomas Dwyer, Yasmin Sinha

Class II i Sarah Beard, Jena Curtis, Atticus Evans-Lombe, Taerim Lee, Ekaterina Rahr-Bohr

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Class I Felix Clayton McClure

Class II i Chaia McQuail

Neuroscience

Class II i Mya Hesketh-Bream, Reuben Kyne

Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Class II i Anandita Abraham, James O’Neill, Samuel White

Higher Degrees

Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil)

2024

Astrophysics – Connar Rowan

Atomic and Laser Physics – Aleksei

Malyshev

Engineering Science – Weiming Tu, Yufan

Wang

Environmental Research (NERC DTP) –

Oliver Tooth

Geography and the Environment – Kenta

Sayama

Law – Elinor Buys

Medical Sciences – Aimee Paterson

Molecular and Cellular Medicine – Linda Mies

Science and Technology of Fusion Energy (EPSRC CDT) – Benjamin Evans

2025

Anthropology – Laura Bergin

Astrophysics – Sean Barrett

Biochemistry – Xinyi Feng

Chemical Biology – Sheung Hei Ng

Clinical Medicine – Sarah Andrews, Yuqing Long

Clinical Neurosciences – Camille

Lasbareilles

Computer Science – Joar Skalse

Earth Sciences – Stephanie Lechki

Economics – Momo Komatsu, Akshat

Singh

Education – Antonin Charret, Shuo-Fang

Liang, Amanda Lyons

Engineering Science – Sara Abdelaziz, Joel

Balkaran, Xiaotong Li

Physics

Class I George Prior

Class II i William Lambern

Physics and Philosophy MPhysPhil

Class II i James Wright

English – Jasmine Jones

Environmental Research (NERC DTP)

Zoology – Sumali Bajaj, Alice Edney

Geography and the Environment – Nurul

Amillin Hussain, Joris Bücker

History – Abhimanyu Arni, Rebecca Brown

International Development – Pratim Ghosal

Materials – Liwei Dai, Po-Yuan Huang, Ben Jagger, Xinlei Liu

Medical Sciences (Part-time) – Aideen O’Neill

Medieval and Modern Languages (Parttime) – Nicholas Stedman

Molecular and Cellular Medicine –

Christopher Campbell

Neuroscience – Sarah Armstrong

Psychiatry – Alessandro Mancari

Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures (EPSRC CDT) – Daniel Rowe, Gerard Ryan

Women’s and Reproductive Health –Faheem Seedat

Zoology – Nancy Burrell

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

2024

Khalid Abdelgadir, Mathieu Lizotte (Distinction)

2025

Onat Topal

Master of Fine Art (MFA)

Daniela de la Torre García (Distinction)

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

Global and Area Studies – Catherine Dillman

International Relations – Michael Levinson (Distinction)

Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics –Olivia Nutt

Modern Languages – Arianna Covin, Julia

Hackler (Distinction)

Modern Middle Eastern Studies – Anna Gassó Duocastella

Russian and East European Studies –Isaac Holmberg (Distinction)

Master of Public Policy (MPP)

2024

June Arvin Gudoy, Shawntel Nieto

Master of Science (MSc)

2024

Advanced Computer Science – Claas

Thesing (Distinction)

Biodiversity, Conservation and Management – Melissa Guckenberger

Financial Economics – Pierre-Hugues

Forest-Le Sieur

Learning and Teaching – Serena Eggers (Distinction)

Water Science, Policy and Management –

Sherry Da

2025

Clinical Embryology – Georgia Houghton, Daniela Ostrov

Clinical Medicine – Haopeng Xu

Clinical Neurosciences – Sophia Basarrate

Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience –

Hai Yen Bui (Distinction), Madelyn Letendre

Economics – Tom Schwantje

Financial Economics – Philippe Coutu (Distinction)

Global Governance and Diplomacy – Fenja Tramsen

Integrated Immunology – Akshara Kulkarni (Distinction)

Law and Finance – Yuta Muraoka, Shengkun Qiu

Mathematical and Computational Finance –

Thomas Bruce (Distinction)

Migration Studies – Alykhan Pirani

Neuroscience – Jack Cook

Pharmacology – Charlotte Yorke (Distinction)

Radiation Biology – Alice Liu

Theoretical and Computational Chemistry –Chenyu Zhu

Master of Science by Research (MSc Res)

Organic Chemistry – Zhiheng Zhang

Master of Studies (MSt)

Diplomatic Studies – Marie Kato

English – Simona Campanile (Distinction)

History – Polly Crowther

Modern Languages – Elizabeth Bratton (Distinction), Anna-Lena Kaufmann (Distinction)

Music – William Saul (Distinction)

Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL)

Shubh Sahai, Ruben Simon

Bachelor of Medicine (BM BCh)

Medicine, Clinical – Thomas Henning, Maximilian Hess, Hannah Riches, Archie Watt

Magister Juris (MJur)

Bruno Caballero Cardozo

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

2024

Josephine Arnold

2025

Dhammitha Chandrasekera, Isabella

Despositos, Katharine Magwood, Wiktoria

Mól, Mia Perry

Degree Day Dates 2025–2026

Information about the procedure for signing up to a degree ceremony can be found on the College website. Dates of degree ceremonies in 2025–2026 will be published on the College website as and when they are confirmed (usually in Michaelmas term).

Taught course students who are due to finish their degrees in the 2025–2026 academic year will be invited by the Degree Conferrals Office in Michaelmas term of their final year to attend the ceremony date relevant to their degree.

Research students will be invited to book a ceremony date once they have been granted Leave to Supplicate.

Historic graduands (pre-October 2025) or those wishing to have their MAs conferred in person at a ceremony will need to request that their name be put on a ‘holding list’ (waiting list) for a ceremony date, and will be contacted should a place become available. Further information detailing the booking process for historic graduands is available on the College website.

From the Director of Development

The 2024–2025 academic year marks the fourth year of our HALLmarks campaign in support of the Hall’s ten-year strategy (2019–2029). I am delighted to share that, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Aularians and our supporters, we have now raised £20 million since the strategy’s launch in October 2019, keeping us on course for our £50 million target by 2030. A key focus of this campaign remains the redevelopment of the Norham St Edmund student accommodation buildings, and it was a real pleasure to welcome some of our alumni donors back to the site for the topping-out ceremony, hosted by the Chancellor and College Visitor, The Rt Hon the Lord Hague of Richmond, on 20 June 2025 to see the remarkable progress that has been made. When completed in spring 2026, this new ‘quadrangle’ will enable us to house all our undergraduate students in a supportive, collegiate environment – an achievement only possible through the generosity of Aularians.

As always, the year was filled with memorable occasions that brought Aularians, students, Fellows and friends of the Hall together. On 13 September 2024, we celebrated a joyful gaudy for our 1990–1993 matriculands, with over 150 alumni in attendance; this was followed during the week by a 60th anniversary lunch for 1964 matriculands and by a warm alumni reception during the University’s Alumni Weekend on 20 September with drinks in the Front Quad. On 24 September, we held an event for donors at the House of Commons, hosted by the Principal, Professor Baroness

Willis. The autumn also saw the Principal and members of the Development and Alumni Relations Office travel to Brussels in November, part of our renewed effort to strengthen European alumni networks.

On 15 November, the Hall hosted the fourth edition of the Conversations in Environmental Sustainability seminar, which explored which protein sources are most environmentally sustainable. A week later, on 22 November, the annual St Edmund Hall Association London Lunch took place once again at the Army & Navy Club in Pall Mall. This long-standing tradition remains one of the highlights in the Aularian calendar, providing an elegant setting for alumni to re-connect. The Michaelmas term concluded with studentand alumni-led celebrations, including Carols in the Quad, poetry readings and a colourful Diwali Formal Hall, all of which highlighted the vibrancy of our community. In December, we were delighted to return to the United States for the 39th Annual New York Drinks Reception and Dinner. This enduring gathering continues to be one of the most significant in the life of the Hall, reaffirming our strong ties with alumni in North America. Once again alumni generously hosted us, this year

Tai-Heng Cheng (1996, Jurisprudence), for a drinks event at his home in Manhattan, and Justus O’ Brien (1979, PPE), for the dinner at the Links Club.

The annual St Edmund Hall Association Dinner was held on 4 February 2025 at 100 Wardour Street, which was typically enjoyable and lively, hosted by the President of the St Edmund Hall Association, Chris Elston (1976, Engineering).

In April, the Principal and I visited Aularians in Asia for the second time in recent years and attended events in Hong Kong and Singapore, generously hosted by Aaron Yeo (1995, PPE) at the China Club in Hong Kong, and at the Singapore Cricket Club, we were generously hosted by Mark Fisher (1992, Geography). We are growing our ‘Aularians in Asia’ network by making this annual visit a firm date in the calendar to build our community here and provide opportunities for alumni in the region to connect with one another and their College.

The start of Trinity term saw our inaugural Community & Giving Week from 25 April to 2 May. This led to over £140,000 raised or pledged from 179 unique donors and

28 first-time donors during the week. The event brought together alumni, students and friends in celebration of the generosity and shared spirit that define our community.

The year then drew to a close with a drinks reception on 19 June in Paris for alumni in France, followed immediately a day later by the topping-out ceremony for Norham St Edmund. The HALLmarks Gala Summer Reunion was held on 28 June, when Aularians gathered for a Boat Club exhibition in the Old Library, a drinks reception in the Front Quad and a splendid black-tie dinner in Wolfson Hall. Lastly, on 15 July, the Principal held an event at the House of Lords for major supporters to the campaign, with a keynote speech by The Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride (1981, PPE), Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, which was a fitting finale to a memorable year.

Alongside these gatherings, we have helped arrange several smaller, informal ‘pop-up’ Aularian get-togethers, including in Tokyo, Munich, Prague and Toronto, and we hope to continue these more informal gatherings into 2026 and beyond.

Bequests to the Hall continue to provide invaluable support. This year we were honoured by the generosity of several Aularians who have remembered Teddy

Hall in their wills, and we look forward to welcoming members of the Floreat Aula Legacy Society back to College for their next biannual dinner in March 2027. We are incredibly grateful to those Aularians who responded to our campaign this year to grow the Society’s membership.

Looking ahead, we remain committed to the ambitious goals of the HALLmarks campaign. With Norham St Edmund on track for completion in spring 2026, we look forward with excitement to welcoming the first student residents from the 2026–2027 academic year. Continuing support from Aularians is not only enabling this transformative project but also creating new scholarships, enriching student life through music, sport and culture, supporting world-leading research, and sustaining Oxford’s unique tutorial system.

Thank you to all our alumni and supporters for your unwavering generosity and for being such an integral part of the Hall’s ongoing story. I look forward to the year ahead, and many more opportunities to help foster and support our valued Aularian community.

Floreat Aula!

Andrew Vivian, Director of Development and Fellow by Special Election

From the St Edmund Hall Association President

I am delighted to be able to say that the Association has again run a full programme of activities this year, but first I’d like to say a few words about the Association as we have new students and academics who may be unaware of our activities. The St Edmund Hall Association was formed in 1925 with the principal objective of being a ‘friend raising’ body that will encourage all Aularians to maintain contact with the Hall, its Fellows and other alumni. All alumni are members of the Association – you may remember a small fee being added to your termly battels when you were a student to pay for your lifetime membership. All alumni are therefore welcome and encouraged to participate in and indeed help with the organisation of our events.

This year, we began our social calendar with our fourth London lunch in November 2024 with another record being set at 69 tickets sold. We were updated on the latest developments in the Hall by the Principal and one of the new Fellows, Tutorial Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry Professor Anna Regoutz, who told us

about her research in inorganic chemistry and her pathway to the Hall. A fifth lunch is planned for 14 November 2025.

The 39th annual New York Dinner followed in December 2024 in New York City, attended by a Hall delegation led by the Principal. Many thanks to Bob Gaffey (1975, Jurisprudence) for continuing to be the organiser of this event and to Justus O’Brien (1979, PPE) for hosting the event at the Links Club. The evening before the dinner, there was a drinks reception attended by about 40 people hosted at the home of Tai-Heng Cheng (1996, Jurisprudence), where he moderated a discussion about the mysteries of cryptocurrency between Congressman Jim Himes (1988, Latin American Studies) and financial journalist MacKenzie Sigalos (2010, MSc Education). Other North American events have included drinks events in NYC, Pasadena CA, Boston MA and Toronto. Thanks to all the organisers.

In February 2025, we again held our London dinner at 100 Wardour Street. This lively and convivial event was attended by 157 guests. We will be holding another dinner there on 3 February 2026. In 2025 we subsidised tickets for those who hadn’t attended in the past ten years and this drew out 55 ‘new’ diners. We hope to do something similar next year. I would particularly encourage all Aularians to attend Association and Hall events, even if your particular friends are not able to be there. You will always find you are in excellent company, no matter whom you are seated with, and you’ll have plenty to talk about.

Our annual Teddy Talk took place on 5 March. We were delighted to have Ian Smith (1972, Geography) as our guest speaker. Ian’s astonishingly diverse range

of expertise enabled him to speak on both the NHS and the future of British defence. My thanks to Association Committee member Polly Cowan (2002, Jurisprudence) who organised and led the event.

We again awarded two Aularian Prizes to students who demonstrated an exceptional enterprise or voluntary commitment in an activity which has a clear community benefit, raises the profile of the Hall and falls outside established College or University pursuits. One prize was awarded to a JCR member and one to an MCR member, both at a value of £600. The number of applicants from both common rooms increased this year and the quality seen in previous years was maintained. We awarded prizes to Henrietta Bolchover (2023, Engineering), who taught Maths and Physics to a small community in Uganda, and to Natasha Jenman (2024, DPhil History), for her work with Campus, a charity that provides holidays for young people with difficult home lives. A report from Henrietta on her time in Uganda can be read elsewhere in this issue (pp. 182–3).

Our podcast, Spirit of the Hall, has now entered its fifth series. Guests so far this year have been Al Murray (1987, Modern History), aka the Pub Landlord, and

Jools Simner (1990, French), Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Sussex. The series continues to be organised and hosted by past Association President Olly Belcher (née Donnelly) (1999, Geography). Thanks to Olly for her sterling efforts!

I would like to thank my Deputy President, David Jordan (1990, Modern History); the Committee for their dedication to the Association; and also the Principal and the Development and Alumni Relations Office for their support and encouragement, particularly Head of Alumni Relations

Emily Bruce for her work on our London social events. I would also like to thank our whole Aularian community for your enthusiasm over our various initiatives – I hope we can provide events and activities over the coming years that will maintain your engagement. As always, your suggestions are welcome. The Hall and the Association have jointly decided to discontinue Aularian Connect and I would advise Aularians to continue to keep in touch and seek out opportunities via the alumni LinkedIn page, which has over 2,000 members. You can also reach me at elstonc@sky.com.

Chris Elston (1976, Engineering Science)

Donors to the Hall

Donor List from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025

The Principal, Fellows and students are all extremely grateful for the support of the 1,066 alumni, parents of students and Friends of the Hall who have donated in the last year and whose names are recorded on the following pages.

Although the donor list only includes gifts received between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, we are equally grateful to all supporters who have given to the Hall outside of this timeframe. If you donated after 31 July 2025, your gift will appear in next year’s Magazine.

We record by matriculation date the names of all who have made a donation during this period, including the participation rate (the percentage of people in each year who have given), and the total amount received per matriculation year. Where there are small numbers of donors in a particular year we have not listed the amount given in order to preserve confidentiality.

*denotes deceased

1944

David Shears*

1946 (33%)

David Dunsmore*

1949 (15%)

Bob Breese*

Tony Shepherd*

1950 (27%, £8,959)

Raymond John Lee*

Jack Preger

Ralph Simmons

Ray Waddington-Jones*

Jack Wheeler

1951 (14%, £4,600)

Allan Jay*

Kenneth Lund

Plus 2 anonymous donors

1952 (11%, £813)

Ian Byatt

Royston Taylor

Neville Teller

David Wright

1953 (17%, £7,419)

Ian Jackson*

David Picksley

Bob Rednall

Dick Turner

Brian Venner

Brian Wakefield

1954 (15%, £25,788)

Jeremy Cleverley*

Michael Duffy

Tony Laughton

Brian Shepherd*

Keith Suddaby

Raymond Thornton

1955 (17%, £40,031)

John Billington

Tony Cooper

John Dellar

David Frayne

David Hare

Michael Hilt

Tony Pearson

Bill Weston

Richard Williams

1956 (28%, £5,050)

Roy Caddick

Michael Cansdale

Fred Farrell

John French

Michael Hickey

Basil Kingstone

Chris Machen

Martin Reynolds

Michael Rider

David Short

Peter Whurr

1957 (13%, £5,113)

Michael Archer

Robin Blackburn

David Bolton

Blake Bromley

Duncan Dormor

Tony Ford

Alastair Stewart

Gerry Williams

1958 (16%, £4,128)

Jim Amos

David Harrison

John Haydon

Ronnie Irving

Michael Jarman

Pete Kite

Tony Nial

Bill Patterson

Michael Pelham

David Phillips

Philip Rabbetts

1959 (23%, £305,378)

Ian Alexander

Ewan Anderson

Hinton Bird

Keith Bowen

D C Coleman

John Collingwood

David Cooksey*

Tony Doyle

Ian Hepburn

Graham Kentfield

Culain Morris

Mike Oakley

Alan Rowland

Mike Saltmarsh

John Spires

David Stedman

Michael Voisey

Stewart Walduck

Ian Walker

Roy Walmsley

John Walters

1960 (37%, £9,705)

Nick Alldrit

Chris Atkinson

David Baines

Terence Bell

Adam Butcher

Robert Clark

Terence Coghlin

Jeremy Cook

Robin Cox

Ian Evans

Brian Fyfield-Shayler

Jeff Goddard

Peter Hayes

Kenneth Heard

Robin Hogg

Chris Long

Yann Lovelock

David Mash

Melvyn Matthews

Francis Pocock

George Ritchie

Ted Rose

Patric Sankey-Barker

John Sherman

George Smith

Roger Sparrow

John Thorogood

Andrew Tod

Alan Wilding

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1961 (21%, £48,220)

Don Anderson

David Brown

Martin Buckley

Stanley Burnton

Bob Chard

Sidney Donald

Alex Georgiadis

Rex Harrison

Michael Hornsby

Malcolm Inglis*

John Long

Jim Marsh

Jonathan Martin

Peter Newell

Hugh Redington

Anthony Rentoul

David Scharer

Stephen White

1962 (26%, £10,235)

Bill Best

David Buckingham

James Burnett-Hitchcock

Michael Buttler

Chris Cowles*

John Cunningham*

Jim de Rennes

Sean Duncan

Michael Eames

Cynthia Graae

Bill Gulland

Handley Hammond

Ant Hawkes

David Hicks

Arwyn Hughes*

Roger Miller

Tony Moore

Sean Morris

Nigel Pegram

Richard Phillippo

Hugh Thomas

Roger Wardle

John Williams

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1963 (18%, £26,665)

Darrell Barnes

Steve Benson

Bob Brewer

Bob Broughton

Nicholas Bulmer

Keith Bywater

Bob Clarke

David Cox

John Crawshaw

Geoff Day

Edward Gould

Michael Harrison

Clive Sneddon

John Still

John Taylor

Plus 3 anonymous donors

1964 (15%, £16,770)

John Bunney

Martin Butcher

Bob Clarke

Steve Copley*

Jeremy Fox

Bill Hartley

Derek Hawkins

John Hughes

Tony Lemon

Tim Machin

Derek Morris

James Pitt

Michael Powis

Stephen Sherbourne

Hugh Simpson

Peter Smerd, in memory of Nicholas Boucher (1962)

David Tearle

Edward Trippe

1965 (25%, £24,234)

Christopher Allen

Paul Badman

Joe Barclay

Robert Beckham

Jeff Creek

John Dennis

Paul Fickling

Simon Gatrell

Derek Harrison

Colin Hewitt

Ken Hobbs

Ron McDonald

Andy Morgan

Thomas Mulvey

Brian North

Maurice Pannell

Stephen Patrick

Billett Potter

David Powell

John Rea

David Reed

Guy Richardson

Ted Roskell

John Sayer

Philip Spray

Chas Stansfield

Bill Walker

Frank Webster

Richard White

Richard Wycherley

1966 (19%, £15,108)

Cam Brown

Nigel Clarke

Bob Darby

Guy Fisher

Roger Frankland*

David Garvie

David Hansom

Ian Hewitt

Linn Hobbs

Ted Hodgson

Peter Jenkins

John Kilbee

David Knight

Jon Shortridge

David Stewart

Michael Stone

Geoffrey Summers

George Syrpis

Brian Walker

1967 (23%, £43,082)

Robert Breckles

Peter Burnell

Jeremy Cooke

Nigel Derrett

Lawrence Downey

Colin Hawksworth

Roger Kenworthy

Mike Kerrigan

Ethan Lipsig

John Mabbett

Peter Mitchell

Jim Mosley

John Orton

Dave Postles

Philip Robinson

Graham Salter

Mark Spencer Ellis

David Tabraham-Palmer

Keith Walmsley

Rob Weinberg

Peter Wilson

Georges Zbyszewski

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1968 (17%, £46,772)

Clive Bailey

Andrew Barnes

John Berryman

David Blezard

Charles Fisher

Peter Harris

James Hunt

Laurence Jackson

Alan Jones

Stuart Kenner

Geoff May

Tony Moore

John Penfield

Mike Pike

Chris Pote

Ian Ridgwell

Martin Slater

Michael Spilberg

Ian Stuart

David Theobald

1969 (11%, £13,422)

Brian Battye

Mick Birks

Roger Callan

Paul Clemence

Bryan Dawson*

Steve Dempsey

Dick Ford

Clive Kerridge

David Monkcom

Paul Parker

Peter Ramell

Bruce Spaven

Chris Stafford

1970 (13%, £17,964)

Nigel Coles

Julian Currall

Will David

Richard Gozney

Chris Hawkesworth

John Hawkins

Chris Lewis

David Morgan

Richard Ormerod

Peter Raspin

Colin Richmond-Watson

Richard Robinson

Paul Silk

Mike Skelding

Chris Sutton-Mattocks

Plus 2 anonymous donors

1971 (18%, £160,794)

David Audsley

Richard J. Balfour

Peter Balmer

George Bishop III

Mark Booker

Jean Chagnon

Roger Chaplin

Ian Cheffy

Lawrie Coupland

Lawrence Cummings

Yves Desgouttes

John Fazackerley

Rick Henshaw

Richard Hoyle

Dave Leggett

Peter Lever

John Parr

Roger Pawson

Douglas Robertson

Stephen Rosefield

Steve Russell

Greg Salter

John Sloan

Justin Stead

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1972 (16%, £15,126)

Jim Boff

George Bull

Steve Chandler

William Clark

Anthony Deakin

Tony Downes

Andy Hall

Andrew Lowenthal

Howard Mason

Paul Mounsey*

Peter Osborn

Andrew Peacock

Gareth Price

Peter Rogers

David Rosen

Ian Smith

Robin Stephenson

Steve Taylor

John Trotman

Allan Walker

Martin Winter

1973 (18%, £8,644)

Chris Bamber

David Beckett

Colin Bullett

Sean Butler

Robert Godden

Roger Golland

Richard Gretton

David Grice

Richard Harandon

David Holmes

Nick Jones

Anthony Jordan

Dave Knight

Nigel Laing

Colin Lizieri

Toby Lucas

Ian Midgley

Mark Patterson

Nic Peeling

Christopher Pretty

John Roberts

Tom Schneider

Mike Wood

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1974 (20%, £101,017)

Keith Albans

Lionel Barber

Phil Budden

Graham Clark

Peter Desmond

Steve Edrich

Andy Eggleston

Mark Handsley

Andrew Hargreaves

Charles Hind

Doug Imeson

Bob Jeavons

Frederick Leaf

Paul Matthews

Charles Murray

Jeremy Nason

David Neuhaus

John Ormiston

Andy Patterson

Tim Robinson

Gerard Rocks

Trevor Ryder

Dick Sands

Kim Swain

Graham Wareing

John Wisdom

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1975 (17%, £108,771)

Tim Bryan

Jeremy Charles

Philip Congdon

Ken Davies

Bob Gaffey

Brian Gasser

Graeme Gibbs

Ed Gray

David Heaver

Dan Hegarty

Chris Hockey

Roy Hoolahan

Gordon Hurst

Alan Kerr

Graham Ketley

Robin Osterley

Justin Samuel

Ces Shaw

Nigel Smith

Alan Stansfield

Anthony Stopyra

Peter Watson

David Way

1976 (18%, £820,196)

Bill Baker Jr

Robin Beckley

Paul Campbell

Hora den Dulk

Brian Denton

Chris Elston

Richard Finch

Anson Jack

Stephen Moore

Trevor Payne

Jonathan Reynolds

Jamie Robertson

Martin Saunders

Paul Sutton

Ian Taylor

Stephen Tetley

Peter Trowles

Andrew Wathey

Robert Wilson

Neil Worthington

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1977 (14%, £13,789)

Philippe Beaufour

David Blakey

Charles Blount

Andrew Brown

Steve Clark

David Cooper

Ian Doherty

Peter Foster

Oliver Grundy

Nick Hamilton

David Harding

Chris Horner

Roger Keeley

David McKenna

Peter Rogers

Jeremy Tullett

David Van Roijen

Steve Vivian

Paul Walker

1978 (11%, £3,962)

Doug Ansley

John Armitstead

Hamish Cameron

Ian Coleman

Richard Collins

Simon Heilbron

Ian Hutchinson

Lloyd Illingworth

Stephen Leonard

Brian Livesey

Richard Luddington

Gideon Nissen

Nicholas Rowe

Brian Worsfold

1979 (13%, £12,929)

Stephen Coulson

David Cox

Gail Davies

Davina Dwyer

Mark Earls

John Hodgson

Paul Littlechild

Ian Lupson

Phil Martin

Caroline Morgan

Janet Nevin

Robert Quain

Michael Robinson

Ingrid Sharp

Paul Skokowski

Duncan Talbert

Robert Vollum

David West

1980 (22%, £118,347)

John Ayton

Bernard Bewlay

Philip Broadley

Nick Caddick

William Carver

Graham Clempson

Paul Cubbon

Jonathan Davies

Anthony Farrand

Jon French

Alison Girling

Alistair Graham

Jonathan Hofstetter

Simon Kelly

Steve King

Gary Lawrence

John Madgwick

Hugo Minney

Tim Mottishaw

Zahid Nawaz

James Newman

David Preston

Simon Ramage

Jonathan Scott

Nick Senechal

Paula Skokowski

Joanna Smith

Neil Stevenson

Brigitte Stollmaier

Frank Strang

Christina Tracey

Faith Wainwright

Rebecca Willis

1981 (13%, £48,926)

David Brown

Andrew Burns

Sandy Findlay

Julian Hammond

Richard Lambert

Neil Maidment

Jim McAleer

Paul McCarthy

Tim Miles

Andrew Miller

Sallie Nicholas

Tim Parkinson

Maria Queenan

David Stokes

Paul Stowers

Jenny Turner

Mark Walters

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1982 (17%, £12,699)

Maggie Carver

Tom Christopherson

Anna Cochrane

Catherine Dale

Linda Davies

Simon Ffitch

Guy Franks

David Heaps

Dan Johnson

Richard Kent

Peter Murray

Divya Nicholls

Gareth Penny

Nigel Purse

Marco Rimini

Kevin Sealy

Shona Tatchell

Junior Williamson

Stuart Worthington

Plus 3 anonymous donors

1983 (12%, £1,080,729)

Sara Browne

Chris Coleman

Kate Coleman

William Connolley

Tim Fallowfield

Siân Henderson

Mike Iddon

Max Irwin

Josephine Kent

Peter Magyar

Phil Moody

Christine Muskett

Kevan Rees

Helen Saunders

Andrew Sumnall

Andrew Till

Belinda Worsfold

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1984 (9%, £4,948)

Dan Abnett

John Bloomer

Will Coleman

Steve Crummett

Julian Day

Alison Fallowfield

Chris Giles

Tom Learner

Tesula Mohindra

John Risman

Anthony Rossiter

Harvey Wheaton

Sarah Wright

1985 (8%, £5,113)

Stephen Bartlett

Deborah Booth

Andy Brown

Clare Coleman

Neil Crabb

Nicolas Greensmith

Jon Gulley

Michael Hill

Julia Little

Mark Little

Nicholas Peacock

Susan Peacock

Clive Sentance

Will Shaw

Julia Weiner

1986 (18%, £31,639)

Mary Betley

Jim Charles

Geoffrey Chatas

David Denholm

Tim Dudley

Gavin Flook

David Gillett

Andrew Harrison

Brian Hepworth

Simon Hodgson

Claire Horacek

Neil Jacob

Rachel Kiddey

Stewart Lee

Iain Mackie

Sally McKone

John Myhill

Nana Okada

Phil Richards

Mike Stanislawski

Jacqui Thornton

Sharon von Simson

Catherine Ysrael-Gomez

Plus 5 anonymous donors

1987 (8%, £20,357)

Dan Bayley

Helen Fox

David Gomez

Jeremy Harrison

Roger Nixon

Peter O’Connell

Clare Rhodes James

Mark Sedwill

Richard Smalman-Smith

Sarah Smith

Philip Waldner

David Waring

Tim Wingfield

1988 (11%, £21,019)

James Brace

Marcus Browning

Leon Ferera

James Ferguson

Christopher Garrison

Jim Himes

Duncan Holden

Susanna Mann

Peter Matthews

Peter Michaelis

Peter Othen

James Rudd

Giles Sanders

Lucy Shaw

Plus 2 anonymous donors

1989 (10%, £12,068)

Tom Argles

Jonathan Cotton

Rob de Rennes

Jennifer Doran

Suzie Hobart

Mark Lauder

Tom Leman

Alex McLean

Richard Rednall

Ruth Roberts

Edward Rose

Chris Sawyer

Fiona Sawyer

Aktar Somalya

Terry Spitz

Natalie Tydeman

Darren Walker

1990 (13%, £8,573)

Marcus Bailey

Emma Barnett

Stephen Barnett

Paul Brady

Paul Brandon

Hew Bruce-Gardyne

Carolyn Drury-Burroughs

Vanessa Fieve Willett

David Gauke

Andrew Green

Graham Hinton

Adrian Jones

David Jordan

Kevin Knibbs

Gill La Valette

Chris Manby

John Milloy

Stephen Noone

Kirsteen Rowlands

Rob Salter

Ed Shelton

Natasha Walker

Andrew Williams

1991 (11%, £161,329)

Balakumar Arumugam

Christopher Ashton

Carol Atherton

Duncan Barker

Nick Byrne

Julian Cater

Tessa Evans

Tim Houghton

Anneli Howard

Lee Howgate

Nicholas Lane

David Liversidge

David McGill

Luke Powell

Kate Tilling

1992 (9%, £8,120)

Carla Antunes da Silva

Thomas Dennis

Matt Elliott

Lucy Heaven

Karsten Heeger

Jane Mann

Sarah Morrison

Sarah O’Neill

Jules Plumstead

Claire Pugh

Matt Purcell

Gareth Scholey

Wayne Smith

Matthew Weaver

1993 (10%, £31,819)

Natasha Ashton

Howard Cazin

Dan Edwards

Nick Gradel

Alexis Hughes

Tim Jackson

Kieren Johnson

Rob Mansley

Tom McClelland

Al Mordaunt

Geoff Mortimer

Henry Mullin

Lucy Newlove

James Owens

Richard Tufft

Matt Webb

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1994 (12%, £23,065)

Jeremy Badman

David Hambler

Luke Haynes

Genevieve Holland

James Holland

Choon Wai Hui

Richard Jackson

Ed Knight

Gareth McKeever

Kiran Mehta

Caroline Mitchelson

James Mushin

Harry Oliver

Thomas Peel

Amy Poole

Piers Prichard Jones

Jeremy Robst

Cary Rubinstein

Bernard Teo

David Wilkes

Gerard Yuen

Plus 1 anonymous donor

1995 (7%, £4,636)

Robert Dryburgh

David Howes

Chet Lad

David Lewis

Richard Martin

James McConnel

Hugh Miller

Koo-Yong Park

Chris Ruse

Martin Thorneycroft

Vladka Thwaites

Dominic Walley

Alison Waterfall

1996 (9%, £39,611)

Paul Boon

Claire Burton

Tai-Heng Cheng

James Cookson

Phil Duffield

John Houghton

Tom Long

Jose-Antonio Maurellet

Richard O’Donoghue

Roland Partridge

Maya Portolan

Zachary Segal

Roman Streitberger

Duncan Wallace

Edward Watson

1997 (10%, £18,831)

Christopher Armitage

Marko Bacic

Holly Bristow

Nat Copsey

Saurabh Das

Chris Eden

Natalie Gey van Pittius

Nicholas Hamilton

Heidi Johansen-Berg

Ali Mack

Dean O’Connell

George Palmer

Claire Pointing

Lucy Reynolds

Anthony Shackleton

Chris Tinson

Guofang Xiao

Plus 2 anonymous donors

1998 (5%, £3,122)

Michael Bird

Alan Dunford

Nick Hirst

Marcin Marchewka

James Matthews

Clare Murray

Ann-Marie Myhill

Alina Saranti-Kuzum

Carl Wells

1999 (11%, £3,900)

Olly Belcher

Bjorn Benckert

Mark Bolton-Maggs

Caroline Court

Jonathan Crawshaw

Oliver Deacon

Kieron Galliard

Zoe Noonan

Jenny Pescod

Alex Prideaux

Hanna Richardson

Sean Sullivan

Elizabeth Taylor

Rosalind Wall

David Williams

Plus 2 anonymous donors

2000 (5%, £95,579)

Rahul Chopra

Miles Clapham

Simon Dambe

Harriet Hungerford

Malcolm Lee

Akira Mitsumasu

Richard Povey

Brian Raines

Charlie Ramsay

Chris Statham

2001 (5%, £4,432)

Catherine Blair

Christian Figge

Charles Hotham

Clem Hutton-Mills

Katie Moran

Alevtina Nepomniachtchikh

Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky

Jen Sugden

Plus 1 anonymous donor

2002 (3%, £806)

Rachel Adams

Jackie Colburn

Ruth Evans

Jonathan Lonsdale

Leon Marshall

Felicia Shaw

Rupert Snuggs

Sarah Snuggs

2003 (4%, £8,421)

Nicolai Boserup

Jennifer Chung

Robert Hamilton Kelly

Heather Mack

David McCartney

Simone Wilson

Hongjie Zhu

Plus 1 anonymous donor

2004 (3%, £795)

Robin Fellerman

Stephanie Hardy

Cara Krmpotich

Fiona Moss

Scot Peterson

Tino Wendisch

Plus 1 anonymous donor

2005 (3%, £1,695)

Will Brownscombe

Will Herbert

Paisley Kadison

Anna Lambourn

Alex Morel

Lucinda O’Connor

Ed Reynolds

Rich Reynolds

2006 (6%, £2,258)

Jennifer Ayers

Sophie Brice

Henry Carter

Siobhan Chapman

Justin Furuta

Sam Juthani

Serena Lee

Qingxiang Li

Daniel Lowe

Robert Pearce

Xu Song

Sandamali Sutton

Amrik Thomas

Max Thompson

2007 (2%, £325)

Michael Helmers

Edward Mortimore

Iain Parr

Plus 1 anonymous donor

2008 (6%, £2,655)

Sam Andrews

Chris Clasper

Mark Godden

Katie Hill

Gurnam Johal

Bryony Morgan

Joanne Pearce

Tom Pope

Bartosz Redlicki

David Robinson

Adam Sealey

Charlie Wilson

2009 (6%, £2,802)

Benjamin Clough

Josh Coulson

Fraser Davies

James Duffell

Lucy Durrans

Chris Freeman

Michael Graham

Charlotte Howell

Adam Jordan

George Lake

Eric Lukas

Frances Reed

Xiao Tan

Huijuan Wu

2010 (5%, £1,325)

Jason Bell

Bhaskar Bhushan

Andrew Gray

William Gunson

Alex King

Duncan Littlejohns

Gabriel May

Mutsa Mutembwa

Michael Nairn

Sam Parkinson

Michael Sprague

Aran Uppal

2011 (4%, £683)

Thomas Bailey

Michael Cary

Olivier Cédelle

Hannah Dickinson

Melanie Heywood

Amy Kenyon

Abi Lovell

Kirsten Pontalti

Plus 1 anonymous donor

2012 (5%, £1,087)

Nicholas Angelides

Jack Calvert

Thomas Davis

Sarah Grant

William Hak

Matthew Jordan

Benjamin Kelsey

Nathan King

Fiona Maudslay

Zach Rotter

Emily Russell

Ben Valentine

Gemma Wardle

2013 (5%, £9,435)

Edward Benson

Kunz Chow

Josephine Clarke

William Dinning

Matt Jacobs

Jaydip Jani

Takashi Lawson

Dylan Lewis

Steven Pilley

Lara Shahnavaz

Alistair Swallow

Plus 1 anonymous donor

2014 (5%, £2,277)

Grace Clements

Thomas Cosnahan

John DeVoy IV

George Fulton

Zhenbo Gao

Kathryn Tierney

Hutchinson

Caitlin Johnson

Josh Mahir

Gianfranco Messina

Rachael Morris

Yekuan Shentu

Joel Straker

2015 (1%)

Amelia Gabaldoni

Jack Gavin

Charlotte Xu

2016 (2%, £683)

Yufan Du

Tegan Gears

Rebecca Hilton

Justyna Todd-Frankowska

Tom Zhou

2017 (2%, £1,033)

Gabriella Barnes

Terence Cudbird

Ioana Grigoras

Yusuf Oldaç

Jia shian Wang

2018 (2%)

Chen Gong

Ollie Ormiston

Simon Pressinger

2019 (1%)

Brittany Ellis

2020 (1%)

Sophie Richardson

2021 (2%)

Dustin Bischoff

Jordana Irzyk

Wilsona Jalloh

2022 (1%)

Tinius Bentsen Dragland

Parent Donors

Lisa Blatch

Friends of the Hall

(£1,308,857)

Alex & Christine King

Charitable Fund

Alligator Trust

Capital Group

Cascia Trust

Ros Charles

Charles Peel Charitable

Trust

Cissie Rosefield Charitable

Norham St Edmund Patrons

Trust

Gloria Clutton-Williams

Jack Cox

GE Aerospace Foundation

Janet Heath

HEC Montréal

Infrapreneur Ltd

Pat Lewis*

Mary Ann Lutyens

Macquarie Capital

Mike Mingos

David Moltow

Katie Peterson

Shirley Powell

River Farm Foundation

Karol Roberts

Deirdre Schnaar

Luboš Smrčka

Society of St Edmund, USA

David Staniforth

Taylor & Francis Group

Ron Teather

Simon Thwaites

Andrew Vivian

Plus 5 anonymous donors

Thank you to all of the generous donors who supported the Hall’s historic Norham St

Edmund redevelopment project.

*denotes deceased

Christopher Allen

Christopher Ashton

Natasha Ashton

Paul Badman

Jeremy Badman

Clive Bailey

Bill Best

Bernard Bewlay

Dustin Bischoff

John Bloomer

Bob Breese*

Cam Brown

Tim Bryan

David Buckingham

Stanley Burnton

Roy Caddick

Paul Campbell

Michael Cansdale

Olivier Cédelle

Jean Chagnon

Bob Chard

Jeremy Charles

Ros Charles

William Clark

Bob Clarke

Anna Cochrane

Philip Congdon

Ken Davies

Julian Day

William Dinning

Tinius Bentsen Dragland

Tim Dudley

Sean Duncan

Andy Eggleston

Guy Fisher

Gavin Flook

Peter Foster

Guy Franks

Walter Fraser

Bob Gaffey

David Garvie

GE Aerospace Foundation

David Gomez

Chen Gong

Edward Gould

Ed Gray

Jon Gulley

Andy Hall

David Hambler

Ant Hawkes

John Hawkins

David Heaver

Dan Hegarty

Michael Helmers

Colin Hewitt

Ken Hobbs

Chris Hockey

Roy Hoolahan

Richard Hoyle

Max Irwin

Richard Jackson

Matt Jacobs

Wilsona Jalloh

Peter Jenkins

Clive Kerridge

Tony Laughton

Peter Lever

Andrew Lowenthal

Kenneth Lund

Iain Mackie

Macquarie Capital

Chris Manby

Rob Mansley

David McGill

Peter Michaelis

John Milloy

Mike Mingos

Akira Mitsumasu

David Monkcom

Tony Moore

Geoff Mortimer

Zahid Nawaz

Janet Nevin

Peter Newell

Lucy Newlove

Roger Nixon

Ollie Ormiston

John Orton

Maurice Pannell

Bill Patterson

David Picksley

Francis Pocock

Amy Poole

Dave Postles

Michael Powis

Alex Prideaux

Ed Reynolds

Rich Reynolds

Sophie Richardson

The Floreat Aula Legacy Society

Michael Rider

Richard Robinson

Edward Rose

Alan Rowland

Cary Rubinstein

Mike Saltmarsh

Justin Samuel

Alina Saranti-Kuzum

Clive Sentance

Ces Shaw

Paul Skokowski

Paula Skokowski

Ian Smith

Nigel Smith

Aktar Somalya

Chris Stafford

Justin Stead

Alastair Stewart

Ian Stuart

Steve Vivian

Faith Wainwright

Roger Wardle

David Waring

Peter Watson

David Way

Matt Webb

Harvey Wheaton

Rebecca Willis

Martin Winter

Stuart Worthington

Guofang Xiao

Hongjie Zhu

Plus 3 anonymous donors

Members of the Floreat Aula Legacy Society (FALS) have pledged to remember the Hall in their wills, and we are extremely grateful to the 279 members for their committed support. Our thanks also go out to the additional 16 Aularians who have pledged a bequest to the College without joining FALS.

Other Aularians who are interested in joining FALS or pledging a bequest to the Hall are invited to contact the Development and Alumni Relations Office for more information.

Members of FALS are invited back to the Hall for a biennial dinner and drinks reception, and the opportunity to revisit the College and meet Aularians of all generations. They also receive an exclusive lapel badge.

The Society’s current membership is listed below (the Aularians who joined in 2024–2025 are given in bold).

1942

Ken Palk

1945

John Snelling

1949

Alan Brimble

1950

John Allchurch

Chris Armitage

John Scott

1951

Desmond Day

Kenneth Lund

Denys Moylan

Dudley Wood

1952

Bruce Nixon

1953

David Giles

David Picksley

Bob Rednall

1954

Keith Hounslow

Norman Isaacs

Tony Laughton

Archie Warr

John Wilkinson

1955

John Barker

Martin Bates

John Billington

Tony Cooper

John Cox

John Dellar

Derek Ford

Peter Mercer

David Nelson

1956

Michael Cansdale

Stewart Douglas-Mann

John Ducker

John Dunbabin

John French

David Johnson

Andrew Page

Martin Reynolds

Roger Sutton

Gordon Woods

1957

Geoff Brown

Alastair Stewart

James Webster

1958

John Bean

Bob Bishop

Peter Davies

David Harrison

Philip Rabbetts

1959

Hinton Bird

Paul Brett

Kevin Crossley-Holland

David Harding

James Kerr-Muir

David Summers

1960

John Adey

Chris Atkinson

Ian Beesley

Robert Clark

Terence Coghlin

Ken Hinkley-Smith

Yann Lovelock

Michael Rose

Alan Wilding

Plus 1 anonymous member

1961

Don Anderson

David Aukin

Stanley Burnton

Rex Harrison

Ian Heggie

John Long

George Marsh

Peter Newell

Anthony Rentoul

Martin Smith

Timothy St George Byng

Mike Statham

1962

Bill Best

James Burnett-Hitchcock

Arthur Davis

Bertie Harmer

David Hicks

Nigel Pegram

1963

Darrell Barnes

Ian Bowers

Bob Clarke

David Cox

John Crawshaw

Rod Offer

Mike Simmie

John Taylor

1964

David Ashworth

Andy Barker

Anthony Bucknall

Campbell Dunford

Alan Graham

Tony Lemon

David Meredith

Keith Wiseman

Plus 1 anonymous member

1965

Paul Badman

Nigel Barak

John Clarembaux

Bill Foy

Peter Johnson

Andy Morgan

Humphrey Nicholls

Ted Roskell

John Sayer

1966

Cam Brown

Tony Fisher

Ted Hodgson

Jon Shortridge

Alan Vasa

Plus 1 anonymous member

1967

David Hexter

Roger Kenworthy

Ethan Lipsig

John Mabbett

Philip Robinson

Graham Salter

Rob Weinberg

1968

Clive Bailey

Peter Brown

Martin Daniels

Charles Fisher

Alan Jones

Martin Slater

1969

Peter Jones

Robert Mathews

Tim Statham

1970

John Hawkins

Richard Miller

Geoff Sambrook

Frank Spooner

1971

Richard Balfour

Mark Booker

Ian Brimecome

Lawrence Cummings

Yves Desgouttes

John Fazackerley

Malcolm Hawthorne

Roger Pawson

Douglas Robertson

Malcolm Sibson

Lyn Williams

1972

George Bull

Steve Chandler

Plus 1 anonymous member

1973

Christopher Amor

Robert Cawthorne

Stephen McNulty

1974

Brian Austin

Phil Budden

Richard Gillingwater

Jerry Gray

Charles Hind

Charles Murray

Jeremy Nason

Graham Wareing

Plus 1 anonymous member

1975

Andrew Cordell

Milan Cvetkovic

Alex Davids

Brian Gasser

Alan Kerr

Ian Rushton

Nigel Smith

1976

Bill Cogar

Chris Elston

Richard Finch

Anson Jack

Chris Latimer

Keith Scott

Simon Staite

Ian Taylor

Stephen Tetley

Plus 2 anonymous members

1977

Peter Foster

Jeremy Tullett

Steve Vivian

1978

John Armitstead

Patrick Brooks

Andrew Curtis

Paul Goulding

Richard Luddington

Robert Pay

Richard Taylor

1979

Tony Best

James Catmur

Davina Dwyer

John Hodgson

Ian Lupson

Janet Nevin

Robert Quain

Paul Skokowski

David West

Russell Withington

1980

Bernard Bewlay

Philip Broadley

Nick Caddick

William Carver

Alistair Graham

Graeme Hall

Steve King

James Lyle

Paula Skokowski

1981

Alasdair Blain

Claire Ivins

David Stokes

1982

Maggie Carver

Tom Christopherson

Linda Davies

Guy Franks

Nigel Purse

Adrian Sandbach

Stuart Worthington

1983

Simon Baker

Max Irwin

Christine Muskett

1984

Julian Day

Pete Mott

1985

Doug McCallum

Will Shaw

Tanya Spilsbury

Betsy Tyler Bell

Judith Waring

1986

Geoffrey Chatas

Simon Costa

David Gillett

1987

Christine Kelleher

Poppy Psillos

David Waring

1988

James Ferguson

Duncan Holden

1989

Luke Jones

Ian Sandles

1990

Carol Buchanan

Chris Manby

Plus 1 anonymous member

1991

1 anonymous member

1993

Nick Gradel

Jules Mort

Geoff Mortimer

James Parkin

Plus 1 anonymous member

1995

Charlie Robinson

1996

Michael EvangelistaYsasaga

1997

Andrew Hook

Claire Pointing

1999

Olly Belcher

2000

Charlie Ramsay

2006

Henry Carter

2008

Ruth Shaw

2010

Wilson Chen

William Gunson

2011

Charlotte Cooper-Davis

Pete Cooper-Davis

Friends of the Hall

Hilary Baker

Olivia Band

Olive Baxter

Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor

Gloria Clutton-Williams

Dianne Gull

Keith Gull

Robert Houston

Judy Jones

Elizabeth Marriott

Caroline Millward

Mike Mingos

Gwen Titcombe

Plus 3 anonymous members.

John Steele: Our Lost Second World War Aularian by David

Jordan

St Edmund Hall alumnus John Edwin

Hosking Steele (1941) has recently been added to the College’s World War Two memorial in recognition of his service as a Royal Air Force (RAF) Officer who was killed delivering aid to a prisoner of war (POW) camp in Indonesia on 1 September 1945. His fate was unknown to the Hall until Aularian David Jordan (1990, Modern History) discovered that John was our ‘lost Aularian’ and has assisted us in rightfully acknowledging Steele’s place in history.

By the late summer of 1939, it was clear that there was likely to be another major European war. The University authorities made plans for wartime life and, after carefully analysing the various legislation passed by parliament to enable conscription, assumed this would apply to all men aged 18 and above. This meant that apart from those medically exempted, the University would rapidly empty. It was decided that college buildings would be given over to other purposes, and the Hall

was identified as the new base for the members of Westfield College, University of London, an all-female establishment which was to be evacuated to Oxford. It was thus an unpleasant surprise when the government announced that conscription would apply to those aged over 20, and that medics, engineers and some scientists would not be called up until they’d finished their degrees. This meant that there would be an intake of Freshers and a return of many other students to the Hall that Michaelmas. The members of Westfield College were packed off to St Peter’s. As it was operating as normally as could be expected in the circumstances, the Hall became a key location for a new scheme from 1941 onwards where men called up for the Navy, Royal Signals and the RAF and who had been identified as ‘potential university material’ would be sent on a short six-month university course while they awaited their summons for service training.

One of these young men was John Edwin Hosking Steele from Catford. John matriculated in October 1941, part of the RAF contingent. He left at the end of his six months for flying training in Canada, and once this was over found himself posted to the RAF in the Far East, the so-called ‘Forgotten Air Force’. John joined 99 Squadron in 1945. The squadron is now renowned for its role as part of the RAF’s Air Mobility Force, flying the C-17 from Brize Norton, but was then a bomber unit, equipped with the American-made Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The squadron carried out longdistance raids against Japanese targets through the China–Burma–India Theatre of Operations as part of the preparations for the liberation of Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia. The atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki broke Japanese resistance, and they declared their capitulation on 15 August, VJ Day. This, though, was not the formal end of the war.

recognition that there was a real risk of many POWs dying from ill health and starvation led to the squadrons being used to drop emergency supplies to the POW camps as well as information leaflets informing the recipients that the war was over. The next stage of the operation would see the delivery of small teams from the Special Operations Executive’s Force 136 who would enter and take over the running of the camps, and then there would be extensive airdropping of supplies. Once POWs had been fed properly, treated for ailments and in good enough health, they could start to be repatriated.

John Steele and 99 Squadron had moved to the Cocos Islands just days before the atom bombs were dropped. The squadron was given the job of aiding POW camps in what is now Indonesia.

As well as dropping emergency supplies and leaflets, the aircrews prepared bundles of magazines, sweets from their ration packs and letters wishing the POWs well and giving general news about the outside world, something greatly appreciated by the recipients.

That came on 2 September 1945 with the signing of the Japanese surrender at a ceremony in Tokyo Bay. In the interim, the role of the RAF bomber squadrons changed from destruction to salvation:

On 1 September, John Steele’s crew set out to deliver leaflets and their extra contributions to prisoner morale to the Sungei Ron POW camp at Palembang. This was not easy – the drop zone was small, and it required the large bomber to be flown low and just above its stalling speed to deliver supplies accurately. The first drop was a success, with a mixture of magazines, letters and small items falling amongst the prisoners. As John manoeuvred for a second drop, something went wrong. The Liberator’s speed fell away and before John could control it, the aircraft side-slipped into the ground and exploded. There were no survivors.

Image credit: IWM (CF 688)

Reports from the POWs later said that one – and only one – Japanese guard laughed at the tragic spectacle and was promptly knocked out by an enraged prisoner. This sort of behaviour would normally have brought instant and brutal retribution, but this time, the shocked guards did nothing. One POW recalled that this was the turning point and they in effect took control of the camp, allowing them to gain supplies from locals ‘outside the wire’ and alleviate the hunger of many who might otherwise have died had their captors remained in full control even if only for a few more days.

John and his crew were buried with full honours in the grounds of a nearby church, and a number of Japanese officers, after pleading to be allowed to pay their respects, attended the funeral. John was 21 years of age and, as the formal surrender had not been signed, the last Aularian to die in the Second World War.

The Hall was, of course, much smaller than it is now, and Principal Emden attempted to keep in contact with as many

serving Aularians as he could and with their friends and families. This wasn’t always possible, and news of John Steele’s death seems to have never reached the Hall. This meant that when the names of the Aularians who’d fallen during the Second World War were added to the memorial in the Chapel, John’s name was not amongst them.

Now, 80 years after he died, this has been rectified and John Steele is rightfully remembered alongside all those other Aularians who gave their lives during the Second World War.

David Jordan (1990, History)

Allen Walker Read and Aubrey’s Account of St Edmund by Michael Adams

Allen Walker Read (1906–2002) grew up in Iowa, where he took undergraduate and master’s degrees, taught briefly at the University of Missouri, and then, in 1929, entered St Edmund Hall as a Rhodes Scholar in pursuit of a BLitt, which he earned in 1933, with a thesis titled The Place of Johnson’s Dictionary in the History of English Lexicography. In 1988, the University of Oxford awarded him a DLitt, for a career of teaching and writing about the English language, mostly at Columbia University, and a considerable amount of lexicography, including work on the Dictionary of American English

(1936–1944) and the Dictionary of United States Army Terms (1944), the latter while in uniform during the Second World War.

Read wrote a sketch of his first experience of the University, titled ‘Rhodes Scholar’, which was published in American Oxonian in 1930, and subsequently reprinted in The Best Short Stories of 1931 and several other venues. By the time he had submitted his BLitt thesis, he had published 16 articles in various journals. A B Emden, Principal during Read’s residence in the Hall, reviewed two of them generously in the Hall Magazine (1929 and 1931), and Read was grateful for the attention and praise. He identified himself as a proud Aularian, the last public instance of which was ‘My Years at St Edmund Hall: Experiences of One Yank at Oxford’, presented to the Aularian Society of New York, on 9 November 1990.

Read studied words deeply and was noted for his series of articles on ‘OK’ and, before and during his years in Oxford, historical articles on ‘blizzard’ and on ‘liberty’ in Iowa place names, for which he scoured every available source. His work on early English lexicography was similarly thorough, and one wonders how he could write so definitively in a pre-digital age. Since English lexicography began in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, he

read widely as well as deeply in Early Modern works, not just dictionaries, but literature in its broadest sense. This explains how he came across what we usually call Aubrey’s Lives, the short biographies written by John Aubrey, the manuscript of which was deposited first at the Ashmolean Museum and, by Read’s time, in the Bodleian Library, as it is now, finding its way into print at last in 1813. But one sees, too, that Read sometimes personalised his curiosity and shared it, for instance, in ‘Rhodes Scholar’, but also in an unpublished note about Aubrey’s life of St Edmund, which he wrote for the Hall Magazine in 1929. Having found it in his archives, which are housed at the State Historical Society of Missouri (Allen Walker Read Papers, C4033, f. 926), I thought to share it now, as follows:

John Aubrey (1626–1697) preserved for us a great many incidents and bits of information, some important and some merely curious, that otherwise would have been lost. He has often been referred to as ‘the gossip Aubrey’, and the epithet sums up much of his character. After losing his fortune early in life he spent his time in visiting friends and in making the rambling antiquarian collections for which he is remembered. In his own phrase, he spent his life in “a happy delitescency” He saw only one book through the press, a collection of ghost stories, but his manuscripts were preserved in

the Bodleian and consulted as source material by many writers. His Minutes of Lives, most important among his works, were assembled for the use of Anthony à Wood, and remained unprinted until 1813. Of interest to Aularians are the two paragraphs about St Edmund –typical of Aubrey’s gossipry in their wandering excursiveness. From the printing of 1813, vol. 2, pp. 338, 339:

“Seth Lord Bishop of Sarum tells me, that he finds St Edmund was born at Abington. He was A. Bp. of Cant. He built the college at Sarum, by St Edmund’s church. It is now Judge Wyndham’s sonne’s house. He resigned his archbishoprick, and came and retired hither.1 In St Edmund’s church here, were windows of great value. Gundamore offered a good summe for them; I have forgott [what]. In one of them was the picture of God the Father, like an old man (as the fashion was), wch much offended Mr. Shervill, the recorder, who in zeale (but without knowledge) clambered upon the pewes to breake the windowe, and fell down and broke his legg (about 1629), but that did not excuse him, for being questioned in the Star-chamber for it, Mr. Attorney Noy was his great friend, and showed his friendship there. But what Mr. Shervill left undone, the soldiers since have gonne through with, that there is not a piece of the glass painting left. ‘Edmundus Cant. A. B. primus legit Elementa Euclidis Oxoniæ, 1290. Mr. Hugo perlegit Lib. Aristotelis Analytic. Oxon. Rogerus Bacon vixit A. D. 1292.’ This is out of an old booke in the Library of University college, Oxon.”

This minute is admittedly a failure as an effort in biography – like a firecracker that only fizzes – unless it shows in the fate of the unfortunate Mr Shervill that the era of miracle in the afflatus of St Edmund continued for many centuries. A minor miracle of St Edmund is that of the coincidence recorded by the Dictionary of National Biography. St Edmund, according to this authority, had the good fortune to be born on St Edmund’s Day.

A. Read

Read’s squib on Aubrey did not appear in the Hall Magazine, because Emden rejected it on what Read thought privately were dubious terms: “Back at the Hall,” he wrote in his journal on 17 December 1929, “I bumped into Emden and he greeted me, ‘Well, Read, I fear that Aubrey has tricked you.’ Fancy that nasty way of putting it! Of course, I knew that Aubrey was inaccurate and the note didn’t amount to a row of beans. Emden can’t stomach my audacity of making an essay in the field of history, even though I meant it as a light shaft at human nature” (‘Book of Days’, Allen Walker Read Papers, C4033, f. 196). Taking Aubrey’s biography, Read’s note about it, Emden’s rejection, and Read’s response to it into account, some light is indeed cast on human nature, but perhaps Read’s intention had been more modest than he claimed, simply to share what he’d seen with Aularians, old and new, as an act of belonging to a place rooted more deeply in history than any Yank could claim of home.

Michael Adams, Provost Professor of English, Indiana University Bloomington

1 As many readers will know, this is a major error on Aubrey’s part. Edmund of Abingdon died, while still serving as Archbishop of Canterbury, at the village of Soisy in France on 16 November 1240. His body was taken to the Cistercian Abbey at Pontingy where it remains entombed [Editor’s note].

The St Edmund Hall: History of an Aularian Locomotive by Basil Lewis

The nameplate from the old Great Western Railway (GWR)

steam locomotive numbered 5960 and named ‘Saint Edmund Hall’ is currently on show in the Chough Room, just above the Junior Common Room at the Hall. There is a model of the original engine displayed near the entrance to the Bursary, ready to greet students.

The locomotive was built in January 1936, one of over 300 mixed-traffic engines of the Hall class built by the GWR. They were almost all named after country houses, named ‘something Hall’. There were at least four exceptions: these were named after educational establishments

From the Magazine archives:

in Oxford. Besides 5960, there were Saint Peter Hall, Lady Margaret Hall and Saint Benet Hall. Designed by Charles Collett in the late 1920s, the mixed traffic 4-6-0 engines could be seen all over the GWR system. St Edmund Hall 5960 was based in Oxford, though in 1951, after maintenance in Swindon, it was sent elsewhere. The Hall complained and it was soon returned to its rightful base, remaining there until it was scrapped in Norwich in September 1962.

The ‘Saint Edmund Hall’: Hall Magazine 1936, pp. 15–16

On Thursday afternoon, February 6, the ‘Saint Edmund Hall’, the latest engine of the ‘Hall’ class to be constructed at the G. W. R. Works at Swindon, came to Oxford, and, in the presence of Mr. J. A. Kislingbury, Locomotive Divisional Superintendent, Mr. W. Floyd, Chief Mechanical Inspector, Mr. Allan Davies, Locomotive Inspector, and a large gathering of members of the Hall, was inaugurated by the Principal by the sounding of three blasts on its whistle. Presentation was made of a framed photograph of the new engine to the Principal. A shield bearing the arms of the Hall was handed by the Principal to Mr. Samsworth, the Locomotive Foreman in charge of the Engine Shed at Oxford

Basil Lewis (1952, Geography)

Station, where, appropriately enough, the ‘Saint Edmund Hall’ was to take up its residence. The driver of the engine was given an ashtray bearing the arms of the Hall. The Hall owes it to the initiative of Mr. W. Floyd that this engine should bear its name. Who is there who would not feel gratified if a railway-engine were to be named after him? Tam Aulae quam aliis.

The ‘Saint Edmund Hall’ is an engine of the two-cylinder 4-6-0 type. It is fitted with outside cylinders, 18½ in. diameter by 30 in. stroke, and piston valves. The coupled wheels are 6 ft. diameter, and the bogie wheels 3 ft. diameter. It has a standard No. 1 boiler with conical barrel and a Belpaire firebox, the working pressure being 225 lbs. a square inch, and, at 85 per cent. of the boiler pressure, the tractive

effort equals 27,275 lbs., as compared to 24,395 lbs. of the ‘Saint’ class. The cab is similar in pattern to those fitted to the ‘Kind’ and ‘Castle’ classes, being provided with side windows and extended roof. The total weight of the engine when it is empty is 69 tons. The tender is of the standard Great Western six-wheel pattern, equipped with water pick-up apparatus. The water capacity is 3,500 gallons and the coal capacity six tons. The tender, when it is empty, weighs 22 tons. 10 cwt. The engines of the ‘Hall’ class are designed to work secondary express passenger and express goods trains. For these technical particulars I am indebted to the editor of the Great Western Railway Magazine and to the Rev. R. G. R. Calvert.

A B Emden

An Errant Engine Returns: Hall Magazine 1951, pp. 18–19

Many will recall the pleasant ceremony at the G.W.R. Station, Oxford, on 6 February, 1936, when the latest locomotive of the Hall class, the ‘Saint Edmund Hall’, was inaugurated by the Principal in the presence of several highly placed railway officials and a large gathering of Aularians.

In November the new Principal was informed that the engine, for many years a familiar and useful ornament of the Oxford-Paddington line, had been removed from Oxford to Bristol. He at once wrote to the Motive Power Superintendent, Paddington, pointing out the distress which members of the Hall must feel at the transference of a locomotive so deeply established in their affections, and so closely linked by its name and its historic inauguration to the University, from what might, in American parlance, be termed its proper stamping-ground. Their distress was, he pointed out, if anything heightened by the discovery that two much more

youthful locomotives bearing the names ‘Lady Margaret Hall’ and ‘Saint Peter’s Hall’ were still to be seen in the vicinity of Oxford.

Dr Kelly did not feel it appropriate to dwell on the feelings of the displaced engine itself, although he might have waxed eloquent on the melancholy plight of those who are uprooted from their natural habitat and have to hang up their harps, as it were, in an alien land. Even so, we are glad to report the entire success of his démarche. The Motive Power Superintendent of Paddington immediately made contact with the even more influential Regional Motive Power Superintendent at Swindon, and in a few days the latter informed the Principal that orders had been given for the return of the ‘Saint Edmund Hall’ at the earliest possible date to the Oxford Engine Depot. His prompt and considerate action reflects great credit on the courtesy of British Railways.

A Portrait of Principal Dowson by Jonathan Yates

I recently received a call via the Porters’ Lodge: “I believe I have a portrait of one of your Principals in my attic, would you be interested in him?” On further investigation, this turned out to be a portrait of William Dowson, Principal of St Edmund Hall from 1787 until his death in 1800.

William Dowson was born in 1748 in the village of Greystoke, at the northern end of the Lake District, four miles west of Penrith. There are several memorials to the Dowson family in Greystoke parish church. William matriculated at The Queen’s College in October 1765, aged 17. His younger brother Thomas would follow him there in 1771. William was later appointed Principal of St Edmund Hall in 1787. He had married his wife, Ann, a few years previously. He died in office on either 9 or 10 January 1800 (records differ), and was buried in the churchyard at St Peterin-the-East; Ann died two years later and was also buried in the churchyard.

Dowson’s tenure as Principal was unremarkable. It is likely that he left the day-to-day running of the Hall to the long-serving Vice-Principal, Isaac Crouch (Vice-Principal 1783–1807). However, Dowson’s Principalship did have a longterm impact on the silver used day-to-day on our dining tables. During the 1790s, the Hall acquired, through both exchange and new purchase, a variety of practical silver items: candlesticks, salts, serving spoons and tablespoons – all in the very elegant, neoclassical Adamesque style, popular in the late 18th century. These would have been essential items for the student dining experience at the time.

In 1793 the Hall exchanged several worn-out silver items for a set of four candlesticks. The original items had been

given by students in the late 17th century. The names of the students, and the dates of their gifts, were transferred to the new candlesticks. These candlesticks are still used at almost all formal dinners. Several new items were also purchased, including eight oval table salts. These originally had gilding on the interior (to prevent corrosion caused by the salt), but this has worn off due to several centuries of cleaning. Unusually, the spoons and salts do not bear the name of a donor – they are engraved only with the name of the Hall and the year of acquisition: “Aula Sancti Edmundi, 1792”. Their gift is not recorded in our Benefactors’ Book, and the Principal’s silver inventory of 1800 (signed by Dowson’s widow, Ann) lists the items but gives no donor. My conclusion is that Dowson himself may have paid for these silver items.

So why was William Dowson’s portrait in an attic in Gloucestershire? Its owner believed that it had been passed down through generations of her family, and that Dowson was a distant relative. The portrait is identified by a small, contemporary label on the reverse. The owner has kindly gifted it to the Hall and Dowson’s portrait returned to the Hall earlier this year. It is in need of some repair: the wooden stretcher is worm-eaten, there are some tears in the canvas (thankfully in unimportant areas) and it has suffered from being in the company of pigeons in recent years. However, it is a strong portrait and gives a kind and gentle impression of the sitter. I hope, in time, to be able to hang the portrait in the Old Dining Hall, where Dowson can watch over dinners, illuminated by the candlesticks he would have known.

Jonathan Yates, Tutor in Materials Science, Chattels & Pictures Fellow

On Ye Building of Our Chappele by White Kennett

White Kennett (mat. 1678) is one of the most distinguished of Aularians of the 17th and 18th century. After his degree he was ordained and appointed to livings in the gift of two of his Hall friends, William Glynne (mat. 1679) and Francis Cherry (mat. 1682). He returned to the Hall as the Vice-Principal in 1691 and served as the University Public Lecturer and ProProctor. He was subsequently a curate at St Botolph’s in London, Archdeacon of Huntingdon and successively Dean then Bishop of Peterborough.

He was renowned both for his antiquarian and historical studies, his preaching and his partisanship for the Whigs in politics and the low-church faction of the Church of England. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography sums him up thus: “He had firm convictions and harboured few doubts about his personal worth. He was outspoken, combative, and tactless… But he was also empathetic, generous, and not without charm.”1

A number of his papers survive amongst the Lansdowne manuscripts in the British Library including a notebook2 he used when Vice-Principal of the Hall in the 1690s and another3 containing English and Latin poems composed while he was an undergraduate. Some are addressed to Stephen Penton, the Principal of the Hall from 1675 to 1685, and to Andrew Allam, who was Vice-Principal and Kennett’s Tutor.

There is also this poem in support of Penton’s campaign to raise money from Aularians and other friends of the Hall for the building of a chapel and library. The poem was first recited on 8 June 1680 or 81 in the Old Dining Hall (where in 2022 the current HALLmarks campaign for the new building at Norham St Edmund was also launched). While his enthusiasm is commendable, it is perhaps obvious why he is remembered as a scholar and a preacher, not as a poet…

James Howarth, Librarian and Fellow by Special Election

1 Laird Okie, ‘Kennett, White’, ODNB doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/15402.

2 MS Lansdowne 697.

3 MS Lansdowne 937.

On ye building of our Chappele

Recited in ye hall June 8th/

Thus goes it on, & pittie ‘twere indeed

If once begun it should not thus proceed.

Your bounty too’t Religion does command Religion does on such foundations stand. The heathen not content a sordid way

In private corners sacred rites to pray

As fast their temples as their homes they built.

And as ymselves, their gods in cedars dwelt.

Nay statelier too, ye thund’rer4 cas’d in gold

Lately his ransome held his reskued hold.

Bright Phœbus’s gilt beams outglared his own

And in white mettal silver Phœbe shone, Old Saturn sentinel sate on golden barrs

Queen Juno’s roof (like heaven) was ceiled with starrs

Snakes seald with pearl ye virgin champion5 bore

And Venus was as fine as she was faire.

And shall not we a nobler zealousness

Since more our light, why should our love be less

Shame on our baseness, if these dunghill gods

With great Jehovah vie, & have ye odds.

If beastly Jove do heavens Lord excess

And the true thundrer more obscurely dressed.

Say not the eternal mind delight to come

Unto th’ pure heart not ye gaudy room

That th’ Who in worship sanctifie ye Where

And make a barn or hall a house of praier

Thus Satan in a Samuells mantle sneaks

While Avarice religions language speaks

Let wranglers learn he will in both reside

Who equally removd from need and pride

Expects ye best scorns not ye meanest treat

Valuing in both ye welcome not in ye meat.

Gifts by ye mind, ye mind by ym he weighs

Let now your hearts a noble zeal inspire

So great a work does a great cost require

You then on whom your birth, & kinder fate

Entails ye income of a faire estate

Bestow your Charity, you’l soon confess

A part thus spent did ye remainder bless

While we whose meaner fortunes can’t allow

So large a contribution as you

Will cast our Widows mite, & how much less

We give, we’l pay in praying for success.

DAKAR by Lenny Bailleux

Introduction

In early 2025 I was privileged to have the opportunity to exhibit my photo essay ‘DAKAR’. The exhibition included a collection of images I had taken in West Africa, which were merged with a series of captions inspired by what I had learnt throughout my degree in Geography. Informed by postcolonial critique, critical visual culture and decolonial theory, the exhibition was conceived with a view to go beyond a straightforward documentary project – and to critically explore photography itself – by focusing on its ethics and philosophical roots in colonial modernity. I sought to engender a debate concerning the politics of representation and the assumptions inherent in mainstream photographic practice.

The capital city of Senegal, Dakar – after which the exhibition was titled – is a city that represents my wider relationship with a continent that has played a large role in my life, having a father who has lived in Western and Central Africa since I was a young child. The series of photographs exhibited are from the year before I arrived in Oxford, during which I spent five months across Senegal, Benin and Ghana.

Carrying a camera played a key part in my encounters as I walked through an array of diverse locations. It became a natural conversation starter and would inevitably shape the flavour and direction of our interactions. Where I could, I followed up by sending my interlocutor a copy of their portrait.

This exhibition was only possible because of the Farmer Fund offered by the College, which I am deeply grateful to have received. In curating this exhibition, I

Yoff beach, Parcelles Assinies, Dakar, Senegal. This image was taken on one of the days I volunteered with the NGO Janghi, for which the poster sales from the exhibition raised over £200. On the day captured, there had been a delivery of these spiral-launcher toys, to be flung into the air to later catch. This photograph captures Cheikh’s initial ecstasy.

have been afforded the privilege to neatly grasp the complexities of my relationship with photography, and delineate the contours of a potential future practice that is congruent to the values and ideals that I hold closely. I hope you enjoy the rest of this article – what follows is an adapted version of the captions that accompanied the prints in March, as well as a choice selection of the original 18 images.

Boy

Hann-Bel-Air, Dakar, Senegal.

Bottom: Catch of the day

Hann-Bel-Air, Dakar, Senegal. While walking through the fish market, I turned around to a giggle behind me.

On Photography

Despite how it is often presented, photography is never neutral. Any act of representation is entangled in (often unequal) histories of power. The exhibition of West African people in Oxford undoubtedly risks participating in the long-standing dynamic of displaying ‘other’ cultures to a Western audience. With this in mind, I hoped the exhibition would serve as a platform to question –rather than passively accept – the role of photography in shaping our world.

In recent years, I have found the extractive and exploitative nature of photography increasingly problematic. For instance, it is understood as standard practice to be able to walk down a street, take a photograph and later display it for my own benefit, without any recompense for the person (or even place) photographed. Fortunately, my degree has recently provided me the space to engage critically with these issues. The subsequent paragraphs aim to articulate my findings so far.

Born in the era of empire and industrial capitalism, photography as a technology and practice was shaped to reinforce an uneven, and enduring, world-system. Its division between the photographer and photographed, which places the latter under the control of the former, is no accident. These divides – of self/other, society/nature, developed/developing – that permeate our Western way of seeing are not just abstract concepts, but structures that continue to sustain exploitation. By constructing a sense of distance and detachment, these divides legitimise the systems of extraction and exploitation required to uphold our socioeconomic systems.

Colonial histories make this particularly stark. Photography played a critical role in the racialised classification of people,

Top: Mechanics

Yirra Beach, Hann-Bel-Air, Dakar, Senegal. The sheer prevalence of single-use plastics during my time in West Africa left me with a quiet sense of despair. The scale of environmental pollution made me reflect that these issues are not nearly as individual as we are led to believe, but rather rooted in systemic neglect and the prioritisation of profit.

framing certain bodies as objects of study, curiosity or control. These visual legacies have not disappeared; and they continue to shape how we see the world today. Beyond the fascination of the ‘exotic’ and orientalised ‘other’ in popular culture, one only needs to look so far as the humanitarian and development industries to find images of distant subjects ‘in need’ of intervention. Such representations reinforce narratives that obscure the historical and economic forces underpinning global inequalities, while prioritising governance structures that maintain Western hegemony.

My Photography

I publicise these images with a sense of reluctance and inner tension. The people

pictured know nothing of this exhibition (and article), yet I stand to benefit from their time and labour. It is for this reason I termed the exhibition as private, as the question of consent in photography unsettles me. While the direct portraits were taken with permission, does that alone justify their display? And what about the children who eagerly crowded my camera, or the candid shots taken in passing, where subjects were less aware of being photographed?

I feel the dominant practice of photography often neglects such questions, largely due to its foundations in a particular spatio-temporal moment, during which extraction and primitive accumulation became naturalised. Yet, I

The beach

don’t blame my younger self for following these accepted norms at 18, when the camera was a tool of curiosity and way to engage with the world.

Due to these concerns, were it not for the encouragement of friends and family, and my desire to appease them, these photos would likely have remained hidden on my hard drive. So, to justify this exhibition, I settled on a compromise: to share these images alongside my thoughts, in the hope that they inspire you, or make you think differently about the often-unquestioned values and norms that shape our world.

This leads to a crucial task: to deconstruct what I present before you. I want to believe that these images offer an honest portrayal of these places, but I must interrogate this assumption for two reasons.

First, the camera is never a passive observer. Rather than capturing an unfiltered reality, photography inevitably

Cup celebrations Route de l’Aeroport, Yoff, Dakar, Senegal. I was lucky enough to have been in Senegal while the national football team cruised through the African Cup of Nations tournament to bring the trophy home. The photo shows the beginning of the team’s victory parade over the city on what is normally a busy four-lane highway. Pictured is the team bus and the captain, Kalidou Koulibaly, lifting the cup to a rapturous crowd. Any other day, a photo from the same place would show a busy four-lane highway; this day it was overtaken by a sea of people – and total chaos.

interrupts and reshapes it. The camera’s presence always draws attention, shifts behaviour or often invites a performance –such as a particular smile or pose.

Second, every image reflects my own subjectivity. These photos are filtered through my lens – both literally and figuratively – as an 18-year-old white boy navigating unfamiliar streets, camera in hand. They are further shaped by my aesthetic choices: the framing and focus of the shot, and the colours and light emphasised in editing. No photograph is ever just a window; it is always a perspective.

A note on colour: I have used both colour and black and white photographs to capture the best of both worlds. While black and white photography offers a unique depth and seriousness, I find that there are moments where colour brings a vibrancy that feels truer to the richness of life around us. Although colour photography is sometimes met with mixed opinions, I mainly used it in an attempt to reveal the everyday beauty we might otherwise overlook.

Going Forwards

Assembling this exhibition reinforced my view that achieving meaningful change requires careful consideration of how our methods shape the outcomes we

Boxer

Bronx Boxing Gym, Jamestown, Accra, Ghana. While my friend’s support and curiosity in the local boxing scene delivered delight to the club’s coach, I think my camera provided me kudos from the boxers themselves.

seek. Reflecting on the questions posed here, the way forward seems to involve a photographic practice that is more collaborative, participatory and engaged. Centred on justice and respect, such a practice must situate images within their context and ensure that a project’s goals are clearly identified and shared by all participants.

Photography and I have been on a break lately, though I hope to return to it with fresh energy before long. To remain updated, your best bet would be to find me on Instagram @bailleuxlenny.

Lenny Bailleux (2022, Geography)

Waiting for noodles

Cape Coast, Ghana. While their mother prepared our lunch, we endeavoured to entertain her children. I can’t quite remember what my friends were doing at the time, but they sure did a fine job at arousing curiosity – or concern..!

Top: Wisdom

A portrait of Wisdom during a tour of his neighbourhood.

It was quite a surprise to stumble upon a small games room tucked away in a small corner of Accra’s largest market. My friends and I had to take advantage of this – of course – to the detriment of a chunk of our afternoon.

Aidjedo, Cotonou, Benin.

Left: Games room

Makola Marlet, Accra, Ghana.

Asteroid Exploration with NASA’s Lucy Mission by Duncan Lyster

Duncan Lyster (2023, DPhil Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics) gives an account of his trip to the US to take part in a key moment of a NASA mission, supported by the Tony Doyle Graduate Science Prize. The prize was established by alumnus Tony Doyle (1959, Chemistry). It provides an award of up to £1,000 for a research student (DPhil or MSc by research) in the sciences to engage in an academic-related activity additional to those funded by external or departmental funding.

Introduction to the Lucy Mission

NASA’s Lucy Mission is currently somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, on its way to become the first mission to visit the Trojan asteroids, the leftover relics of the early Solar System which orbit ahead of and behind Jupiter. Earlier this year, on Easter Sunday, it passed its second asteroid –Donaldjohanson, a body named after the archaeologist who, in 1974, discovered the Lucy fossil which later gave the spacecraft its name. The flyby was both a rehearsal and a scientific opportunity: Donaldjohanson is a main-belt asteroid, smaller than the Trojans Lucy will reach in 2027, but it provided a valuable opportunity to test the spacecraft’s instruments. So far, only 17 asteroids have been seen close-up by spacecraft, and each one has been full of surprises, with geology, terrain and craters that can reveal more about how these bodies form and evolve over time, and offer insights to a time in the early Solar System when the planets were still forming.

Being in Boulder

Thanks in part to the Tony Doyle Graduate Science Prize, I was able to travel to the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, to be part of the flyby team. For two weeks I worked at the Science Operations Centre, surrounded by people whose research I had followed for years. As the only PhD student there, I was one of the most junior people to take part in the event, and to get the first look at the images as they came in from the spacecraft.

In the run-up to closest approach, the atmosphere in the science room was a mix of tension and excitement. We had occasional updates from the engineers

who were across town at the operations centre monitoring the incoming signals from Lucy. Each confirmation that the spacecraft was behaving as expected was met with a sense of relief. When the first images arrived (a few hours after the actual flyby), the room quickly became animated with everyone trying to get a good look at the screens. There’s something quite special about being one of the first to see the surface of a new world, and after a few days of speculating about the shape of the body it was exciting to see this distant speck of light turned into a series of detailed images, each better than the last (for the record, I guessed it would look like a flattened snowman – not too far off if you squint a bit!).

After the flyby itself everyone settled into their more detailed scientific investigations. Counting craters, identifying geological features in the images and, for me, building a rough digital 3D model that I could use for the thermal simulation I had planned to do from the start. Over the next few days, I

Asteroid Donaldjohanson as viewed by the Lucy spacecraft near its closest approach. In the Solar System, objects with more craters are usually older, so as soon as this image came up scientists were trying to work out how you could have young terrain (the smooth area on the left) next to the much olderlooking terrain (the heavily cratered area on the right) on the same body.

Image credit: NASA/Goddard/ SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/ NOIRLab

was able to talk at length about my own modelling work with other scientists and get advice and feedback that will influence my project for years to come. Conversations during coffee breaks and dinners were often just as important as the ones that took place in the science operations room. Those discussions gave me the chance to think through how my research connects with Lucy’s broader goals, and to get a sense of how senior scientists approach the same problems. I also really appreciated having the opportunity to spend some more time with my supervisor on a trip like this.

Professor Carly Howett (Tutorial Fellow in Physics) lived and worked in Colorado before coming back to Oxford as an Associate Professor, so she was a fantastic local guide, giving me ideas for what to do in my evenings and making valuable introductions to members of the science team.

Memorable Moments

There were a few slightly surreal parts to the trip. Donald Johanson himself

was present, linking the spacecraft back to the fossil that inspired its name. And Brian May (of the band Queen) was also in Boulder (having come straight from a performance at Coachella): an astrophysicist himself, he was working on 3D visualisations of Donaldjohanson. I spent a few days working alongside him and, in a moment I didn’t see coming during my PhD, I ended up buying him a pint. That encounter has become a great pub story, but what really stayed with me was the sense of being welcomed into a community of scientists who have been working on these missions for decades.

Research Impact

The trip changed how I think about my own work. My PhD involves building models to understand how the surfaces of small bodies heat up and cool down. After the discussions in Boulder, I decided to add two new elements: surface roughness and the ability to model bodies that have complex tumbling rotation (like Donaldjohanson). These details might sound minor but they make a big

difference to how we interpret data from spacecraft like Lucy. They will also form a major part of my upcoming Confirmation of Status report at Oxford.

Public Engagement

The trip also gave me a chance to share the story of Lucy more widely. Soon after the flyby I was interviewed by BBC Hereford & Worcester, my local station. That interview was later featured online, reaching a larger audience. It showed me how much interest there is in these kinds of missions, and how powerful it can be when scientists take the time to explain what they are doing and why it matters. Looking back, I’m hugely grateful for the award of the Tony Doyle Graduate Science Prize. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to travel to Boulder and take part in the flyby. The experience gave me direction for my research, confidence in my ideas and memories that I will carry well beyond my PhD.

Duncan Lyster (2023, DPhil Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics)

Professor Carly Howett and Duncan looking at his thermal modelling results with Brian May.

Keith Gull Finds Destiny in Iceland

In September 2024, during his annual fly-fishing expedition to Northern Iceland, Honorary Fellow and former Hall Principal Keith Gull fortuitously became part of an outreach project connecting people to the Arctic Ocean.

This area of Iceland is well known to Keith who has visited for over 15 years. During the trip, and after a very strong northerly gale, he was fishing for sea trout on Krossos Bay on the Langanes peninsula when he noticed a small wooden boat. The boat – decorated with the wording “Destiny for Everyone” – had apparently been launched as part of the Float Your Boat programme.

Following the legacy of the early Arctic explorers, the programme is a “unique and fun outreach program that provides a novel opportunity for students and the public to learn about the Arctic Ocean.” It is supported by the International Arctic Buoy Programme, which maintains a network of drifting buoys in the Arctic Ocean to provide meteorological and oceanographic data for forecasting, research, satellite validation and a range of other operational uses.

As part of the programme, Float Your Boat participants – typically school or college children – decorate small wooden boats which are then deployed on Arctic Ocean ice floes from icebreaker ships.

The programme also provides educators with resources to teach their students about Arctic Ocean circulation and sea ice, and how it is changing, bringing climate change and environmental awareness into the classroom in a tangible way. It is hoped that personal connections to the Arctic develop with both the creation of the boats and their discovery on distant shores, often many years later.

As well as individual decoration, each wooden boat is branded with the programme’s web address, enabling beachcombers to register their finds online. The boat discovered by Keith is the fourth Float Your Boat to be found on the Langanes peninsula in recent summers, and the project has a wider history of success, with boats travelling

from Iceland to Shetland and beyond, revealing critical data about sea currents. The boats also typically have a serial number that links to the school and date and place of deployment – unfortunately Keith’s boat is lacking that information, but the programme team have nevertheless been able to trace the boat to a school in Houston, Texas.

Find out more about the Float Your Boat initiative: www.floatboat.org/about

St Edmund Hall in the Central Amazon by Jack Gillespie

Last summer, Hall student Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography) and Professor David Moreno-Mateos, Tutorial Fellow in Geography, undertook a month-long research trip to the central Amazon as part of a project to gather samples from pre-Columbian agricultural sites on the Rio Negro basin. Jack has kindly shared the following report:

At the end of Trinity 2024, we set out on a scientific expedition to the central Amazon rainforest to study the recovery of post-agricultural forests which have been abandoned for between 400 and 2,000 years. Funded primarily by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, the trip was coordinated by Professor Flaviane Malaquias-Costa of the University of São Paulo and Professor David Moreno-Mateos, our own Tutorial Fellow in Geography. The group also included Dr Carlos Zimpel of the Federal University of Rondônia, a specialist in Amazonian prehistory, and local guides Roberto and Orival. My participation was additionally enabled by the provision of generous grants from the prestigious Explorers Club.

The research team assembled in

Manaus on 18 June and spent several days gathering supplies. Once suitably equipped, we sailed for five days on the Amazon, Rio Negro and Rio Jaú until reaching the navigable limit of the Jaú at 2o40’7”S, 62o58’33”W, picking up local guides at Tambor and Cashueira along the way. Guided by the local knowledge of Roberto and Orival, we were able to identify ten castanhais – stands of Brazil nut trees once cultivated by indigenous Amazonians – and two other abandoned agricultural sites.

Jack amidst the buttress roots.

Samples from all parts of these sites were gathered – from underground archaeological evidence of the sites’ original occupation by indigenous peoples through to the trees’ youngest and highest leaves, which were retrieved by knocking them down with a slingshot (no easy task, as Brazil nut trees can grow to 50 metres!). DNA from the trees and microorganisms found in the soil surrounding the roots was sequenced using relatively novel wholegenome sequencing techniques to allow for an assessment of changes in both individual species’ genetic diversity and in the functional diversity of the ecosystem as a whole.

Meanwhile, tree cores were extracted by hand to allow for dendrochronological

assessment of the sites and aging of the trees. Carbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was conducted on bands of terra preta, the mysterious self-regenerating Amazonian dark earth produced by indigenous agriculture, which can be used to approximate the length of time that a site has been abandoned.

Digging for these samples also resulted in a number of archaeological finds (including an 800-year-old stone axehead) which were placed into the care of Dr Zimpel.

This work was not without difficulty: spending almost a month onboard the Ferreira Filho, the vessel chartered for the trip, the team faced intense heat and the Amazon’s infamous thunderstorms. We started work at first light in an attempt –not always successful – to avoid the worst of the day’s weather, which tends to occur in the mid-afternoon. The Jaú’s support of large populations of mosquitoes, ants and other insects made staying still for any length of time extremely unpleasant, a difficulty compounded by the necessarily slow pace of hacking through dense rainforest. Nonetheless, there were also moments of immense joy and camaraderie, from a cross-cultural dancing exchange, featuring traditional dances from Amazonas, Minas Gerais and the Highlands of Scotland, to the more relaxed

Roberto (left) and Orival (right) lead the way to a secluded castanhal or stand of Brazil nut trees.

pleasure of sipping a caipirinha under the Southern Cross in the cool evening breeze. A Starlink connection, coupled with a helpful time difference, even enabled real-time footage of the election of the first Aularian Prime Minister, an event thoroughly overshadowed by Brazil’s quarter-final match in the Copa América the following day.

Although not the purpose of the study, the expedition encountered a huge range of local wildlife. Indeed, it is difficult to convey in words the variety and sheer volume of life in the Amazon. While it seems that a great deal of it is very small, unpleasant and potentially malarial, this was more than made up for by the incredible range of birds, butterflies and riverine life that we encountered. Particularly memorable encounters include large and scarily numerous caimans, several pods of river dolphins and an immense stingray – none of which seemed to deter an unhurried sloth encountered swimming across the Jaú, or a pair of bizarre hoatzin swinging from branches along the riverbank.

The team also conducted several days of outreach with the local Quilombo communities, which attracted much interest: the team’s archaeological research is of particular relevance for their attempts to gain recognition from the Brazilian government as the indigenous custodians of the land they inhabit. These

visits also provided a welcome opportunity to resupply, meaning the only significant shortage experienced – fruit (ironic in the midst of the rainforest!) – was merely an inconvenience rather than a genuine concern, and to relax. In Brazil, that means football. Sadly, I must report a crushing 7-1 defeat against the children of Tambor in a series of six-a-side friendlies, which I can only hope that followers of SEHAFC’s fortunes will overlook.

The team eventually arrived back in Manaus on 13 July dusty, sweaty and tired, but with a fridge full of samples, much improved slingshot skills and excitement for the laboratory and statistical components of the research project. Preliminary results seem to confirm initial theories that the genetic and functional biodiversity of exagricultural sites does increase the longer they have been abandoned, but further research is needed to confirm and clarify these results, and to investigate the degree to which they can be generalised to other species and ecosystems (I hear that Greenland may be on the cards in future). Of course, this means that further expeditions will be required: an excellent opportunity for future Aularians, and one which I would very much encourage them to take up.

Jack Gillespie (2022, Geography)

Teaching Maths in Uganda by Henrietta Bolchover

The St Edmund Hall Association (SEHA) awards two prizes of up to £600 each year, one for an MCR member and one for a JCR member, to help fund an activity involving a combination of personal development, community service and promoting the Hall. Henrietta Bolchover (2023, Engineering) was one of this year’s prize-winners – here she covers her experiences in Uganda, supported by the prize money.

Dirt roads, grazing goats and clusters of mud huts surrounded the village near Mbale, Uganda, where I spent several weeks teaching Maths and Physics. I had agreed to support both the local primary and secondary schools, where students, aged anywhere from four to twenty-two, were studying up to O Level (equivalent to GCSEs in the UK).

Since Uganda’s independence in the early 1960s, its education system has largely

mirrored that of the UK. The curriculum closely follows British syllabuses and much of the material will feel familiar to any UK student. But the reality of teaching there was a world apart from anything I had experienced at home.

The school consisted of just four classrooms set out on an open field. Lessons were interrupted by the occasional goat poking its head around a doorway, and initially my only teaching tools were a blackboard and a piece of chalk. On my first day, I was left alone to teach two-hour Maths lessons to classes filled with students my own age who sat empty handed.

Resources were extremely limited. There weren’t enough textbooks or stationery to go around, so much of the lesson time was spent copying problems from the board and handing around calculators. With the generous support of the Aularian Prize,

however, I was able to donate essential resources such as UK textbooks, revision guides, calculators and rulers, all of which made a noticeable difference to the students’ learning and confidence.

One of the biggest challenges the students faced was inconsistency in their education. If a family couldn’t afford the termly school fees (around £6) the student would have to wait until they had the funds to return, without any structured way to catch up on what they’d missed. I met several students who had dropped out entirely after primary school, so I made it a point to provide them with notes and textbooks in the hope they could continue learning independently until their families could support them again.

Governance issues and economic hardship have made many families sceptical of education’s power to change their children’s futures. For many, subsistence farming feels like the only path. Yet, what struck me most was the unwavering

ambition I encountered. Many students still dream of becoming doctors, teachers and business owners, with some younger members of the community already turning those dreams into reality. In a place where opportunity is scarce, even one family member securing a job beyond agriculture can lift not just their household, but the wider community as well.

My time in Uganda gave me far more than I gave in return. It deepened my appreciation for education, for resilience and for the quiet power of hope in the face of hardship. Along with the school staff and pupils, I am extremely grateful for the money provided by the SEHA, which was used to help fund textbooks, stationery and much-needed sanitary products. I also bought chemicals to enable students to see first-hand science experiments that they could have only pictured on a chalkboard previously.

Henrietta Bolchover (2023, Engineering)

Hall Students Take on English Channel Relay by Cole Mason

In the late-night hours of 11 July, the Anastasia left the docks at Dover with sights set on Calais, carrying six Oxford swimmers and two Teddy Hall postgraduates. Madelyn Letendre (2024, MSc Therapeutic and Translational Neuroscience) and Cole Mason (2024, MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance) represented Teddy Hall for the biennial Oxford vs. Cambridge relay across the English Channel.

Founded in 1998, this year marked the 14th time the event has been held. Six swimmers per university pledge to alternate swimming one-hour lengths through the cold waters until the coast of France is underfoot, in addition to committing to raising funds for charity in the preceding months. This year was swum in support of the Ocean Conservation Trust, an organisation pursuing a positive, people-centred

The 2025 Oxford English Channel relay team. From left to right: Cole Mason (St Edmund Hall), Eve Hewett (Hertford), Madelyn Letendre (St Edmund Hall), Sam Nicholls (Corpus Christi), Joshua Robinson (Magdalen), Milo Holland (Magdalen).

approach toward ocean restoration and protection. The team was gratefully supported by the crew of the Anastasia, who assured a safe passage, diligently logged the group’s swim and made sure the attempt conformed to regulations.

A longtime swimmer, Madelyn hails from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she specialised in long-distance freestyle. She attended the United States Air Force Academy where she continued her swimming career and developed an interest in the mental health of military servicepeople. Cole Mason of Fort Collins, Colorado, grew up swimming and continued his athletic career at Williams College, focusing primarily on long-distance freestyle and individual medley. Both will be staying at Teddy Hall for a second year, pursuing the Master of Public Policy and continuing to swim for the Oxford Blues. Their relay team was rounded out by fellow Oxford University Swim Club members: Eve Hewett (Hertford), Joshua Robinson (Magdalen), Milo Holland (Magdalen) and Sam Nicholls (Corpus Christi).

At 11:42pm, Joshua ran down Dover Beach against his Cambridge opponent to kick off the long swim. With a full moon and calm seas, the conditions were ripe for a speedy crossing. By the end of the first hour, he had established a solid lead against Cambridge and Milo was set to swim. The duo faced the team’s first swarm of jellyfish upon their transition, Joshua taking the brunt of the stings. Milo took over with a high-tempo swim as the team on deck began alternating between taking naps and cheering him on as he passed the 15-, 30- and 45-minute marks. Cole took on the third leg in the choppy,

dark waters of the central channel, leaning heavily on his years of distance training, and keeping his eyes locked on the boat light with each breath. At 2:42am, Madelyn jumped in behind Cole to take over, swimming strongly as the first glimpses of dawn textured the sky:

“Madelyn is swimming well, she has found her sweet spot besides Anastasia... The sky is starting to lighten up, sunrise is still a way off but the moon is amazing.” (Observer Liaison notes in the Swim Log)

Sam swam a strong, sustained leg as he pulled the group further ahead of Cambridge, a lead the team would look to hold as they passed the halfway point. At the end of his hour, Eve’s long-awaited swim came as the sun crested the horizon. She was the last member of the team to hit the water, her steady pace pulling the sun further into the sky. It was the end of the sixth hour which meant the first swimmers of the relay were gearing up for a second swim. Joshua and Milo put in two more good efforts, with Cole taking on what would be the last full hour. Working hard to put the team in a good position to finish, Madelyn prepared for the last dash up the rocky shore of France:

“Cole is done in, he has given it his all. Brilliant swim. Madelyn is going down the ladder to the platform. Madelyn in, Cole out so slick, and she is off!”

After 14 minutes of hard swimming, Madelyn came in with the waves at Cap Gris-Nez. From the safe depths of the water, the team cheered as she triumphantly mounted a rock and enthusiastically pumped her fists in the air. Our total time was 9 hours and 14 minutes – the fastest relay crossing of the Channel recorded this year.

Madelyn, Cole and their teammates celebrated the crossing with sun-bathed naps on the return boat trip, and are grateful for a safe passage and excellent support crew. Swimming across the Channel was a memorable experience and an achievement the six swimmers are proud of and, of course, they are beyond pleased to keep the trophy safe in Oxford for the next two years. In total, the group were able to donate just over £2,800 to the Ocean Conservation Trust and they share this victory with all those who supported the relay and their fundraising effort. Happy swimming!

Cole Mason (2024, MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance)

Madelyn Letendre swimming her first leg of the relay in the early morning hours.

Cole Mason swimming the last full leg of the relay, just a few miles from the French coast.

Aularian Poetry

Absence has a grammar by Fiona Larkin

‘Absence has a grammar’ won first prize in the National Poetry Competition 2024, organised by The Poetry Society.

I am learning to use the abessive case as if I were Finnish, to indicate that what I miss is so much a part of me that its loss is structural.

The suffix -tta turns a word into a shadow of itself. Emptied of substance, light blows through it. I think of moonshine, of a bottle of Koskenkorva, the Finns’ national liquor, renamed Koskenkorvatta when there’s none left. Koskenkorvatta, I howl.

Itkin syyttä means ‘I cried without reason,’ but when a child is away there is reason enough. Tonight itkin syyttä

If I join -tta to son it impels me to write this –not a sonata, nor sonnet, but still, of course, a little song of longing.

With thanks to Diego Marani for Koskenkorvatta

Fiona Larkin (1983, English)

Listen to Fiona read the poem on the National Poetry Society website: poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/absence-has-a-grammar.

The Graham Midgley Memorial Prize Poems

During his long career at the Hall, The Revd Graham Midgley served as Dean from 1956 to 1978, as Vice-Principal from 1969 to 1978 and as Chaplain from 1978 to 1985. On retirement as Tutor in English in 1984, he became an Emeritus Fellow.

After his death in 1999, the College received a generous donation to fund the annual Graham Midgley Memorial Prize for poetry. The prize is awarded to an undergraduate for a single outstanding poem in English of no more than 40 lines. It has been won by a series of gifted students, several of whom have gone on to become published poets.

Prize-winner

Apricot Jam

My mother said the fruit had to be soft not bruised, just willing. She held them one by one, cupped like eggs, pressing her thumb gently into their sun-warmed skin.

We boiled the halves until they slackened, their flesh yielding. She let me stir, wooden spoon carving slow loops through sugar and fog.

She never mentioned how she learned to cook but once said her mother used to stand at the sink peeling fruit, facing the wall as if memory lived there.

We poured the jam into glass jars and left them lined along the sill. The kitchen smelled of the sun, even after the moon had climbed the cabinets.

Celine Gu (2022, Economics and Management)

Proxime accessit

On Resisting Teleology Wherever We Might Find It

Then again, the man only failed to make the deal because he was befuddled; He was only befuddled because his wife had betrayed him; His wife had only betrayed him because their shared life proved a disappointment; Their shared life only proved a disappointment because he suffered from an aromantic lethargy;

He suffered from an aromantic lethargy only because he felt dissatisfied with her shows of care;

He began to feel dissatisfied with her shows of care only since she had missed their anniversary;

She had only missed their anniversary because her train was cancelled; Her train was only cancelled because the conductor was off striking; The conductor was only off striking because his contract hadn’t been renewed; His contract hadn’t been renewed only because the man failed to make the deal… (“And all for the want of a horseshoe nail”—we have heard this all before.)

Alright. But have you also heard that there are strikes only because there is dissatisfaction; dissatisfaction only because there is lethargy; lethargy only because there is disappointment; disappointment only because there is betrayal; betrayal only because there are deals; deals only because there are men; men, only because…

But enough!—Let us not behave like gluttons. Or will no amount of reasons ever satiate your appetite?

David Hrushovski (2023, Philosophy and Modern Languages)

Birthday

A blurry camera lens shows the heavy saturation of childhood slowly dispersing, seeping into every version of me that I’ve madelike candle wax dripping into icing, because I took too long to make a wish.

Lola Forbes (2024, English)

Toads

My mother loves to look for toads in the garden. They took a few years to get used to the pond; Years to come out during the daytime, too, And to start laying their spawn there (because raising a child isn’t so easy around here) And maybe they didn’t want to be seen for a while. It took years for them to find they were home. During those years my mother waited patiently: She listened after dark and told my father and I when she heard the croaks And he came running, and I didn’t. They sat with the window open into the night and smiled at the sounds of the toads –

Just to know they were there was enough.

Now I ask whether they’re out yet, What time of year they’ll be there, Whether they’ve laid yet, and they tell me as eagerly as if they’d raised the things themselves.

And I’ve caught sight of a couple, too, Knelt down with my father to watch them move, freely and unselfconsciously, And seen my mother’s excitement at being able to love something Openly and with abandon. My mother’s manifesto, or how to look after toads, or how to forgive your children when they don’t seem to be yours anymore: Take the time to watch the surface for ripples, And to find the right sort of weeds for growth, And to tell everyone about the toads, and bring them out in their socks to look. Most importantly, listen to them croak, and see their skinny legs kick And love them as if they were your own.

Sophia Bursey (2022, English)

The George Series Prize Poems

The George Series Prize was created by a bequest from George Series, the first Fellow in Physics at St Edmund Hall. George felt deeply the tendency of undergraduate science courses to play down the importance of the ability to write well on either scientific or non-scientific subjects.

Accordingly, he made a bequest to fund an annual prize, open to students in all Natural Science and Biological Science subjects and Mathematics, to be awarded for the best piece of creative writing.

The piece can take any form: story, essay, poem. The subject may be purely fictional but may also relate to broad discussion of any nonfictional subject not directly included in the regular science curriculum followed by the entrant.

George Series Prize-winner

Our Soils

What do you imagine when you picture the environment? Is it illusions of bouquets of greens, leaves floating through the wind, washes of limes and sages carpeting the floor? Or maybe you daydream through flowing waves of azure that cascade and shine, cool gradients that give life and protect a myriad of secrets stored within citadels of coral. Even the cynic may imagine bursts of crimson, headlines of warming and imminent destruction, danger scorching from behind. These colours swirl around our imagination and yet not a single one is brown, the colour that we associate with soil.

Our conception of soil as a society is bleak. It is the brown, dirty stuff that lurks in the garden. It crumbles and hardens in the heat, yet sloshes about in the rain, making

a mess. It is too difficult, too unruly, too sensitive. We try to control it, attempt to force life from its depths and yet all our beloved flowers eventually die from the soil’s melodramatics. But what would happen if we stopped our greed for control? What if we could appreciate the soil for more than the flowers it can produce? Whilst as adults we treat soil as dirty and disease-ridden, to be avoided at all costs, as children many of us were fascinated with the mud in our gardens. We ran outside, rolling around in the grass and the soil. We trekked through jungles, jumping and skulking through the swamps that coated the earth in the rain. We played as witches, brewing magic potions, mixing all of nature’s ingredients to create powerful love spells or evil curses. Not to mention the mud pies we’d bake, and how we picked and prodded the mole hills to admire the wildlife inside. We got our hands dirty. We believed in the magic.

But what if I was to tell you that magic, now forgotten, still exists. Soil is alive, it is teeming with biodiversity from billions of microorganisms to thousands of worms. Take a teaspoon of soil and you cannot imagine the millions of metabolic and chemical reactions occurring. Carbon being squirreled away for storage, organic matter transformed in milliseconds and flashes of energy darting back and forth. The soil is brimming with nutrients, connected in a complicated maze of mycorrhizal fungi, confounding any onlooker. Secret messages, packages of nutrients and love, all hidden away from the human eye, the soil as their secret keeper. Soil is not just alive, it is thriving.

Nevertheless, what if I were to tell you that this source of life is slowly being stripped away. Soil, like the trees, like the oceans, like the atmosphere, is under a barrage of anthropogenic destruction. As trees are ripped up, the soil is torn apart. Branch ripped from friend’s branch, root split from root. Whole civilisations collapse and tumble into a barrage of soil swept away in a downpour. Heat sucks every drop of water, rinsing the soils dry. They are left cracked and blistering, caked in the salt that was left behind. We sterilise our soils. Chemicals purge the living, claw out the nutrients and choke the soils with an artificial sludge. Our soils are dying and we are the ones at fault.

This is not inevitable. Take off your blindfolds and see. Tear through the tinted glasses and open your heart to the world around you. Feel the magic. Embrace the worms that coil around your fingers and the mites that wander across your palm. Demand change, be the change. Give voice to the soils we silenced in our maturity. Save our soils, save the magic.

Matilda White (2023, Geography)

Proxime accessit

Life as We Don’t Know It

Everyone talks about life as we know it. It is, after all, all that we know. The life that we study, with its carbon and water. Our proteins, our fats, our legs and our arms, our gills and our fins. Living in our forests and our oceans, flying through our skies, building nests and skyscrapers, eating, breathing, and doing what we think life must do.

This century, we have begun to look up – to look out into the dark vastness of space. To search for life beyond Earth. To send missions, land rovers, build models, and speculate. The Dragonfly Mission to Titan, Europa Clipper and JUICE on their way to the Jovian system – all sent to look for any sign of beings beyond. But what if life out there isn’t what we’re searching for? What if life out there isn’t the same?

The NASA definition of life – a self-sustaining system capable of Darwinian evolution – has led us to scan the seas of Europa and the subsurface of Mars for the microbes we know and love. It’s all we think could survive the hostilities of a non-Earth. We assume life needs water. We assume it needs carbon. And oxygen, sulphur, phosphorus, nitrogen, hydrogen. But what if life out there does not?

A square of silica, blobbing about in an ocean of methane – Titan could be the key to life as we don’t know it. Life could thrive off the energy of lightning strikes, drink the diamond rain on Uranus and Neptune, breathe the sulphuric acid atmosphere of Venus, watch the view from mountains as large as Mars’ Olympus Mons. And that’s just within reach of our sun.

Beyond the solar system – who knows what we could find? What dwells on the hot Jupiters and super-Earths of systems as close as Proxima Centauri and as far as OGLE2005-BLG-390Lb, too distant and strange to warrant a readable name? What lurks beyond the branches of the Milky Way? Are there thoughts out there in the far reaches of Andromeda? Are they watching us, listening to our signals, observing our petty attempts to escape the gravity of our planet? Voyager 1, gliding through interstellar space – has it been spotted? Is it being tracked?

It makes sense to look for life as we know it. To focus our search on ocean worlds with water to act as solvent, and the elements we know Earth-beings need to survive. Scientists like to do what makes sense – to search for the known that could possibly exist in the unknown. But what makes sense here may be the opposite of what we need to do. Life out there probably does not look like us. It must follow the same laws of physics and chemistry – probably – but in a fundamentally different setting. Change the things we take for granted: our gravity, our atmosphere, our ‘protection’ from solar radiation, even the size of our star.

Life as we know it is life here on Earth. Life as we don’t know it – and will we ever really know it? – is what’s out there. I long for a day that may never come. A day when we find out what lurks beyond.

Olivia Allen (2021, Earth Sciences)

From Small Pointed Things by Erica McAlpine Blackbirds

‘She is brown,’ I said to you, less in annoyance than wonder when she flew past us with a certain flamboyance not over but under our gate to settle down into the tree beside her mate.

‘But he is black,’ you replied, ‘and the name is his.’ ‘As it always is,’ I poked. ‘I was your bride And took your name, Yet we are not the same.’ You’d have joked back.

but couldn’t deny it. We grew quiet when we heard the blackbirds sharing words between them. Whose song it was we would never know, not having seen them sing. But it would be wrong to say, even if we could.

Erica McAlpine, A C Cooper Fellow and Tutor in English Language & Literature

Erica’s new collection Small Pointed Things is published by Carcanet, www.carcanet. co.uk/9781800174771/small-pointed-things/. ‘Blackbirds’ first appeared in the journal Liberties.

From Collected Poems by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Not Quite Midsummer

Mervyn1 was my partner. He played doubles at Wimbledon and could leap backwards. We demolished all three pairs, then the mandatory cream tea, and with minutes in hand, I ran across to the august school for girls.

Who’s this? And interrupts our fairy feast?

In full fig, Cobweb and Mustardseed, munching pears, were standing at the huge sash-window they helped me to haul open. Peaseblossom hared upstairs, screeching, pursued by stumbling Bottom.

What angel wakes me from my flowr’y bed?

Too long. Too late. Our green-eyed queen was a world away. Cursing my ill fortune, I had to leave that middle summer’s spring, only to turn one last time, and see her at the crystal wall, hands raised, and helpless.

Never harm nor spell nor charm come our lovely lady nigh.

1 Mervyn Morris (Honorary Fellow, 1958, English) OM Jamaica and former Poet Laurate of Jamaica [Editor’s note].

Strigil

Rough-tongued bathtowels are seldom rough enough. Doubtless a number of strigil-makers are still in business but if not, I shall blunt our kitchen knives and fashion my own.

So what’s up this morning?

Those teenagers - life sentences. That bishop on the run; both more newsworthy than Ivano, Sudan, Gaza, the volcanoes in Iceland and Indonesia...

Self-deceivers, tricksters and the outright treacherous are touting their practises - oily words, nonsensical promisesand profiteers blathering and lathering us, and the spirits of all we deny are swimming home to haunt us...

All those summer nights when I never opened my gob. I might as well have been a torpid poorwill. When I scroll up the blind, the little farmhouse tucked under the shoulder of Gallow Hill is flanked now by two mighty hangars, and in our valley rears a kind of Alcatraz, foursquare, slit-eyed, floodlit day and night.

It’s no good blaming the blind. I blame myself. I blame my own kind.

On each page of hours, filth, garbage, fly-tips; another fleet of sky-growlers, hoarse and roaring. We’re a waymarker for their daily death-gifts.

How I long to come to these late mornings armed not with anger or despair but clean of all leavings, all detritus; to hear around me each sweet song, and witness each thing, every thing, for the first wild time.

Kevin Crossley-Holland, Honorary Fellow

Kevin’s Collected Poems 1972–2024 are published by Arc Publications: www.arcpublications.co.uk/books/kevin-crossley-holland-collectedpoems-1972-2024-701.

From Disaster! by The Creative Writing Workshop

Every week, at 8:00pm on a Wednesday in some College venue or another, a group of Teddy Hall students meet in order to read and discuss pieces of creative writing which they have composed. Having long spoken of compiling these writings into one document, this prospect was eventually actualised through the magazine which came to be called Disaster! (readers should consult the magazine’s foreword for an explanation of its disquieting name). The magazine brought together not only poetry and prose writing, but also student artwork and photography to accompany the creative writing pieces. Printing costs were generously funded by the College, and it is hoped that more instalments of Disaster! will appear next year.

David Hrushovski (2023, Philosophy and Modern Languages), Editor of Disaster!

Old Crow Street

In number seven, Old Crow Street, There lived a Mademoiselle, Who had been young in older days –How old she was, one could not tell. Her skin was stretched over her face

Like a drum’s batterhead,

But her long hair, hospital-white, Fell limp over the red

Of the leather coat she wore; They said it was a gift

From a dragon she had loved, Whom she had hurt and left adrift.

The other houses on the street Stood empty in the rain –

The neighbors who’d known Mademoiselle Had never come again. The cigarette stains on her nails, And on her teeth, and on her walls, Attracted all the gutter-things That Satan could recall:

The mice and rats, the foul racoons, The possums with no tails or teeth,

The cockroach king, who left His subjects wriggling beneath The wooden floorboards, painted brown, To come upstairs for tea.

And once upon a time, there was

A seat she saved for me.

Carlota Vasquez (2024, English and Modern Languages)

Magdalen Bridge

The boats lull low in the water beneath the drive Of feet on the bridge overhead, and in the sighing Of the waves they whisper, what, who, when Is drumming their way up there – what future Is spelled out in the uniform black Of this found generation – what past will be Laid to rest as the foundation for a world that Doesn’t want to look back and struggles to Look forward? The low hulls think they know The answer – drawing lots on their manoeuvres Through those tight waterways, reflecting back at the Rolling dice of the upper world, the chop and Change of a thousand shifting powers and protests And provincial minds opening onto new horizons –They think they’ve found in the endless roll of The river to the coast, something that is deeply Ingrained as the glow of the old sandstone, a truth That doesn’t wash and wear away.

But they’ll keep it to themselves, for now –It’s not an answer, perhaps, that we have merited In all our predictions and predilections – not an Answer we have a right to, mired as it is In the world we have left behind.

Laura van Heijnsbergen (2023, English)

On Duality

I. Andante Moderato

We were sat outside, the sun somewhere between overhead and thinking it should set, somewhere behind the trees, red leaves and the breaking bark grown in a better year.

This time, perhaps was late, At any rate, late enough to drink.

And his legs, hirsute for he never liked to shave them were long and pale (and to my chagrin), bare.

I said wear stockings, he said hide that hem; the tint of tights’d bring out the dark of your hair, I said. ‘Whatever’, replied he, and the light caught his lashes and the rouge on his lids quite like twilight poured on a Persian rug. He stretched and yawned, a leonine yawn, riding skirts and frail limbs, a shot deer. His eyes were the colour of poet’s agony, and it made me sick.

You’re beautiful, said I; he responded: ‘I know’, which made me sicker. I called him Narcissus thinking I was wise, but his eyes gave no flicker; his heart-beat no quicker.

‘Sycophant’, said he.

I said you’re a Machiavelli, Italianate and intelligent. ‘Sycophant.’

Then I lied him supine, his neck upon my knee, And cast his head upwards so it gazed at me. This lion on my lap, a great big purring thing, Beautiful creature, a fawnlike tragedy.

Perhaps, the time was late, The sun was lower at any rate.

I poured the wine and my hand slightly shook, He gave his wheelchair an odd sideways look. What is it? You wish to go? Said I.

‘No’, said he, ‘just a strange thing, isn’t it?’

II. Allegro Maestoso

Yesterfortnight I met a girl. A girl With pin-straight hair and hell-like eyes

A blue the same hue as the light of my computer. She was blond in the way that maimed me, A painting on the prowl, never she with a scowl, demure (one can’t really say that any more) with a soft-spoken voice so soft it often wilts …Baroque lilywhite darling – Oh! Said is pained, Wollstonecraft ashamed, Sordid wreck. Why hasn’t the sun set?

I tell you, some nights ago, I met a girl whom I might love, though “met” is generous. She is beautiful and I like that, just as I like him –Why does that sound so lecherous? Why does my verse submerge everything in sin? (Is there any more wine?)

The time, perhaps, was too late, at any rate, the fault is mine.

To you I say yesterday I met a girl and tomorrow I will meet another and men and women will come and go Talking of Michelangelo with each other Without me. And that’s fine for the fault is mine, painter-spinster locked up in their chamber fretting always of some made-up danger spinning Liebesträume and odes never seen for they seem to make such a Debussy Out of me.

Dani Agiri (2023, English)

Silvio

You may desire it, if you will –Your fill of fauns that pipe in Arcady –A painterly garden picture – me, With bare feet & sportsman’s physique, All contrapposto, with a sculptor’s thrill & the hunter’s skill that killed Dorinda!

Perhaps, I, who strut to where she lies –Though she bleeds – am struck with like Surprise – at how she charms in wolfskin!

Then how she moves – & then throughout Her agony does the calm air quiver with Pan flutes! Dorinda, figura serpentinata,

Stretch out a long & shaking finger & I’ll

Just sketch the scene – the lingering antiquity Of a dream – the hill where Amarillo dashes

To a one-night cave – you may desire it, If you will – or the hollow where the fauns Still pipe like all is well. Such composition

Of singular sinuous grace will be outdone Only by one who frames it in gilt, Till not a leaf stirs. Then shall I desire it.

James Sambrook (2022, English)

Until the Twilight Fails by MacGillivray

In 1962, Norwegian-Shetlandic poet, Kristján Norge, purportedly vanished from the Hebridean Eilean a’ Bhàis (Isle of the Dead). He was instead taken into the subterranean world of the Sluagh Sìth. Developing his research into celestial metre, (see Ravage: An Astonishment of Fire, Bloodaxe Books) he realised the ten island sites he had been mapping were in fact a constellation and broke it down into stones and ogam staves from which he evolved the compass points of a Pictish eagle. These points were then transposed directly into a Gaelic charm for his release: “The enclosed word of the poet, visible - now invisible -/ as transformed into a stag, as ringed in the firmament,/ enfolded in the bind.” The charm is to be spoken walking deiseal (or clockwise) around the ninth throw of rowan, alder, ash and birch twigs which must fall in the exact configuration of the eagle. According to his final notebook, Until the Twilight Fails, the island is now become a neolithic elf-shot kept in his pocket and Norge himself is trapped within the pages of the book – trapped in a perpetual twilight, norranta, or asleep within his vision of the dream, there destined to stay until the ninth throw of the eagle carden, or until that twilight fails.

Until the Twilight Fails

Gated malts of Pictish fire, fisted sea grass and the soiled moon, dank in a disused well, is devouréd by dream. In sharp descent, the eye regrets daylight, the living mould of dying day, discarded as a cast for twilight, dream-devouréd, moon-fusted, blinks in dwindling salt, a silence of decay. And the angel, with its pinch of dream, devours the kind called fey in muscular sense, corroded providence, the battered swell of quill on quill, pluming the air, faa-vanished, still

bright the wounded swan, bled in the reeds, a gloaming form, devouréd with dream, of snapped, seraphic twigs and sodden leaves, discomposed. I lie between them, heart to bitter heart of time. Feel the sedge-work in the brain, in volatile, devouring dream,

think the flight-sense in the fingers, lifted to sky and back again, toiling in the flag of numbers, elf-marked with a diminishing grain.

MacGillivray

MacGillivray is the matrilineal pen and performance name of poet, musician and artist Kirsten Norrie (1997, Fine Art). She is the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at Cambridge University in 2024–2025.

Magnifying Glass by Katie Peterson

(Written in Sprung Rhythm, following Gerard Manley Hopkins’ pattern for the ‘May Magnificat’.)

Mother remember the Spring? When the fresh flowers do their thing open into the light and shut up at night

Tell me from your berth of death how to hold on underneath— a panicle of lilac luscious as Moses in bullrushes

breaks from the branch climbing the wall tumbles down the terse canal oared into the dark, goes upward like a spark.

Grasses merge into a meadow. Roses rue both sun and shadow. They’ll be cut again. Girls grab the cyclamen.

Nectaring out by ant and thrip, a peony wrecks like a ship and corolla-capitulates, a deposed head of state.

Does Spring sound golder gilded as a girl grows older?

Alder, birch, pine, Tell, is time a line?

The speed of swans deals no delight. Water wakes into white.

Wilding towards a mate a beak won’t negotiate.

The nest equals a dinner plate the fresh air finds to vulnerate.

An egg cracks like an eye half-tearing into cry.

Winged creatures are made to break, migrate, metamorphose, and make mischief, maraud, they move agitating after love.

Aliveness steals a page from truth asking after further proof— Can Spring exist If no one’s kissed?

Bones and bodies both need dresses, engaged in earthly sexual messes.

Clouds rip and thin. Sky suggests skin.

Mother send me milder weather

Forgiveness as a form of pleasure

Life so lush and sweet And make it repeat

Katie Peterson, Visiting Fellow

Stray by Lucy Newlyn

For Guy Cuthbertson, a fellow scholar with a deep knowledge of Edward Thomas.

“It is sweet to enter that peacefullest and homeliest of churchyards, St Peter’s in the East, overlooked by St Edmund Hall and Queen’s College and the old city wall. There is a peace which only the thrush and blackbird break, and even their singing is at length merely the most easily distinguishable part of the great melody of the place. Most of the graves are so old or so forgotten that it is easy – and in Spring it is difficult not – to perceive a kind of dim reviving life among the stones, where, as in some old, quiet books, the names live again a purged and untroubled existence.” – Edward Thomas, Oxford.

Rain on mottled graves and among long soft fingers of yew. Rain bending grasses, darkening stones, pocking grainy lichened tombs.

Often, he’d wander in alone – conjuring the shades of Aubrey, Browne and Hearne –his half-Welsh soul probing deep into English soil.

Along the wall the ivy leaved toadflax hangs its delicate bells. Fern fronds, heavy with rain weight, lie bowed down low.

On the path, hurrying the other way, a young man his age: head bent, hand raised, listening to his cell-phone, like a traveller from afar.

High on the air waves, signals weave and dance. A lone blackbird flicks between gables, quick and random as the stray shell that buried him – in France.

Lucy Newlyn, Emeritus Fellow

Aularian News

The Hall Toast by Guy Warner

From a toast proposed at a reunion dinner for the matriculating class of 1960, held in the Old Dining Hall on 17 September 2025.

Distinguished Aularians, fellow 1960 survivors, it’s down to me to propose the Hall toast… It was in early October 1960, some 65 years ago, that we made our way through the modest Hall entrance for the first time. I venture to suggest that we may not have realised then how fortunate we were to have selected this great College…

The Hall was always one of the friendliest colleges. Our intimate Front Quad made it easy to get to know people. It generated easy familiarity and camaraderie across all years, all disciplines and all interests. There you could not help but encounter

most of the Hall population, whether spilling out from this dining hall, the adjacent Buttery or surrounding rooms, or just strolling to and from the main entrance.

Now is not the time to reflect on whether we have made the most of our lives after the Hall – bolstered as we were by the splendid springboard that the Hall gave us.

It is time to formally acknowledge how fortunate we were to be up at the Hall at a halcyon time all those years ago. We are now in our twilight, and whatever we have done or not done, we can all be truly grateful that our privileged dawn was at this unique College – indeed like no other. Please rise for the Floreat Aula toast.

Guy Warner (1960, Mathematics)

The Aularian Golfing Society by Neil James

The Hall’s many successes on the river and across the sports fields of Oxford are, for many Aularians, a highlight of their time at the College. And of course, many of us retain that passion for sport – the camaraderie, the excitement of a competitive game and, hopefully, the satisfaction of a victory.

That the Aularian Golfing Society is so strongly supported, 20 years after its inception, is no doubt a testament to that passion. Or perhaps it is just because Hall alumni know how to enjoy themselves.

The Society certainly offers the best of golf courses for Hall alumni (including the Golf World Top 100 courses, Huntercombe and The Berkshire), and competitions throughout the season. But it is the Hall Spirit that makes every event an enjoyable one, whatever the result on the course. Alumni from a wide span of year groups find the Aularian Golfing Society an excellent way to maintain a link with the Hall, reconnect regularly with friends from their College days and make new Hall friends with a common interest.

Of course, many of us still enjoy the pursuit of victory, and our annual programme includes matches against colleges from both Oxford and Cambridge

to allow this competitive urge to be unleashed. However, our programme also includes golf days which appeal to the whole spectrum of golfers amongst the Hall alumni, and which provide the opportunity for a fun day of play, all at excellent courses.

Over the season, we would typically hold eight golf days, at venues within 50 miles of Oxford. This includes three matches against alumni societies, including St John’s and Fitzwilliam, Cambridge, and St Catherine’s, Pembroke and Worcester from Oxford. Our internal society days include our Annual Meeting held at Studley Wood Golf Club and followed by

dinner at the Hall.

The Society is always delighted to welcome new members, and with no need to commit to the full schedule of golf days. All alumni will receive a very warm welcome, regardless of handicap, and whether they decide to join the Society for just one event or for the whole programme.

If you think you might be interested in joining us, please do get in touch with our Membership Secretary, Neil James (1984, Metallurgy), at aulariangolf@gmail.com Floreat Aula!

Neil James (1984, Metallurgy)

Aularian Updates: De Fortunis Aularium

1940s

1948 Professor John Chadwick-Jones and Dr Araceli Carceller celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in July 2025 with a reception and lunch at Darwin College, Cambridge.

John’s book Developing a Social Psychology of Monkeys and Apes, which was first published in 1998, has now been published again by Routledge in hardback, paperback and e-book, in 2025.

1950s

1953 David Picksley this year passed his milestone 25th Parkrun walk in the VM90-94 age category and continues to participate regularly.

1956 David Short was winner of first and second prizes for poetry in the 2024 Yeovil International Literary Competition. He also won the Western Gazette Award for being the best writer in the competition.

1957 Ian McLachlan is still teaching in the undergraduate and graduate departments of Cultural Studies at Trent University in Ontario. His latest play, The Housekeeper, was performed for large, enthusiastic audiences at 4th Line Theatre this past summer. And for part of each year, he continues to work on his farm in northeastern Thailand.

1959 Throughout his career in town and country planning based in the Bristol area, principally for Bristol City Council and Avon County Council, and during nearly 30 years of retirement, Michael Oakley was also a volunteer on the Committee of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) South West Region. He served in 1972 as Chair and during three periods over 18 years as Honorary Secretary. At the end of 2024 he stood down after 50 years on the Committee. In recognition of this,

in June 2024 at the RTPI SW Region summer reception, the 2024 RTPI National President Lindsey Richards presented Mike with a clock engraved with the words “50 years of volunteering”.

1960s

1960 Jeremy Cook has written his own Austenesque novels, inspired by the work of Jane Austen. The first is Speculation, now available on Amazon, and the second, Courtship & Court Martial, is in its final edit. Find out more at www.austenesque. com.

1960 Terence Daintith has published Executive Self-Government and the Constitution (OUP 2025, with Alan Page), tracing the evolution of the UK Government’s internal rules and practices over the 25 years since they published The Executive in the Constitution (OUP 1999). He cannot promise that there will be a further update in 2050.

1960 Peter Hayes has recently published his fourth book revolutionising fly fishing: The Flies that Trout Prefer (– vulnerable ones, not perfect ones!). This is the culmination of ten years of two-man research using high-end cameras and slowmotion video above and under water to evidence for the first time exactly what happens when trout target and consume flies, both natural and artificial. Peter and Di have just celebrated their 60th anniversary.

1960 In retirement Anthony Lewis is writing satirical legal short stories in the style of AP Herbert (of Uncommon Law fame). So far they have been broadcast on Cotswolds Radio. Featuring bent lawyers, dogs in court, judgement in the afterlife, etc. Great fun and keeps the grey cells alive.

1960 After moving to the Worcestershire village of Hagley in 2017, Yann Lovelock joined its non-aligned Parish Council, where he currently serves as Joint Lead for the Environment. Ann, his wife of 63 years, died in October 2024; following her cremation, an interfaith service of remembrance was held at the Dhamma Talaka Buddhist Pagoda in Birmingham, where she had been Treasurer for 42 years and later Chair of Trustees.

1960 Canon Melvyn Matthews, who is Chancellor Emeritus of Wells Cathedral, has decided to relinquish his Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Bath and Wells at the age of 84 after 38 years’ service as a priest in the diocese. Prior to that he served in the Dioceses of London, Winchester and Nairobi. He graduated from the Hall in Modern Languages in 1963. His wife, June (who is known to some Aularians), is in a care home near Wells afflicted with dementia.

1961 Jonathan Martin recently celebrated with grandson Stefan (2020) who received his BA in Geography and the next day won his age group in the 1,500 metres at the British Transplant Games.

1962 Robert Hall commissioned two pieces of statuary in the City of London recording the lives of two major English poets. Each was born, lived and worked in the City: John Donne at the south-eastern corner of St Paul’s Cathedral (2012, sculptor: Nigel Boonham) and John Keats at the north-western corner of the junction of London Wall and Moorgate (2024, sculptor: Martin Jennings). The statues are

located very close to the places of their respective births and are recognition in the public realm in the City of the life and works of these two renowned writers in the English language.

1963 After 30 years in local government, Roger Truelove stood down in 2023. He led Swale Council in Kent during the pandemic when his community was the worst affected in the country. He has published an autobiography called Inside Left which has a chapter on Teddy Hall as well as his time in youth cricket, in Africa, teaching and finally his despair at today’s politics.

1965 Alan Cowell’s latest novel, Last Writes, or, The Obituarist, is being published under his own imprint, Undated Books. It is the final in the Joe Shelby trilogy, chronicling the veteran correspondent’s confrontation with AI.

1965 Michael Tanner’s new novel, Crossing Magdalen Bridge: A Story of Town and Gown, was published in 2024.

Michael is a critically acclaimed sports writer, specialising in horse-racing. Among his 31 titles are The Spotted Wonder, The Suffragette Derby and The Legend of Mick the Miller. He also has two volumes of history to his credit, with one on film –Troubled Epic: On Location with Ryan’s Daughter Crossing Magdalen Bridge is his fourth novel; the first, a racing thriller entitled The Tinman’s Farewell, appeared in 2010.

1965 On 23 June, Michael Tanner and John Dennis became the first recipients of a new retrospective OURFC award aimed at players who would have won their Blue off the replacements bench had one existed in their day. Having played numerous games for the Blues, Mike (scrum-half) and John (second row) were presented with special Colours Caps at Iffley Road by their OURFC Captain Bob Phillips.

1966 Cam Brown’s new book was published in April 2025 by Unicorn Publishing in association with the Bate Collection, University of Oxford – German Jazz Guitars, The Archtop Guitar in Post War Central Europe.

He has donated his collection of German guitars to the Bate Collection whose new museum opens at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in Jericho, Oxford, in 2026.

1966 John Spellar stood down as Member of Parliament at the General Election after 32 years. He has subsequently joined the House of Lords as Lord Spellar of Smethwick and also been appointed as HMG Trade Envoy to Australia.

1967 Hugh Anderson is still retired, still painting, still trying to rebuild a ‘collapsed’ school in South Africa, and still trying to regenerate his adoptive home city, Glasgow.

1967 Rodney Munday, sculptor of the Hall’s St Edmund, had a book published at the end of last year by SLG Press. The Road to Emmaus: A Sculptor’s Journey through Time is the expansion of a talk he gave at the end of his public commission for the tower of Cirencester church, when he was asked to speak about where he saw his work within the context of Christian art across the centuries.

During the past year, he has written a number of articles for The Jackdaw art magazine and reviewed Charles Miller’s book, The Spiritual Adventure of Henri Matisse, for the Fairacres Chronicle. He has also been asked to contribute a marginal note about the use of bronze in Solomon’s Temple for a new annotated edition of the Bible to be published by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity in 2026. He is currently producing a sculpture for the parish church of Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, which contains work by Henry Moore.

1967 Dave Postles published his most recent article ‘New lives? Flows of people into and out of Loughborough in the middle of the nineteenth century’ in Local Population Studies 114 (2025).

1968 Martin Brooks, with Stephanie, now have a granddaughter, Loveday, and he continues to be a director of a Dubai security company and an advisor to Cityforum, a public policy seminar organisation. He remains a trustee of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, which has recently modernised the Truro Museum. As a former Gurkha officer, he chairs the Gurkha Museum in Winchester, where he is leading the charge on a major redevelopment and associated £5.2 million fundraising.

1969 John Landaw wrote a memoir for a Holocaust survivor, published in 2000: Living with the Enemy: My Secret Life on the Run from the Nazis was launched at the Imperial War Museum. A BBC documentary followed publication, and now a motion picture has been filmed, including Steven Berkoff in its cast, to be premiered later this year. John was engaged in an advisory capacity throughout.

1969 Nicholas McGuinn’s latest co-edited book, Engaging with Environmental Education through the Language Arts, was published by Routledge in 2025.

1969 Peter Scott-Presland (previously Eric Presland) is running writing workshops for young and inexperienced LGBT+ writers in Central London. Flash Dances, an anthology of the stories produced, appeared in November 2024, with a new one promised before Christmas.

1970s

1970 From Gordon Alexander: “1970 isn’t as distant as the calendar suggests – or at least that’s how it felt when seven Hall classmates from that year met in London this June for a rare reunion. For most, it was the first time seeing at least one of the others in over half a century. Over dinner in Battersea, life stories unfolded –unexpected journeys, surprising overlaps – and time seemed to melt away.”

Please get in touch with Gordon directly if you would like to join a future 1970 reunion: gordon.alexander2025@gmail.com

1970 Dorian Haskard’s The Gout: A Medical Microcosm in a Changing World has been published by World Scientific. Advancements over some 350 years have condensed the historical concept of ‘the Gout’ into a well-understood disease. The book traces how this process enabled an eventual transition from ineffective to effective therapies, addresses the age-old nature versus nurture conundrum of susceptibility, and considers how ordinary people would have been (mis)informed by doctors, scientists, newspapers and advertisements.

1970 John Hawkins has been awarded an LLM in Canon Law with Distinction by the Cardiff University School of Law and Politics.

1970 Christopher Merrett’s latest book is published by the South African Human Sciences Research Council and entitled Myth & Reality in South Africa’s History. It is a collection of over 80 newspaper opinion pieces and feature articles, written over a period of 30 years and selected to challenge a monochrome version of the country’s past. Underlying themes are continuity of faith in universal human rights, individual empowerment and psychological liberation, under and after apartheid.

1970 Proud Yorkshireman Bill Wallis now lives in the Weald of Kent, so was honoured (although somewhat conflicted) when approached recently regarding selection for the Kent Over-70s cricket team. He still supports Sheffield Wednesday, for reasons unfathomable, and occasionally exhibits watercolours.

1970 John Webster celebrated his golden wedding anniversary a few months ago –still very much on the same map with Shirley after 50 years. Having once been a reserve for the Hall’s University Challenge squad, John was delighted to lead his ‘Pintohontas’ pub quiz team when only narrowly failing to secure third place in the Gravesend 2025 trophy.

Back row (left to right): Alan Benson (PPE), Bob Wilson (French and History), Stephen Fordham (Law). Front row (left to right): Geoff Smith (Engineering), Chris Evans (PPE), Richard Gozney (Geology). Front left: Gordon Alexander (PPE).

1972 George Bull has been elected a Trustee of the Linnean Society which is the world’s oldest active society devoted to “the cultivation of the science of natural history in all its branches.”

1972 John Calvert and his partner Lorraine continue to live in West London. He recently stood down, after ten years, as a charity Trustee and Treasurer of Feltham Food Bank. He is now taking it easy with a weekly Parkrun, cycling and weightlifting.

1973 From David Holmes: “After 46 years of living in Guildford, we have moved about ten miles to the more rural Cranleigh. Most people our age downsize. We upsized, to provide more space for our 11 grandchildren and their families, making visits and stays more comfortable. A much bigger garden is great but the deer that seems to want to eat it all isn’t!”

1974 Peter Desmond celebrated his 70th birthday in 2025 by announcing his retirement from paid work, which was mostly spent as a strategic sustainability adviser. He continues to volunteer with Fairer World Lindfield and the African Circular Economy Network; along with other 1974 alumni, he is also a founding member of It’s Up To Us (itsuptous.earth), an inter-generational non-profit organisation where retirees donate time and energy to provide practical support to younger generations battling the climate crisis.

1974 Andy Eggleston is the initiator and a co-founder of It’s Up To Us (IUTU) along with 16 other Aularians. IUTU is an inter-generational project mobilising the vast dormant resource of time-rich retirees to support those engaged in combatting the climate crisis. We are grateful for the practical and moral support of Principal Kathy Willis and Director of Development Andrew Vivian. Hope for the young, purpose for the sen-agers, progress for the planet. Visit itsuptous.earth for more information.

1974 Clive Penwarden has bought a converted barn in Bagstone, South Gloucestershire, with his partner, Ann Underwood. It’s quite a change from his previous life in Surrey but he continues to enjoy frequent rounds of golf, tennis and travel, both golfing holidays and rather more cultural holidays to the likes of Morocco, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

1974 Sunok and Phil Phillips are delighted to announce the marriage of their daughter Elizabeth to Michael Geraghty in August 2024 in London and the birth in February 2025 of their first grandchild, Giles Benjamin Lee Phillips, in Sydney, Australia, to their son, Jason, and daughter-in-Law, Willa.

1974 After almost 48 years trading steel, Dick Sands retired this April. Together with a group of fellow ‘74 Teddy Hall alumni, Dick is a founding member of It’s Up To Us, supporting those battling to meet the climate challenge.

1974 Barry Spurr has written a new book: Language in the Liturgy: Past, Present, Future Reviewing the work in the Church Times, former Hall Chaplain Chris Irvine noted its “considerable expertise in the fields of English language and poetics….”

Having retired as Australia’s first Professor of Poetry, he is currently Literary Editor of Quadrant, Australia’s longstanding current affairs and literary journal, publishing some 300 new poems every year.

1975 Andrew Baldwin has finally managed to complete a Master of Theological Studies degree at the Melbourne School of Theology (MTS@MST!), including attempts at scaling the rocky heights of Biblical Hebrew, New Testament Greek, and Qur’anic Arabic, and a research project on a former SEH Vice-Principal! What next?

Together with son, daughter-in-law and grandson, they are now three generations in Istanbul (the remaining family – including four grandchildren – being in The Other Place). Visiting Aularians would be welcome!

1975 Having spent his working life in the media business, Jim Bilton is deep into the research (aided by an army of bots) for a book charting the history and future of media through the lives of the powerful moguls who have shaped the industry.

1975 Paul Boothroyd and Monika are now proud grandparents to Matilda (7), EveJean (5) and Malte (3). Last year, Paul published the follow-up to George and the Golden Letterseed in the shape of George and the Poison Arrow, and is working sporadically on the final volume in the trilogy. The couple continue to translate for selected clients who do not believe in the omniscience of AI.

1975 Martin Garrett’s The Palgrave Literary Dictionary of Robert Browning was published in 2025.

1975 Tim Jones (IBM Fellow 1975–1977) was appointed a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2023.

1975 John Pedersen has retired from medical practice and has created a new black breed of sheep that sheds its own wool, in preparation for climate change.

1976 Ophelia, born 13 November 2024, is the first granddaughter of Mark Hockey.

1976 Mike Power FBA celebrated 38 years at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2025. His latest book, Economy of Traces: Traceability, Tracking and the Accounts We Live By, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2026.

1977 To Steve Vivian a second grandson – William Thomas Vivian – born on 5 February 2025.

1979 Alan Smale retired in 2023 after 35 years in astrophysics research and mission support at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA HQ. He has also written several science fiction novels including the Clash of Eagles trilogy from Random House/Del Rey and Titan UK, and the Apollo Rising series from CAEZIK, and sold over 50 short stories to Asimov’s, Realms of Fantasy, Galaxy’s Edge and other magazines and anthologies.

1979 David West has completed the first draft of the fifth book in The Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Standen was an Elizabethan spy providing Walsingham with detailed intelligence on the Spanish Armada. Kirkus Reviews say of the fourth book, Called to Account, “with the discovery of the Bamberger murders, the narrative accelerates and moves into the realms of meticulous investigation, espionage, and high action that are the hallmarks of the Standen Adventures.” www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/--142/called-to-account/

1980s

1981 Martin Ridal is retiring at Christmas after more than 40 years working in safety engineering in the Nuclear Energy industry and then on the UK railways on the design and management of trains in passenger service at Alstom Transport, Derby. He continues to live in Sutton Coldfield with his wife, Sue, and they have three grandchildren.

1982 After nearly 40 years working in the IT industry with Mobil, PwC, IBM and Korn Ferry, Kevin Sealy retired from full time work in 2024.

1983 Kari Hale retired as a partner in Deloitte at the end of 2020 and has gone ‘plural’. He is now a non-executive director and audit committee chair at both AXA UK and Close Brothers.

1983 Fiona Larkin won first prize in the National Poetry Competition 2024, organised by the Poetry Society, with her poem ‘Absence has a grammar’. Read Fiona’s poem on p. 187.

1983 Yair Meshoulam continues to make and exhibit artwork, work on collaborative ongoing publications (Textures of Consciousness Vols 1–3) as well as install wallcoverings (www.wallpaperhangers.org.uk), based in West Norwood, South London. Yair has recently shown sculptures ‘Soft Verge’ at Theycome.Theysit. Theygo Gallery at London Fields, Hackney, curated by Jane Millar, and Kaballahinspired artwork at the Infinity Ein Sof Gallery, Islington Green, curated by Aurelie Freoua. Photos on Instagram: @yairmeshoulam; @yair_meshoulam; @texturesofconsciousness.

1985 From Catherine Mackay: “Mark Wood (1985) passed away on 4 March after a 20-year battle with Huntington’s disease. Many Teddy Hall friends gathered in person and online to celebrate his life, remembering Mark prior to the onset of his terrible disease. Simone Cunliffe, Mark’s wife, delivered a beautiful eulogy recalling Mark’s love of history and sport, his sense of adventure, fashion and humour, his impressive career in finance, and his subsequent wide-ranging travels to many parts of the world.”

1985 Andy Watson has published a second book, Letters From Paris 2020–2024, a compilation of 26 articles from The Property Chronicle magazine. In 2025, he celebrated 30 years in Paris and organised the inaugural event for SEH Alumni in France.

1987 Dr Claire Craig has been appointed Professor of Inclusive Design in Ageing and Co-Chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art. She is Professor of Design and Creative Practice in Health at Sheffield Hallam University and Visiting Professor at Northumbria University and Bradford University. She lives in Yorkshire with her husband, Neil, and their rescue dog, Milo.

1987 Stuart Hopper is going back to school again… This time at St Antony’s College, starting a DPhil in History to research cultural norms and perceptions of corruption. He has also started a new consultancy business, Table13 Consulting, so will be busy!

1988 Roz Shafran has been elected as a Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences.

1988 Elizabeth Vibert, Professor of History at the University of Victoria, has moved into documentary filmmaking as a key research output. Her latest film, Aisha’s Story, tells the story of Palestinian dispossession and steadfastness (sumud) through the life of a grain miller keeping the food culture alive in a refugee camp. Aisha’s Story, produced by a Palestinian and Canadian team, has received audience favourite awards and best director nominations and is currently touring international festivals. aishasstory.com

1989 After 27 years of teaching refugees in an inner-city FE college, Richard Goodson took early retirement, and now works in private practice as a psychotherapist, both in person in Belper, Derbyshire, and on Zoom. He also leads ‘stress-buster’ meditation workshops for employees in schools, colleges and large companies. More at www.richgoodsontherapy.com

1989 In November 2024, Jo Senior Howat published her first novel, Crescendo, under her maiden name Joanna Howat. Set in 1990s Yorkshire, Crescendo is a darkly funny tale of families, loss, redemption – and a broken grand piano.

1990s

1990 Maintaining his tradition of overstaying his welcome, David Jordan has completed 25 years at the Defence Studies Department, King’s College London, where he’s currently the Deputy Head of Department and a Director of the Freeman Air & Space Institute. Outside work, he’s sometimes found ignoring the protests of his knees, back and basic common sense by playing hockey or golf. He remains an enthusiastic member of the Hall Association committee.

1990 Akaash Maharaj was decorated in Canada’s national honours with the King Charles III Coronation Medal, for services to the exploration, conservation and protection of the natural world. As a Governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, he was engaged with arctic and deepsea expeditions. As Head of Policy for Nature Canada, he was also intimately involved in negotiations for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN High Seas Treaty.

1990 Chris Manby published Bad Influence, her second comic novel as C J Wray in May 2025. It follows Jennifer ‘Jinx’ Sullivan, who survived Japanese internment as a child in WW2. After a life of crime, Jinx has retired to the Cotswolds but she’s planning one final adventure: a trip to Florence in search of stolen treasure. Only problem is, she has to get there on a coach trip with her recalcitrant teenage carer in tow.

1991 Andrew Peach hosts business events and offers coaching in communication and leadership skills with clients including the University of Oxford, NFU Mutual and Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce. He has a 30-year career hosting BBC News and business programmes such as Newshour and World Business Report on BBC World Service and Saturday PM and Pick of the Week on Radio 4.

Andrew’s work has been nominated for 18 Radio Academy Awards including UK Speech Broadcaster of the Year, with the judges describing him as “an assured host, balancing great seriousness and warmth and displaying a strong bond with his audience.” In May 2025, Andrew was invited to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to recognise outstanding services to broadcasting.

1992 Marc Biver published a large experimental study of the stability of aqueous germanium complexes, comprising some 50 systems involving low molecular weight N- or O-donor ligands (Inorganic Chemistry 2024, 63:5, pp. 2470–85, doi 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c03640), and a paper specifically dealing with inert Ge(IV) complexes containing (poly-)hydroxy- and/or amino(poly-) carboxylate ligands (Journal of Solution Chemistry 2025, Special issue in honour of Professor Balarew, doi 10.1007/s10953-025-01459-y).

He also edited and contributed to a book dedicated to the memory of Jean-Pierre Pescatore, a 19th-century banker and philanthropist who became famous for his orchid collection, allegedly the largest collection in the world at the time. The book contains a full reprint of the 19th-century periodical which bears Pescatore’s name (Pescatorea), known for its magnificent chromolithographs of 48 neotropical orchid species, along with chapters on orchid biology, the Victorian era’s ‘orchidelirium’ or ‘orchidmania’, and chapters on the role of the Orchidaceae in medicine, literature, poetry and the fine arts (Jean-Pierre Pescatore: Sa Vie, Son Oeuvre, Ses Orchidées, ed. Marc Biver and Claude D. Conter, Bibliothèque Nationale du Luxembourg, 2025, ISBN 978-99987-806-3-7).

1992 Xen Gladstone is living in Hampshire with his family and having fun and winning awards running Triple fff Brewery. He loved the September 2024 Gaudy and can’t recommend it highly enough to other Aularians!

1992 Deborah Greaves was awarded an Honorary Professorship by Tsinghua University, China, in early November 2024. Deborah was a student at Teddy Hall from 1992 to 1995, collecting her DPhil in 1998. Tsinghua University is ranked in the top 20 of world universities, and its alumni include President Xi Jinping and former President Hu Jintao. The ‘Honorary Professorship’ is equivalent to an honorary degree.

1992 Michael Liggins has been appointed as Director of Community Engagement at Downe House School in West Berkshire. He has also become a Governor of the iCollege. This is the Pupil Referral Service for West Berkshire, helping to support and reintegrate students excluded from state schools.

1996 Deograsias Paul Mushi is currently an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His research areas include health issues, natural gas, taxation and informal economies, among others. He is based at the University’s School of Economics with 43 other members of academic staff.

1998 Jacquetta Blacker and her husband, Charles Lewis, welcomed their first-born son, Peter James Lewis, in late 2024. Both parents are currently working as academic psychiatrists at the University of Minnesota.

1998 Jenny Lewis’ fourth collection, Gilgamesh Retold (Carcanet Classics, 2018), was part of a PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London, on ‘Translating epic poetry

from an unfamiliar language.’ It was a New Statesman Book of the Year and Carcanet’s first audiobook, narrated by Jenny. Her fifth collection is From Base Materials (Carcanet, 2024) and, in 2024, she also wrote a series of eco poems for Seed Guardians, a play by the Mandala Theatre Company supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Storytellers Fund. Her micro-publishing company, Poets House Pamphlets, has just published its eighth poetry pamphlet.

1998 Dr Siddharth Malu has joined the Shiv Nadar University, an Institution of Eminence in Delhi, India, as the Director of the AI Centre of Excellence. In his previous position at IIT Indore, India, Siddharth built a Radio Interferometer, founded a new department of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Engineering, and revamped the curriculum for greater industry relevance.

2000s

2000 Adam R Q Ismail was born July 2025 to Drs Raveem & Zeena Ismail in Oxford.

2000 Charlie Ramsay is living in Suffolk near Bury St Edmunds with his family. He is running Fortingall Ventures, a group of small companies, and has recently reopened The Fortingall, a luxury hotel in Perthshire.

2001 Eugene Kogan has joined KPMG US as a manager in negotiation, strategy and coaching.

2001 Jen Sugden (née Nicholson) and her husband, Chris, published their debut novel High Vaultage with Gollancz. The Neo-Victorian detective comedy became an instant Sunday Times bestseller, was praised as “joyously funny” by The Financial Times, and shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 2024 alongside Ferdia Lennon, Dolly Alderton and David Nicholls. The novel is available in all good bookstores and online now.

2003 In March, John Hogarth and his partner, Victoria Cullum, were thrilled to welcome a second child into their family, Robin Andrew Richard. Their daughter, Isla Rose, has delighted in becoming a big sister to her new baby brother.

2005 Aisi Li was appointed Vice-Rector for International Affairs at Wekerle International University, Budapest, Hungary. She is also an Associate Professor at the same university.

2005 In May 2024, Ed Reynolds graduated from Georgetown University Law Center as a Business Law Scholar and with Exceptional Pro Bono Pledge Recognition. Ed was sworn into the Massachusetts Bar this past November and is an Associate at Latham & Watkins.

2005 Dan Townley and his wife, Betsy, welcomed William Arthur Mathieson Townley on the 27 January 2025 at Frimley Park Hospital. A brother for Isla.

2006 Emily MacGregor is delighted to announce the publication of While the Music Lasts: A Memoir of Music, Grief, and Joy (Duckworth Books). A writer, broadcaster and music historian, Emily has recently taken up the position of Classical Music Editor-at-Large at Faber & Faber. linktr.ee/whilethemusiclasts

2007 In January 2025, Rachel Fraser was appointed Associate Professor of Philosophy at MIT.

2008 Shannon Walsh Burrows launched Get Uncomfy, a personalised travel-planning company that designs off-the-beaten-path itineraries for curious travellers. After over a decade in financial services in New York, and inspired by her time abroad at Teddy Hall and an extended honeymoon across 12 countries, she’s now thrilled to help others experience meaningful travel that blends local culture, comfort and adventure. More at getuncomfy.com.

2010s

2012 Dr Biswanath Ghosh Dastidar was appointed Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER), SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, India, in July 2024.

He led efforts to set up the Centre of Excellence in Assisted Reproductive Technology at IPGMER in 2022 – the first public-private-partnered, fully funded IVF unit in India, which delivered the first baby in October 2024.

In collaboration with Fellows of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, Somerville College, he published an important paper, ‘Reimagining India’s national telemedicine service to improve access to care’, in The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia, in November 2024. The paper proposed a re-design of India’s national telemedicine service – eSanjeevani – to improve access to healthcare nationally.

2012 Antonin De Laever and his wife, Solène, joyfully announce the birth of their son, Achilles, born on 25 December 2024.

2012 Gareth Evans was appointed Tutorial Fellow in English of St John’s College and Associate Professor of Old Norse at the Faculty of English.

2012 Erik Magnusson recently published a book on the morality of procreation that builds on his DPhil research undertaken while at St Edmund Hall.

Details at: www.routledge.com/Procreative-Justice-Balancing-the-Interestsof-Parents-Children-and-Society/Magnusson/p/book/9780367756963.

2012 In April 2024, Josephine Smith Jackson married Edward Smith at St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Oxford, and danced the night away at the Isis Farmhouse. In February 2025, they welcomed their first daughter into the world with great joy.

2013 Kunz Chow and Nicole hosted their wedding back at Teddy Hall in August. Nicole, Kunz and their guests had the most wonderful time thanks to the great hospitality from all the staff at the Hall.

2013 Dr James King married Naomi Shammas on 14 June 2024 in Harome, North Yorkshire, and is now James Shammas-King.

2014 Zafar Khurshid was honoured to be felicitated by the UK India Legal Partnership (UKILP) at their Annual Awards Dinner at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Man Singh Road, in New Delhi in 2024 in the category of Rising Star in the field of Law. It was a privilege to be presented the award by the Honourable Union Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, and in the presence of two esteemed former Law Ministers, Shri Salman Khurshid (1974, Jurisprudence, Honorary Fellow) and Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad.

He was also very privileged to be empanelled this year with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee of the Honourable Supreme Court of India.

2014 Dr Daisy Ogembo has joined the International Centre for Tax and Development at the Institute of Development Studies as a Research Fellow, continuing her long-term commitment to building tax systems that serve and empower citizens. She holds a DPhil in law and has received honours including the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship. Formerly an Assistant Professor at the University of Birmingham, Daisy’s research covers taxation of hard-to-tax groups, constitutional issues in taxation and challenges with digitising tax administration.

2014 After marrying in 2024, Olivia O’Grady (née Brown) and Hugo O’Grady (2015) were delighted to welcome their first son, Archibald Charles O’Grady, on 11 July 2025. Olivia and Hugo met at Teddy Hall in 2016 and look forward to showing Archie around as he grows up.

2015 Karim Pal and Lisa Pal (née Haseldine) (2014) celebrated their marriage on 25 July 2025 at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin. They met in their respective final years when they were neighbours on Besse 3.

2016 Terence Cudbird, former Hall Development Director and postgraduate student, is publishing a book based on his thesis. The Origins of Economic Regions in France 1918–1940 will appear later in 2025 under the Palgrave MacMillan imprint.

2017 During a degree ceremony on 26 September 2025, the University posthumously recognised Matthew Kilford. Matthew successfully completed his English Finals in 2020 but became ill and, very sadly, died in May 2022 without having been admitted to his BA degree. His family can now receive a certificate of Matthew’s academic achievement.

2019 Nearly six years after they met at an orientation event in 19 Norham Gardens, Brittany Ellis married fellow Aularian Will Cochrane-Dyet in Oxford on 25 May, surrounded by their friends and family.

2020s

2021 Emilie Paterson is currently a PhD candidate at Imperial College London in clinical medicine, researching the initiation of labour in humans, which she began very shortly after graduating from the Clinical Embryology MSc at Oxford. This year, she published an article in the journal Trends in Molecular Medicine. The article discusses the potential of decidual macrophages as therapeutic targets in preterm labour.

2021 Together with family and friends, James Rigby and Antonia Bellas (2023, Newnham College, Cambridge) were married at St Thomas Aquinas Church, Brisbane, Australia, on 26 April 2025.

2023 June Arvin Gudoy has been appointed as Vice President for Corporate Affairs of the Development Academy of the Philippines in January 2025.

Deaths: Ave Atque Vale

We record with sadness the passing of fellow Aularians, and salute them. Sincere condolences are offered to their families and friends.

1940s

The Revd Dr Rex Adlington Mason MA, BD, PhD, 17 February 2025, aged 98, Surrey. 1944, English

Mr John Edmund Durling MA, BCL, 24 October 2024, aged 97, South Yorkshire. 1945, Jurisprudence; 1949, BCL

Dr Peter Hugh Phizackerley BSc, MA, DPhil, 14 September 2024, aged 97, Warwickshire. 1945, Geology; DPhil Geology

The Revd Canon Michael Arthur Halliwell MA, 4 August 2024, aged 96, Hampshire. 1946, Modern Languages

The Very Revd Christopher Russell Campling MA, 9 December 2020, aged 95, West Sussex. 1947, Theology

Mr John Witney Vail BA, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 1947, Chemistry

Mr Percy John Frankis MA, BLitt, 12 January 2025, aged 98, Tyne and Wear. 1948, English; 1955, BLitt English

Mr Ronald William Hall MA, 18 November 2024, aged 95, Málaga, Spain. 1949, History

The Revd Canon Robert David Strapps MA, 26 February 2025, aged 96, Gloucestershire. 1949, English

1950s

The Revd John Jameson Congdon MA, 23 April 2021, aged 90, Middlesex. 1950, Theology

The Revd Canon Raymond John Lee MA, 22 January 2025, aged 94, Merseyside. 1950, Modern Languages

Mr Raymond Elliott Waddington-Jones MA, PGCE, AcDipEd, MA(Ed), September 2024, aged 93, Middlesex. 1950, History

Mr Alan Geoffrey Poynter MA, 28 March 2024, aged 93, Buckinghamshire. 1951, Geography

Mr John Richard Martin Branston MA, CertEd, PGDip, 10 September 2023, aged 91, Surrey. 1952, Modern Languages

Mr Philip Anthony Housden Currah MA, 16 February 2025, aged 93, Vancouver, Canada. 1952, History

Mr Michael Warburton Wood MA, 29 October 2022, aged 88, Nottinghamshire. 1952, Mathematics

Mr John Roger Woodhead BA, South Yorkshire. 1952, History

Mr Michael Lloyd Burgess BA, DPhil, PGDip, 15 December 2024, aged 91, Worcestershire. 1953, Geography; DPhil Education

Mr Nicholas Henry Holdway Osmond BA, 27 March 2022, aged 88. 1953, Modern Languages

Dr Malcolm Henry Trevor MA, PhD, Hertfordshire. 1953, Modern Languages

Captain Jeremy Mountain Cleverley MA, 4 April 2025, aged 91, Cheshire. 1954, English

Mr Colin Roy James Millar BA, December 2022, aged 89. 1954, Geography

Mr Alan Norman Monnery Preston BA, 2 September 2021, West Midlands. 1954, Jurisprudence

The Revd John Phillips Robson LVO, 2 February 2025, aged 92, London. 1954, Geography

Mr John Brian Shepherd MA, 9 November 2024, aged 90, Hertfordshire. 1954, English

Mr David Malcolm Sutcliffe BA, 21 April 2025, aged 92, East Sussex. 1954, Modern Languages

Mr David Richard Thomas OBE MA, 9 August 2025, aged 91, Surrey. 1954, English

Mr John Ballard Davies MA, 11 October 2024, aged 87, Surrey. 1955, Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Mr Edgar Ward Entwistle MA, 29 August 2024, aged 89, Nottinghamshire. 1955, Geography

Mr Robert Knowles MA, MEd, London. 1955, Geography

Mr John Colin Atkinson BA, PGCE, 8 May 2018, aged 82, Hertfordshire. 1956, Theology

Mr Francis Henri Maurice Busson, 26 January 2016, aged 82, Paris, France. 1956, Modern Languages

Mr Silvester Thomas Joseph Mazzarella BA, 17 January 2025, aged 88, Kent. 1956, English

Mr Michael Lawrence Somers MA, 3 March 2025, aged 87, Cornwall. 1957, Physics

Mr Anthony John Goddard MA, 9 July 2025, aged 85. 1958, Jurisprudence

Mr Derek Christopher William Jones BA, 7 March 2025, aged 87, Somerset. 1958, Modern Languages

Mr John Arthur Hugh Curry CBE MA, MBA, 19 October 2024, aged 86, Hampshire. 1959, Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Mr Patrick Douglas Frost MA, 10 September 2025, aged 85, Barbados. 1959, English 1960s

Professor Christopher Forbes Graham FRS, MA, DPhil, 22 May 2025, aged 84, Oxfordshire. 1960, Zoology; 1963, DPhil Zoology

Mr Michael John Grocott MA, 28 October 2024, aged 81, Leicestershire. 1961, English

Mr John Douglas Martin BA, 6 July 2024, aged 82, Berkshire. 1961, Geography

Mr Alan John Cowan MA, Herefordshire. 1962, Chemistry

Mr Chris John Stephen Cowles BA, CertEd, 18 September 2024, aged 80, Devon. 1962, History

Mr Michael Bruce Gardner MA, 2025, Somerset. 1962, Physics

Mr Arwyn Hughes MA, 21 December 2024, aged 81, Surrey. 1962, Physics

Mr Christopher Grahame Erwin MA, 20 December 2024, aged 80, Norfolk. 1963, History

Mr John Anthony Cawood Hey BA, DipEd, 9 January 2025, aged 83, Norfolk. 1963, Cert Educational Studies

Mr Charles Richard Holdsworth BA, 4 April 2024, aged 79, Leicestershire. 1963, History

Mr Stephen Philip Copley BA, West Midlands. 1964, Engineering

Dr Richard Alexander Gordon DPhil, 21 September 2024, aged 81. 1966, History of Art

Mr Thomas Richard Peter Irvin BA, 16 October 2021, aged 74, London. 1966, English

Mr Paul Lucien Richard Maison BA, April 2023, aged 76, Bedfordshire. 1966, Geography

Mr Douglas Hamilton Blyth Slade BA, Norfolk. 1966, Modern Languages

Mr Roland Martin Jermyn, 9 October 2024, aged 82, Pennsylvania, USA. 1967, Dip Politics and Economics

Mr Zareer Minoo Masani BA, 9 August 2024, aged 76, New Delhi, India. 1967, History

Mr David Richard Preston MA, Lincolnshire. 1968, Geography

Dr Ian Russell Cox MA, DPhil, 5 January 2025, aged 75, Avon. 1969, Chemistry; DPhil Chemistry

Mr Bryan Philip Dawson BA, 3 January 2025, aged 74, Derbyshire. 1969, Modern Languages

1970s

Mr Lindsay Neil Kaye MA, Surrey. 1970, Geology

Mr Graham Bull BA, December 2024, Norfolk. 1971, Jurisprudence

Mr Terence John Donovan PGCE, 19 February 2024, aged 74, West Yorkshire. 1971, PGCE

Mr Paul Nichol Mounsey MA, 29 May 2025, aged 71, Cambridgeshire. 1972, Chemistry

Mr William Rupert Cooke MA, 1 November 2024, aged 70, Travaco’ Siccomario, Italy. 1973, English

Mr Martin Andrew Hyde, North Yorkshire. 1973, Engineering

Mr James Marshall Newey BA, 10 November 2024, aged 65, London. 1977, History

Mr Nicholas John Charles Gandon CertEd, 28 February 2025, aged 68, Hertfordshire. 1978, PGCE

1980s

Mr Mark Robert Wood BA, 4 March 2025, aged 58, West Yorkshire. 1985, History

Mr Stephen Paul Haslehurst BA, Dover. 1986, History

1990s

Dr Benjamin Rippin BA, MBBS, 16 July 2025, aged 47, West Yorkshire. 1996, Physiological Sciences

2000s

Mr Anthony John Brignull BA, 8 December 2024, aged 87, Buckinghamshire. 2002, English

Commander Amy Francesca Gilmore MBE BA, 12 July 2025, aged 41, Dorset. 2003, Geography

2020s

Mr James Sugrue, 17 May 2025, aged 20, Oxford. 2023, Mathematics

Senior Common Room and Staff Obituaries

SIR PETER HIRSCH FRS

St Edmund Hall was sad to announce that Emeritus Fellow Sir Peter Hirsch passed away on Friday 12 September at the age of 100. Peter joined the Hall in 1966 as the Head of the Department of Metallurgy and Materials, and Isaac Wolfson Professor of Metallurgy, and he became one of Oxford’s most influential scientists. Upon retirement in 1992, he was elected to the Hall’s Emeritus Fellowship.

Professor Hirsch received many awards for his fundamental contribution to physics, including the Franklin J. Clamer Medal (1970), Hughes Medal (1973), Royal Medal (1977), Wolf Foundation Prize in Physics (1983/4), as well as the Lomonosov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2005). In addition, he was elected to the Royal Society in 1963 and knighted in 1975. From 1982 to 1984, Peter was Chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and he was founding Chairman of Oxford University Innovation (formerly known as Isis Innovation), the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford.

The undergraduate Sir Peter Hirsch Bursary was set up in 2019 by one of Peter’s former students, Dr Bernard Bewlay (1980, Metallurgy), as a tribute to his former tutor and the impact that he had, both on his students and academia more widely.

Peter was welcomed back to the Hall in March of this year to celebrate his 100th birthday with a lunch and a scientific symposium. He spoke then about his “charmed life” beginning with his arrival in England in 1938 as part of the Kindertransport from Germany. Despite initially not knowing English, he went on to win a grant from London County Council to study at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Working at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, he gained a PhD and enjoyed a distinguished scientific career. In his speech he described his pioneering work in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in the post-war years, and its application to the study of materials, particularly metals and alloys. Peter remembered his many colleagues and collaborators, some of whom were at the dinner.

He closed by celebrating “the warmth, friendliness and informality of this College” and recalling the friendly welcome he and his wife had received when they arrived at Teddy Hall in 1966.

Peter will be deeply missed, both by all who knew him at the Hall and across the wider University.

A full obituary recording Peter’s achievements will appear in next year’s issue of the Magazine.

NADA MILKOVIC

Nada Milkovic sadly passed away on Thursday 3 April 2025. Nada started work in the Hall as a Servery Assistant in 1995 and worked here until her retirement in 2022, being promoted to Deputy Hall Butler during this time.

She was known to many cohorts of students for her friendly and welcoming manner. She always loved seeing students return for reunions and special occasions, and sharing memories of their time at the Hall.

Over the summer of 2015, we invited nominations of inspirational women with a connection to St Edmund Hall to be represented in a series of portrait photographs. Nada was delighted to be nominated by members across the College community and to have her portrait displayed in the Wolfson for several years. This is testament to how much she was loved and valued by all at the Hall.

Outside of work, Nada was an active member of her community and church, and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.

She is greatly missed by all at Teddy Hall. Sue McCarthy (Conference Manager) and Molly Higgins (Head Butler)

In 2015, Nada spoke about her time at the Hall as part of the ‘Women Inspire’ exhibition when her portrait was hung in the Wolfson Hall:

“Flicking through the Oxford Mail in 1995, I spotted a job advertisement for a Servery Assistant at St Edmund Hall and thought I would apply. An anxiously awaited week passed and the next thing I knew I was stood in an overall looking at this coffee machine which looked like something out of the future. Now and again, I would have to take a hasty swipe at the lever so it wouldn’t overflow. There was no indication of when it was full! I was greeted by friendly faces and remember feeling instantly at home.

20 years have passed and that warm friendly feel as I walk through the entrance of Teddy Hall is still here. Teddy Hall, for me, is a place where everyone comes together. A place of celebration and happiness, where graduations, marriages, anniversaries and birthdays leave an affectionate scent all around the College. I have fond memories of my 50th birthday and my husband’s 60th birthday in the Old Dining Hall; it was wonderful that I was able to share Teddy Hall with my family and friends. I was even lucky enough to have a student serenade me with their guitar on my birthday! It is memories like this that will always bring a smile to my face.

If I could go back to my first day at Teddy Hall and look into the future I would always choose this path. Seeing students grow from their first days at dinner to their final year. Preparing the Hall for their Ball or Graduation Ceremony has been a pleasure, and I hope will be for many more years to come.”

Aularian Obituaries

ANTHONY JOHN BRIGNULL (2002)

This obituary originally appeared in The Guardian on 13 January 2025.

Tony Brignull, who has died aged 87 of lymphoma, was an advertising copywriter and creative director whose motto was that a good ad, in print or on screen, must “speak to people”. He was widely regarded as one of the best in the business during a quarter of a century (1967–92) at the influential agency Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP).

Literate and blessed with an imagination that brought ‘personality’ to products, Brignull regarded himself at his best writing for the press and for posters, but he showed just as much talent in some of his screen work.

When the trade magazine Campaign celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018 by asking readers to vote for the best TV ads, one of Brignull’s 1979 Cinzano commercials, titled Airliner, came first. It was directed by Hugh Hudson shortly before he switched to feature films and won an Oscar with Chariots of Fire Brignull took over as copywriter for the Cinzano vermouth ‘mini-dramas’ after the departure of Ron Collins, the man who had overseen their screen debut the previous year, with Alan Parker directing.

The commercials were intended to parody the rival Martini brand’s campaign based around trendy, sophisticated jetsetters. For Cinzano, Joan Collins, portraying elegance and glamour, was teamed with Leonard Rossiter, the actor best known for playing the seedy landlord Rigsby in the TV sitcom Rising Damp. Rossiter had suggested to Parker a running gag based on an old music-hall routine where the comedian looks at his watch and spills his drink – over Collins in the initial ads.

Brignull and Neil Godfrey, the art director with whom he forged a long, successful partnership – although mainly in print –decided the theme should continue, with variations. For their poll-topping Airliner ad, the oafish Rossiter and refined Collins are seen on a plane where he accidentally pushes the seat recline button as she is about to sip her drink. “Getting your head down, sweetie?” Rossiter asks, oblivious to her predicament. “Jolly good idea.”

Brignull, Godfrey and Hudson also made that year’s other Cinzano ad, titled Ski Lodge, set in the Alps.

Among Brignull and Godfrey’s impressive print advertisements were several for Parker pens that satisfied the copywriter’s desire for longer-form, factual prose. One pictured a rival pen with the words: “I am a cheap fibre-tip pen. My owner left my top off over lunch.” Below it was a Parker pen: “I am a Parker fibre-tip pen. My owner left my top off overnight.” Then followed almost 100 words of text boasting of its qualities.

Words were also at the heart of Brignull’s 1987 Wishing Well campaign to renovate and rebuild Great Ormond Street hospital. Double-page spreads in newspapers and magazines bore the headline: “We have every doctor a child needs under one

roof…the trouble is the roof’s falling in.”

Underneath, 500 words spelled out the urgent need for £50m – a sum raised in the largest appeal of its kind at the time. It was Brignull’s proudest achievement.

Earlier in his career, during a stint at the Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) agency in 1969, another of his inspired ads featured the single-word headline “When” alongside a picture of a glass of Chivas Regal Scotch whisky filled to the brim and seven paragraphs of finely honed text.

While at CDP in 1980, he made three Shredded Wheat TV commercials, including one featuring Richard Kiel (who played Jaws in two James Bond films). “I read in research that the average serving was something like 2.4 servings,” recalled Brignull. “This sparked a thought in my mind that three Shredded Wheat would be too much to eat.” But he abandoned thoughts of adding the slogan “Bet you can’t eat three” at the end, believing it to be too close to a peanuts campaign in the US.

A year later, however, his colleague Lynda McDonnell coincidentally came up with the same line for Shredded Wheat posters and TV commercials featuring the cricketer Ian Botham – and, as creative director, Brignull approved it, with the phrase becoming associated with the cereal ever after.

Earlier, in 1973, another slogan attributed to Brignull, “Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach”, was similarly approved by him, but actually written by Terry Lovelock, who worked on the later Cinzano commercials.

Brignull himself used it on a triptych cartoon-like poster of Star Trek’s Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy), whose drooping pointy ears are revived by the Dutch lager. The art director Paul Smith added the thought bubble “Illogical!” and the striking billboard poster won the Design and Art

Direction silver award in 1975, one of 20 awards Brignull received from D&AD in his career.

The younger of two brothers, Brignull was born in London to Violet (née Moss) and Harry, a lorry driver, who later ran a pub together. On leaving Tollington grammar school in Muswell Hill, he worked for an insurance company before doing national service with an RAF air traffic control unit in Germany (1956–58), then taking a job as a teacher in Dalston, east London.

Switching to the advertising industry, he became a trainee with J Walter Thompson in 1959, moved on after three years to Mather & Crowther, then spent a year at CDP, to which he returned in 1970 after working for DDB and as creative director of Vernons.

One of his TV commercials, for Clarks shoes in 1976, won gold in the British Arrows (formerly British Television Advertising Awards). But he was most successful writing for print. In 2012, D&AD presented him with a special award as Britain’s most-honoured copywriter, noting that he and Godfrey (who also received one) were “considered the most successful creative team in history”, while CDP was once “the ad agency that ruled the planet” Brignull had spells away from CDP to form Brignull Le Bas in 1981 and become creative director at D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in 1988. On finally leaving CDP in 1992, he spent two years at Abbott Mead Vickers.

He retired from the advertising industry in 1994 and later contributed articles to Campaign magazine. He also wrote two books of poetry, Where the Rail Ends (2002) and The Watercolourist (2023), and in 2002 graduated in English as a mature student from St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he won the college’s Graham Midgley memorial prize for poetry.

In 1969, Brignull married Voula Tavoulari. She survives him, along with their daughters, Irena and Rosie, their son, Harry, and six grandchildren.

Anthony Hayward

CAPTAIN JEREMY MOUNTAIN CLEVERLEY (1954)

This obituary has been provided by Jeremy’s granddaughter Hope.

Jeremy Mountain Cleverley, born on 15 July 1933, was the beloved husband of Angela, devoted father of Virginia and Simon, and adored Poppa to grandchildren Hope, Lydia and Cecily. Jeremy loved his time at the Hall and always spoke about it with great fondness. He died peacefully on 4 April 2025.

Hope James

This obituary has been provided by John’s son Philip.

John Jameson Congdon passed away on 23 April 2021.

He was born on 8 May 1930 in Gloucester and was brought up in the Forest of Dean.

He was educated at Oakley Hall in Cirencester and then Eastbourne College. He did his national service in 1948–1950 and, after training in Aldershot and Catterick, he was sent to Egypt as part of a force protecting the Suez Canal. He spent over a year there, working with troops from Mauritius.

He then went to Teddy Hall to read Theology (he always talked about the mice in his room in the Front Quad) and afterwards studied for ordination at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. It was during this time that he met and later married Mary Hammond. They remained happily married for 66 years.

He then spent a long period as a parish priest, first in two parishes in Nottingham, including building a brand-new church in Woodthorpe, then moving to London as vicar of St Mary’s, Osterley. Finally, he

THE REVD JOHN JAMESON CONGDON (1950)

moved to St John’s, Woodley, in Reading, before finishing his career as the Church of England Chaplain at West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, London.

In later life he lived in Bedfont, Middlesex, continued to help in several local churches and enjoyed travelling with his caravan to

JOHN ARTHUR HUGH CURRY CBE (1959)

This obituary originally appeared in The Times on 15 November 2024.

It was shortly after dawn and John Curry was mingling with the diehard tennis fans queueing outside the All England Club, desperate for Wimbledon tickets. Although he was club chairman, he stayed incognito, chatting informally to many of the fans to find out how they felt about the system and how the club could do things better.

One middle-aged couple, lifelong tennis aficionados who had camped out overnight, were hugely excited, hoping for tickets for a particular Centre Court match, but Curry had to tell them that all the tickets had been sold in advance. They were devastated but stayed in the queue to see what they could get. To their delight and amazement, Curry’s driver pulled up soon afterwards and presented them with complimentary tickets for the match.

France as well as attending concerts in London.

He and Mary had three children, Philip, Peter, who sadly passed away in 2018, and David.

Philip Congdon (1975, Modern Languages)

Curry was a popular and highly effective All England chairman throughout the 1990s, and brought this attention to detail and thoughtfulness to all aspects of his life. Through his work ethic and drive he even managed to combine the chairmanship with running two leading electronics firms. When Chris Gorringe, the All England’s chief executive, initially questioned whether his business affairs would allow him to devote enough time to the club and the championships, he simply declared: “If you need me at the club for a meeting, I’ll be there,” and he was true to his word.

John Arthur Hugh Curry was born in Burma in 1938, the youngest of three sons of Alfred Curry, who as an impoverished plumber from east London had moved to the Far East to find work and had become a successful engineer. Alfred’s marriage to Mercia Friedlander, an upper-class South African related to the Boer statesman Jan Smuts, boosted his social status, and despite her parents’ disapproval it proved a stable union.

At the start of the Second World War, Alfred was commissioned into the Burma Sappers and Miners, which blew up numerous roads and bridges around Rangoon to try to slow the progress of the advancing Japanese troops. He got out just in time before the fall of Rangoon in 1942, aboard a sampan sailing down the Irrawaddy, before being picked up by an Allied troop ship. He finished his

army career as a lieutenant colonel and the family returned to Burma, where he helped to rebuild postwar Rangoon.

John and his two elder brothers were sent to board at King’s College School, Wimbledon, southwest London, where he excelled at sport, particularly tennis, hockey and rugby, reaching the quarterfinals of Junior Wimbledon and winning the Public Schools Singles Championship. He also played rugby for Surrey Schools and Richmond.

In 1956 John learnt he was to be head boy the following year, shortly before a girlfriend’s father offered him two tickets to the Wimbledon men’s final. This would involve playing truant from school, possibly jeopardising his chances of becoming head boy, but the lure of the tickets proved overwhelming and he ‘cut’ school and witnessed the electrifying spectacle of Lew Hoad beating his fellow Australian Ken Rosewall. Luckily Curry’s absence went undetected and he duly finished his schooling as head boy before reading PPE at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

There he captained the university tennis side, got a rugby blue and met his future wife Anne Lewis, a nurse in Oxford. They married in 1962 and their partnership lasted for the next 62 years. The couple had four children and lived in some style, first in Berkshire and latterly on a picturesque 300-acre estate in Droxford, Hampshire. Her one nod to Curry’s passion for tennis was to name the family’s two dogs Boris and Stefan.

Convinced that financial literacy was crucial to business success, Curry qualified as a chartered accountant then took an MBA at Harvard. Back home, he often played at the All England Club, becoming a full member in 1971.

His brother Peter had founded the

electronics company Unitech and in 1966 Curry became its finance director, playing a crucial part in its rapid growth and influence on British industrial electronics. Spotting a gap in the market, in 1986 Curry launched Acal, a pan-European technology distribution company, and his shrewd selection of profitable acquisitions paid dividends. Within a decade Acal was listed publicly and had become one of the top distributors in the sector.

When Curry succeeded Buzzer Hadingham as All England chairman in 1989, he introduced several innovations, allowing play on Middle Sunday for the first time in 1991 and again in 1997, because of serious backlogs from torrential rain. In 1995 the strict regulations on players’ outfits were tightened up when the “predominantly white” clothing rule was replaced by the diktat that on-court wear should be “almost entirely white” He masterminded a redevelopment transforming the club and the championships’ facilities while restoring its Edwardian garden party atmosphere by siting many of the retail and hospitality outlets in unobtrusive areas. He also introduced the sliding roof on Centre Court and the new, more spacious No 1 Court, ensuring that whatever the weather, play was always possible.

He recruited his longstanding friend, the property tycoon John Dunningham, to oversee all the construction, giving him considerable autonomy to avoid long delays. The colossal project often involved 500 workmen on site each day, but it came in on time and under budget, winning plaudits for the high quality of its workmanship. Dunningham, amazed at his friend’s capacity to juggle several jobs, asked him: “John, you’re running two public companies and doing all this work as All England chairman. How on earth do

you do it?” Curry replied modestly, though inaccurately, “It’s simple. I do all three badly.”

Thanks to his far-sighted approach, the club bought the freeholds of the neighbouring Wimbledon Park Golf Club, plus the nearby Southlands College site, now the venue for the club’s croquet lawns. Another purchase, the site at Raynes Park, is now the club’s Community Tennis Centre, where hundreds of local youngsters get their first taste of tennis. His careful balancing of the books and canny management of the huge sums generated by the championships’ media rights, merchandising, hospitality and retail offering proved highly profitable. During the two decades of his tenure, as a committee member, then as chairman, the championships’ surplus ballooned from about £300,000 to more than £30 million a year.

“He was a ferocious debater, and a really strong character,” recalled Dunningham. “He certainly didn’t suffer fools gladly and

PAUL ANTONY DARLING OBE KC (1978)

This obituary originally appeared in The Times on 6 August 2024.

Although at 6ft 5in Paul Darling KC cut a commanding figure in court, he

people didn’t argue with him, but despite that he was tremendously good company, with a marvellous sense of humour.”

Curry, who is survived by his wife and four children, was appointed CBE in 1997. He continued playing tennis well into his seventies and one of his proudest moments was partnering Gorringe in a mixed doubles in Tokyo in the 1990s against the sporting agent Mark McCormack and former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade.

“McCormack challenged us,” remembered Gorringe. “He was very keen but not a great player, so we both knew which side of the court was the weaker – and we just managed to beat them. Funnily enough, John always refused a rematch.”

John Curry CBE, chairman of the All England Club and electronics entrepreneur, was born on 7 June, 1938. He died of prostate cancer on 19 October, 2024, aged 86.

Reproduced by kind permission of The Times Register pages.

did not enjoy a reputation for knowing precisely where, in a small continent of paperwork, something was to be found. In one arbitration he pinned a witness to an assertion, took him to bundle 482, tab Z, page 291, second line up from the top holepunch, and showed him the complete opposite of his evidence. The witness crumbled. After a pause, John Marrin KC, the arbitrator, who knew Darling well, said with some astonishment: “Who are you? And what have you done with Mr Darling?”

Growing up in the northeast of the 1970s, Darling learnt that “you either became a lawyer or bought a nightclub”. He was inspired to opt for the legal route by Peter Taylor, a fellow Geordie and sports enthusiast who went on to become Lord

Taylor of Gosforth, the lord chief justice. With some understatement, Darling described him as a “good role model”.

That choice enabled Darling to combine a love of debate and argument with his passion for racing – reaching the top of his game in both professional life and outside it: he rose to become an internationally renowned KC in commercial, construction and energy disputes as well as a leading name in the horse racing industry, most recently as chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board.

When the pandemic hit racecourses, Darling as chairman was instrumental in ensuring not only that racing resumed but that there was also provision of extra prize funds when racecourse finances were hit by a lack of visitors. His strong commitment at that time to the wellbeing of the board, to racing and the industry, made “an enormous difference” to getting through Covid, according to one colleague. It also brought back muchneeded confidence to the board and to the industry. “The sport took great comfort from his being there.”

Convivial and charismatic, Darling chaired the Association of British Bookmakers as well as the Tote and he owned or partowned horses, including, as a member of the Royal Ascot Racing Club, the 2005 Derby winner, Motivator. Beyond his enjoyment of the turf, though, he took seriously the need to maintain high standards in the industry and was appointed OBE in 2015 for services to sport safety and the racing industry, a hattrick of honours for his family – his parents having been similarly honoured.

Newcastle United was another passion. Darling was proud of his grandfather, Jack Allen, who scored twice for Newcastle United in the 1932 FA Cup final against Arsenal. His devotion was graphically

demonstrated at a Cheltenham race meeting when the Levy Board returned to their box to be told that Darling had just dropped his trousers. He wanted friends to see a tattoo on his thigh of the exact date in 1932 when those goals were scored. Like Lord Taylor, his role model, he was active in sports safety and chaired the Football Licensing Authority (now the Sports Ground Safety Authority).

But his first love was the legal world: as well as building his own highly successful practice in both litigation and arbitration, he was heavily involved as chairman of Tecbar (the specialist group for construction and technology barristers) along with Lord Dyson and Lord Justice Jackson in seeing reforms through to the Technology and Construction Court, greatly boosting its status and raising the quality of judges to become a world-class court.

Persuasive and personable, he loved networking and always knew who was doing what, something he used to good effect as treasurer of Middle Temple. His knowledge was such that one year he was told the number of applicants for the High Court and asked how many he could name. He named all 23 as well as all those shortlisted and those finally appointed. The next year he repeated the exercise. Colleagues joked that the nation could save hundreds of thousands of pounds on appointing judges by “just asking Paul”. When in 2008 Ian Burnett KC was appointed to the High Court, Darling said: “There’s the next but one lord chief justice” In 2017 he was proved correct.

Paul Antony Darling was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, in 1960 and grew up in Cleadon, County Durham. He attended Tonstall School in Sunderland before heading to Winchester College and then to St Edmund Hall, Oxford. His

family were steeped in public service. His father, William Darling, a pharmacist in South Shields, was influential in improving regulation and training of pharmacists and led the committee that set the strategy for child-proof medicine containers. His mother, Ann, was a magistrate for some 20 years.

Darling was called to the Bar in 1983, took silk in 1999 and joined Keating Chambers, a leading construction law set, becoming head of chambers between 2010 and 2015. Having conducted arbitrations in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East since the early 1990s, his tactical and strategic strengths now took his practice worldwide. As one colleague noted: “He had an ability to get to the nub of a case and find the killer key fact.”

Unlike his younger brother, Ian, a circuit judge, Darling never aspired to the bench. Lord Judge, then lord chief justice, once asked him whether he had thought of being a High Court judge. Darling politely declined. Judge persevered. Darling said: “Igor, can you envisage me sitting still and quiet for two and a half hours while someone talks at me?” Judge replied: “Well, now you put it like that…”

Darling could be physically and intellectually intimidating when arguing a point. When chairing the Levy Board his strong views on how the money accrued from betting should be spent brought rigour to the process, but not without some tensions and conflicts. He argued forcefully and could seem pugnacious at times.

In 2017, he took the unusual step of moving to 39 Essex Chambers to broaden his practice where he led the construction and commercial team, handling complex cases with multiple parties, large teams and high volumes of material. Darling was hugely popular with clients and his many high-profile construction cases

included McAlpine v Panatown, which became a leading case on the rights of third parties, the well-documented case of Walter Lilly v McKay, and the collapse of the Holbeck Hall hotel in Scarborough. He wrote and edited several publications on construction law and was heavily involved on the fifth edition of Keating on Construction Contracts and, with Richard Wilmot-Smith KC, on Wilmot-Smith on Construction Contracts. He was also keen on social media and was an early producer of podcasts.

Darling was at home in the Temple, heart of legal London, or dining at the Garrick, where he was a member and tipped as a future chairman. So when the Levy Board relocated to Canary Wharf, he struggled with the new venue: often getting lost on the way to meetings, missing trains and arriving late, railing against the difficulties. At one meeting the board aimed to predict how many minutes he would be late, as well as his opening remarks. He arrived his customary ten minutes late, snarling: “I hate this bloody place.”

Darling was known for his generosity of spirit, mentoring and supporting junior colleagues and aspiring lawyers. He was also the chairman of Darling’s Pharmacy, the family business, established in 1905 by John Darling, in which he took an active interest.

In 2013 he married Camilla Barker, who works in higher education and is the daughter of Brian Barker CBE KC, the former recorder of London, and Dame Anne Rafferty DBE, a former lady justice of appeal. There had been two brief marriages (before his mid-thirties) but it was because of Camilla, he would say, that he became the man he was, weeping with emotion when talking of her. His great friend Lord Justice (Peter) Coulson said that she was the only woman who truly

loved him and whose intellect could stand up to him. He did not get away with sloppy thinking or careless conjecture and he regularly thanked her for it.

At his wedding breakfast in Middle Temple Hall, he told 250 guests that he had recently celebrated the anniversary of meeting Camilla. He paused, then added: “Camilla will celebrate in four years’ time. That is how long it took her to notice me.” She survives him.

(1978)

This obituary originally appeared in The Times on 3 March 2025.

Nick Gandon was posed an unexpected question at the start of his interview by the master of Haileybury, the private school in Hertfordshire. He was seeking to become the registrar and was asked which horse he fancied to win the Derby, which was about to start. David Jewell then led him into his study and, eschewing any formal discussion, turned on the television, anticipating that his potential new member of staff would guide him through the runners and riders.

Gandon knew nothing about horse racing but had overheard that June

There were no children but Darling adored his nephew Monty Tann, now four. Since his birth Darling provided him – in Newcastle colours – Babygros, pyjamas, towels, dressing gowns, shorts, T-shirts and long socks. He also spent hours teaching Monty how to reply politely when greeted by a grown-up: “Hello Monty” would be met, to their surprise, with “Up the Toon”.

Reproduced by kind permission of The Times Register pages.

morning in 1992 an informed colleague at Uppingham School in Rutland talking favourably about the prospects of Dr Devious. So that was his firm suggestion. It won comfortably while the favourite, Rodrigo de Triano, finished ninth. Gandon was offered a job on the spot.

After 24 years as a teacher Gandon left the profession, having become a housemaster at Uppingham at the age of 31 and boosted the number of pupils at Haileybury, to become director of the Cricket Foundation at Lord’s. This was in part because he felt attainment in exams and league tables was being pursued more vigorously than the development of pupils in the round.

He preferred a holistic approach to teaching in which extracurricular pursuits such as sport and acting were valued. Gandon concentrated on charitable work, some of this linked to education, for the rest of his career. He launched Chance to Shine, an initiative to make up for a lack of cricket in state schools, through his position at Lord’s, and set up the Gandon Prodger Legacy Fund after he was diagnosed with incurable cancer.

At Lord’s Gandon served on MCC’s committee, having instigated a special general meeting of members over the

NICHOLAS JOHN CHARLES GANDON

redevelopment of the ground. “The MCC Reform Group”, as it styled itself, wanted an independent inquiry into matters including why the club had failed to buy the freehold of the strip of land inside Wellington Road at the Nursery End. In a letter to Derek Brewer, the club’s secretary, Gandon and his fellow requisitionists wrote: “A financial windfall of £110 million (from the property developer who had acquired the head lease on the disused railway tunnels under the Nursery ground) is a ‘game changer’ for MCC. This would provide the capital necessary not only to fund the redevelopment of stands and facilities, but also procure a club unencumbered with debt for the benefit of current and future generations of members.”

The group was also perturbed by the resignation from the committee of Sir John Major, the former prime minister, over the issue. Cricket was Gandon’s foremost enthusiasm but this tilt at the club’s hierarchy over what he saw as a missed opportunity proved unsuccessful.

He decided he would have more influence through joining it, yet whether bound by collective responsibility or less willing to be outspoken, this did not occur. In his three years on MCC’s committee he was not enamoured by the outlook of some of his colleagues. Along with them he was forced by the membership into an embarrassing climbdown over a decision in 2022 to drop the longstanding Oxford v Cambridge and Eton v Harrow fixtures. He also served on MCC’s membership and general purposes sub-committee. “Nick was a very active participant,” said Nigel Peters KC, its chairman. “And there was no animosity from him if one disagreed with him.”

Nicholas John Charles Gandon was the son of The Revd Percy Gandon, a

missionary, and his wife, Margaret (née Bedford). Born in Leicester, Gandon spent the first six and a half years of his life in Uganda before being sent to board at Dean Close preparatory school in Cheltenham. “I do have a defiant streak for good or ill and I’ve fought battles – sometimes foolishly,” he said in adult life. One such occasion came when he lost his school cap and, fearing a slippering, told the matron he would not be able to go on the crocodile walk (when caps had to be worn) because he was feeling unwell. This fib backfired spectacularly. The matron sent for an ambulance and Gandon was carted off to Cheltenham General Hospital, where the doctor decided the best remedy was to take his appendix out.

Gandon went on to Haileybury through a bursary offered for sons of clergymen. He captained the cricket and hockey first XIs but confessed he was “a shocking student, lazy as heck”. Nonetheless, he was given a place at the University of Durham to read English and underwent teacher training for a year at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, breaking a thumb a week before the Varsity match and hence not being awarded a blue. In his eight first-class matches he scored 170 runs at an average of 14.16. He represented Hertfordshire and then Lincolnshire in minor counties cricket from 1975 to 1993.

He joined the teaching staff at Uppingham yet as a notably young housemaster felt he was insufficiently empathetic towards teenagers. “But if one goes through life without making mistakes one is not trying hard enough. We shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes so long as we learn from them. My biggest regret is that it took me a very long time to work out one can deal with mistakes rather than be confrontational.”

In launching Chance to Shine in 2005

Gandon teamed up with Mervyn King, then governor of the Bank of England, and Mark Nicholas, the cricket commentator who would become chairman of MCC. In 2009 he launched a fundraising company, Cause4, and in 2013 he founded Aureus Social Ventures, which offered consultancy services to charities, social enterprises and socially driven businesses. He became chairman of Hoddesdon Cricket Club in Hertfordshire as well as of a homelessness charity. He was also a trustee of a prison mentoring charity. Gandon had little interest in remuneration beyond providing adequately for his family, and in buying cars and clothes.

He is survived by his wife, Carole (née Wilson), a fellow teacher at Uppingham and then Haileybury, and his two daughters, Jo, who works in the car industry, and Amy, a consultant in social education. At home he was a keen cook: “I’d like to be remembered as someone

GILMORE MBE (2003)

This obituary originally appeared in the Navy News on 22 July 2025.

Outstanding. Amazing. Caring. Inspiration. Trusted. Beloved. Just some

who could make a mean Yorkshire pudding.” His ideal dinner party guests, he said, would be the cricketer Mike Brearley, the politician Ken Clarke (whose centrist politics were in line with his), the actor Stephen Fry and the television interviewer Emily Maitlis.

Gandon had a good relationship with his father, adhered to the church’s doctrine of supporting those in need and enjoyed singing hymns, but felt his own Christian faith was “flaky and wobbly”. He did not enjoy compulsory attendance when young and even managed to cause a commotion by willing himself to faint during one service. “I was a teacher but I was never good with rules,” he said.

Nick Gandon, teacher and charity administrator, was born on 7 July, 1956. He died of cancer on 28 February, 2025, aged 68.

Reproduced by kind permission of The Times Register pages.

of the words used to describe naval aviator Commander Amy Gilmore who has died after a hard-fought battle with cancer.

The Fleet Air Arm community will celebrate and honour the life of the hugely-popular Wildcat helicopter observer/warfare officer today in Yeovilton, Somerset, where Amy spent the bulk of her career.

“Commander Amy Gilmore was an outstanding naval officer and an amazing person who was greatly admired across RNAS Yeovilton, the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Navy,” said Captain Duncan Thomas, Commanding Officer of RNAS Yeovilton.

“She was one of life’s best, always willing to go the extra mile to look out for others. She will always be remembered. Our

COMMANDER AMY FRANCESCA

thoughts are with her family and close friends at this difficult time.”

His deputy, Commander Colin Kiernan, described Amy as “a truly amazing woman, legend, caring, loving, funny, honest and a fine Naval officer. She delivered on operations and in everything she committed to. Her fortitude and strength in adversity was simply unparalleled. One can only aspire to be as good as her and we will miss her greatly.”

And Amy’s friend and colleague Commander Anna Misiak, who works at the Navy’s headquarters in Portsmouth, said that the aviator had “inspired everyone who was lucky enough to work with and know her.”

She continued: “A trusted colleague, and beloved friend, she loved the Royal Navy and her selfless commitment to her work coupled with a wonderful sense of humour and a genuine love for her team epitomised her career.

She will be desperately missed by so many but her legacy will continue with the development of her last project, The Lookout, to support the RNAS Yeovilton community.”

Amy joined the Royal Navy in September 2002 as a University Cadet Entrant, graduating from Oxford University four years later.

She began her career as a warfare officer in frigate HMS Iron Duke and aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal before transferring to the Fleet Air Arm to become an observer – navigator/sensors and weapons specialist – initially on Lynx helicopters and then their successors, the Wildcat.

The pinnacle of her flying career came in response to double hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean in 2017.

The then lieutenant received a Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service for her efforts in leading her flight in delivering humanitarian aid to the islands and a daring rescue of one adult and two children from a capsized boat.

There was further recognition through the award of the MBE for Amy’s work ensuring the success of introducing the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon – known as Martlet – into service with the Wildcat. She returned to her warfare roots as operations officer of flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth where as well as her professionalism, she earned a reputation for consistently going the extra mile to help her fellow officers and sailors.

Away from work, she loved time with her husband Steve, also a naval officer, and the couple’s dog, Shackleton, and embraced the sporting opportunities Service life offered, especially mountain climbing, cycling and skiing.

“Our family have always known how much Amy loved her career in the Royal Navy, not just achieving every challenge she set her mind to, but also fulfilling her tremendous sense of purpose and making countless great friendships along the way,” Steve said.

“Throughout Amy’s tough five-year battle against cancer, the Royal Navy has stood by us and looked after both of us phenomenally well and I know Amy was as grateful for that as I am.

Her true grit and passion for sport were shown when on her final day of radiotherapy she signed up for Ironman Estonia post initial diagnosis and remission with breast cancer, raising money for breast cancer charities.”

Amy died peacefully and with dignity on 12 July after a fierce and determined fight with cancer.

Following a service of thanksgiving for her life at Sherborne Abbey, Amy was buried in the cemetery at St Bartholomew’s, the Fleet Air Arm Memorial Church in Yeovilton. The interment was accompanied by the

ANTHONY JOHN GODDARD (1958)

This obituary has been provided by Tony’s brother, Jeff.

Tony Goddard died at home in Modbury, South Devon, on Wednesday 9 July 2025, from kidney disease, after a long illness, aged 85. His funeral was held in Thurlestone Church nearby, on 8 August.

Tony was born in Bristol on 23 August 1939, a week before the start of the Second World War. His father, Glyn, saw war service as a transport staff officer in North Africa and through the long Italian campaign, while his mother, Winnie, a teacher, with two young sons, survived the war in Bristol and Dorset. After the war, Glyn joined the Colonial Service, and was posted at short notice to Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), the family following in troopship conditions. In the initial three years in Zambia, Tony started school in Lusaka, then spent a year at Grahamstown (now Makhanda) in South Africa. On the family’s first home leave, he was entered at prep school in Cirencester, and thence to Radley College near Oxford, where he

Last Post, minute’s silence, a gun salute and a fly past by her colleagues in the Wildcat Maritime Force.

Reproduced with permission from the Royal Navy.

shone in rugby, rowing and boxing. These sporting achievements, and a strong school record, supported his entrance to the Hall, in Michaelmas term 1958, to read Jurisprudence.

At the Hall, Tony concentrated his sporting efforts on rowing, in the 2nd VIII for 1959, and 1st VIII for 1960 and 61, rowing over at Head of the River in both those years, and at Henley Regatta. He managed to combine this with an active social life, learning to drive and to parachute with the Oxford University Officers’ Training Corps, and sufficient study to earn his degree. He also met and became engaged to his first wife, Ursula.

During a Long Vac holiday with his parents in Zambia, Tony decided to apply for employment in Zambia with the Colonial Service. This entailed a year’s training on the Overseas Service Course, based at Peterhouse in Cambridge. In pursuance of a longer-term ambition to be a barrister, he also joined Gray’s Inn and sat the initial Bar exams. In August 1962, he married Ursula, and they took ship to Zambia, and a first posting as a Cadet, later District Officer, in the Eastern Province, working with the Kunda people in the lower Luangwa Valley. In 1963, he was involved at the start of the brief but bloody uprising by the Lumpa Church in the Lundazi District. The following year his Law degree qualified him for a posting as Resident Magistrate in Western Province.

Zambia became independent in October 1964, and Tony’s employment there

ceased at the end of his three-year tour in mid-1965. His plans for the Bar proved infeasible, following his father’s death the previous year, so he took articles as a solicitor, with a firm in Abingdon, qualifying in January 1969.

Tony looked for a partnership in the West Country and soon found a suitable place with a firm in Kingsbridge in South Devon, where he covered the litigation and allied aspects of the business. He took advantage of the opportunities in the area to renew his youthful love of riding, owning a succession of horses and hunting with the local harriers and the South Devon and Dartmoor Foxhounds. His son Glyn was born in Kingsbridge in 1972. In 1978, he set up his own practice in nearby Totnes, with a wide-ranging business, and a continuing focus on court and planning work.

In 1981, Tony’s first marriage to Ursula broke down, and he left to live with and later marry Gill, moving to the coast at Bantham, where her family had an estate.

The couple enjoyed an active social life and travelled widely, until Gill’s death in 2013. Latterly, after his practice closed, Tony continued to work for some years as a consultant in a colleague’s practice in Ivybridge. He also spent time in retirement writing an amusing memoir of his time in Zambia, published privately as My African Stories. In 2019, aged over 80, he married Margaret, moving with her to Modbury, continuing to enjoy a series of cruises and composing another memoir, Tales of a Country Solicitor

Tony’s early years at school and university were important to him, and he relished reunions with contemporaries. His three years working in Zambia also did much to shape his character, as did his adopted home in the South Hams in Devon, where he lived for 55 years. Tony was sociable, self-assured, articulate and enterprising in his chosen profession, and a noted raconteur; most importantly, he valued and enjoyed life and his family, and he will be much missed.

Jeff Goddard

This obituary has been provided by Michael’s son David.

“One must, says Jesus, be a peacemaker. An important word this ‘peacemaker’: it reminds us that peace is not the absence of war, a state which exists when there are no hostilities. No, peace must be made. And for it to be made there is need for peacemakers... Some men are called to be specialists in it, to give their lives to it. But we do not need to hold high office to be peacemakers. Indeed, we are wrong if we leave it to those who do. We can all be peacemakers. And we can make peace in many unseen, little ways.”

The Revd Michael Halliwell with David Halliwell in the Front Quad.

THE REVD CANON MICHAEL ARTHUR HALLIWELL (1946)

These words are from a sermon preached in both English and German by The Revd Canon Michael Halliwell in 1966 at the memorial in the Hindenburg Park to the fallen soldiers of Cologne, marking a wreath-laying ceremony during the joint operations of German and British naval servicemen as part of regular friendship days.

The words and the occasion epitomise Revd Halliwell’s life’s work, dedicated to reconciliation through his ministry, often in unseen, little ways. A few days before his death on 4 August 2024, he was awarded the Bailiff of his beloved island Jersey’s Silver Seal, and the German Embassy’s German–British Friendship award, for his devotion to reconciliation between Jersey, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Michael Arthur Halliwell was born on 8 May 1928 to Arthur and Dorothea Halliwell. His parents had met at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, and moved to Jersey in 1927, where Arthur was appointed surgeon at the General Hospital. He was the oldest of four – three boys and a girl – growing up in a large house his father built on the island.

Their idyllic childhood was shattered in 1940, as the Germans surged through France to the channel coast, and on 18 June the children and their mother were evacuated on the Hantonia, one of the last boats out of the island, for them to spend the rest of the war with her family in Somerset. His father felt duty-bound to stay on the island to support the hospital. He continued to write to the family for the next ten days, describing the build-up to the German invasion, but once the Germans arrived on 1 July, communications were cut off for the next four years except for occasional and much delayed (and censored) short letters delivered by the Red Cross. These told in

scant and necessarily positive terms how life was progressing on either side of the Channel.

While in Somerset, Michael and his eldest brother, Anthony, experienced the rhythms of country life, helping bring in the harvests. While there, Michael was able to further his love of riding, a passion which lasted his whole life, riding into his 80s. Life was mostly very peaceful, except for hearing and seeing the German bombers overhead on their way to Bristol and Cardiff. He had a near miss, when boating near Salcombe, and a Focke-Wulf 109 fighter-bomber dropped a bomb where they had been moments earlier. He joined the Home Guard and went up to St Edward’s school in Oxford in 1942. The strong Christian background and regular chapel services built on his longheld spiritual approach to life, which had been fostered by his mother. Although he dreaded the annual ‘standards’, where each boy had to attain certain times or distances in athletic events over a threeweek period, he did well academically, particularly in languages. His love of German was not affected by the war underway, and was inspired particularly by his tutor, Reginald Maxse, a ‘true European’, who may have been a spy and had apparently been on the staff of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Further news from Jersey came in November 1944, when he was called to Exeter College to meet Peter Crill, who had escaped from the island by boat. Michael’s father had a pass for the beaches and had taken an outboard motor down to the coast for Peter. He passed on good news about Arthur and described life on the island. Peter went on to become Bailiff of Jersey. On 8 May 1945, his 17th birthday, Michael was in his headmaster’s study to hear Churchill announce the liberation of

the Channel Islands, which took place the next day. He returned to the island soon after, reunited with his father but rather unsettled by the transformation by the occupying forces, with fortifications all over the coast.

In 1946 he went up to St Edmund Hall to study Modern Languages, French and German. His fellow students were a mixture of 18-year-olds fresh from school like himself, and demobbed servicemen, who railed against the strict curfews in place. Even Michael had to use the grill on the High Street which gave access to the basement used by late revellers. He was rebuked by his father for not writing to describe his experiences at Oxford –“all we get is a list of ballet dancers and a remark that there isn’t much news”. He resolved to do better. He joined and was later President of the French Club, and went to services at Pusey House, where he once sat next to T S Eliot for dinner.

His first winter in the Hall was one of the hardest of the century, worsened by the lack of coal both for heating and for the power stations. The water and milk in his sitting room froze, and his towel was as stiff as a board.

In 1947, he visited Germany as part of a group of students visiting German universities to pioneer a movement of reconciliation between former enemies. Arriving in Cologne he was shattered to see the destruction visited upon the city and the poverty-stricken state of the surviving residents. He had intended to exploit the black market by trading coffee for a Leica camera, but on his way to conduct the deal experienced “a heavenly voice” telling him he was not there to trade, but to work for Anglo–German reconciliation. The trip had a profound impact on all that followed for him.

While in Oxford, he had struggled to know

what to do next. He considered joining the Franciscan order, but was encouraged by his father to try for the Foreign Service. Instead, he started as an assistant teacher at Holmewood House outside Tunbridge Wells. While there, he resolved to be ordained after much debate with his sceptical and non-believing father. As he left the school in a taxi to go to Ely Theological College, fellow teacher and future TV astronomer Patrick Moore ran after it, calling out that it was not too late to change his mind.

While at Ely, Michael furthered his connection with the Anglican Council for Inter-Church relations, which had started with a 1951 visit to the Benedictine Abbey of Le Bec-Hellouin (he maintained a lifelong relationship with the Abbey and was admitted as an oblate in 1986). He was ordained a deacon at Southwark Cathedral in September 1954 and as a priest in 1955 and immediately started his ministry at St Mary the Virgin, Welling, where he supported the building of a new church. In 1957, he joined family friend from Jersey The Revd Lawrence Hibbs to be curate at St Alban’s, Bournemouth. There he met Susan Nicholson, daughter of the widow of a local GP. It was the proverbial coup de foudre for them both, and their wedding in 1961 was the start of nearly 61 years of marriage, with five children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandsons.

By then, he had moved to Lambeth, having taken up an invitation to apply for a position with the Council for InterChurch relations. There he worked in the Palace with first Archbishop Fisher, and then to greater effect with Archbishop Ramsey, as Assistant General Secretary of the Council for Foreign Relations, with special responsibility for relations with the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, and served for three years.

In 1962 he took the chance to move to Bonn as chaplain to the British Embassy, bringing Susan and young daughter Katharine with him. There he ministered not only to the expat British community and supported visitors, but also to the wider diplomatic family across the nations present. This was the height of the Cold War, and he worked with future Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (now MI6) Dickie Franks and his family, and also with a spy named David Cornwell. David told him he was thinking of becoming a writer, a course of action Michael strongly advised against. David ignored him, adopting the non de plume John le Carré, and worldwide success ensued. The sermon at the Hindenburg monument took place during this period.

In 1967, now with three children in tow, the family moved back to the UK to St Andrew’s, Croydon. Before long, though, the dream posting back to Jersey, to St Brelade’s, came up and the family (now of seven) moved over to the island in 1971. The parish that was their home for the next 25 years even had a Rectory for a family home and stables for his beloved horses. Michael led a modernisation of the whole parish infrastructure, including restoration works on the Fishermen’s Chapel next to the church which dated back to the 9th or 10th century, and his enthusiastic support for the building of a community centre, Communicare.

St Brelade’s cemetery was the place chosen by the Germans for their burials during the Occupation. Subsequently, the bodies had been removed to a central mausoleum near Saint-Malo. From time to time relatives of those who had been buried here would call at the Rectory asking to see a grave. They were very pleased to be welcomed in their own language and invited in for a cup of coffee

for an explanation. The connections with Germany grew when, in 1975 – the 30th anniversary of the Nuremberg war crimes trials – Michael led a party of islanders to a community in the city and helped them build a church.

In September 1979, the Channel Islands Occupation Society (CIOS) arranged a reunion for Allied and German naval veterans who had served in the coastal forces, with a special service at St Brelade’s. There was a large contingent of British, American and German naval personnel, including one who had heard the sermon at the Hindenburg memorial. The fact that the German ribbon was subsequently removed from the wreath that had been laid did nothing to deter further progress or further commemorations, which culminated in a plaque marking the former German graveyard.

A large number of Islanders were removed by the Germans during the Occupation to Bad Wurzach, where they were interned but otherwise well-treated. The Bürgermeister was keen to form a modern connection through twinning, but the ground in Jersey was not yet ready. In 1990, Michael and Susan visited him there and tried to progress matters, but it took the initiative of the CIOS, the Ex-Internees Association and people such as Michael Ginns to lead to the formal twinning of Bad Wurzach with St Helier in 2002.

In 1996, Michael and Susan took a wellearned retirement after 40 years of joint service to communities across Europe. Michael dedicated much of his early retirement to tracing his family history, and writing and publishing an account of his father’s experiences, Operating under Occupation with the CIOS.

Later, they moved to Romsey near Winchester to be in the UK near their

family, and then to Church of England supported housing at Manormead near Guildford in 2020, where Michael cared for Susan through her illness until she died in 2022, and where Michael stayed until

ZAREER MINOO MASANI (1967)

This obituary originally appeared in The Times on 19 November 2024.

There was never any mistaking Zareer Masani’s meaning. Precise in his diction, always courteous in his delivery, what he had to say was nonetheless for some controversial. A public thinker and Oxfordtrained historian, he had an ambivalent relationship with his native India and came to challenge the modish view that it had gained nothing from the Raj.

While accepting empire had been at the outset a commercial enterprise for Britain, he saw also the development of a nuanced relationship that depended on the collaboration of local elites and an intention in time to prepare the country for self-rule. British imperialism had not perhaps been benevolent, but it had been more benign than that of many other nations.

Masani had in recent years written regularly on these topics for publications

diagnosed with a brain tumour in June 2024. He saw his whole family in his last few weeks, before dying peacefully on 4 August 2024.

David Halliwell (1988, Jurisprudence)

such as The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph. He also contributed to History Reclaimed and to the think tank Policy Exchange and took part in high-profile debates at the Jaipur Literature Festival and the Oxford Union.

When, in 2017, Professor Nigel Biggar’s Ethics & Empire project at Oxford University came under fire from other scholars, after publication in The Times of an article by him entitled ‘Don’t feel guilty about our colonial history’, Masani was the first historian to agree to replace those who withdrew.

Masani was a critic of Hindu nationalism, which brought him into conflict with many conservatives in Indian politics. He opposed the destruction of colonialera monuments and the restitution of treasure such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond, now among the Crown Jewels, and the British Museum’s Amaravati Marbles. Yet while his trajectory had taken him rightwards from youthful Marxist leanings, his voting habits did not always reflect that. Languid to the tips of his long fingers, never one to lose his temper, he was also touchy, stubborn and defiant. He relished argument.

He was a pragmatist, pro-Israel, profoundly anti-Russia and China, and an atheist with little time for religious conservatism. “An unusual brand of ideology,” observed a friend, “but then an unusual man.” As Masani contemplated in his fine memoir of his early life, And All Is Said (2012), it was a mindset shaped by his parents’ place in public life and by their

complex relationship with him and each other.

An only child, he was born in Bombay, as he always called it long after it became Mumbai, in 1947. India had gained independence three months before. Minoo, his father, came of Parsi intellectual stock. His own father, Sir Rustom Masani, had been vice-chancellor of Bombay University and a leader of the National War Front, which roused support from Indians for the Allies’ cause in the Second World War.

Rebelling at first against his father’s moderation, Minoo had helped to found the Congress Socialist Party, before turning away in the 1940s from its procommunist tendencies and friends such as Jawaharlal Nehru, by then prime minister. He was already twice divorced – his second wife had been married to the man for whom his first wife had left him – when he met the graceful but mercurial Shakuntala Srivastava, a Hindu. Masani had recently been mayor of Bombay, yet he was 15 years older than her and there was parental opposition to their match, not least from her father.

Sir JP Srivastava had revived his family fortunes in the textile industry of Kanpur (Cawnpore). A loyalist to the Raj, he sat on the Viceroy’s council. He could not prevent, however, his daughter, who had joined the anti-British Quit India movement, from obtaining a special licence to marry Masani.

Their son was sent to the prestigious Cathedral School and at 16 began university at Elphinstone College. By then, however, Zareer was wrestling with the implications of his sexuality in homophobic Bombay and felt conflicted by his role as moderator and confidant in

his parents’ often unhappy marriage and protracted divorce. In the late 1960s, he took flight for St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where his mother pressed him on friends such as Isaiah Berlin and Arthur Koestler. His own would come to include Salman Rushdie and the Harvard scholar, Homi Bhabha.

Finding a Britain on the cusp of gay liberation a more congenial home, Masani embarked on a doctorate at St Antony’s College, Oxford. The war in Vietnam helped to radicalise his political beliefs. Contemporaries including the historian Margaret MacMillan remember him cutting an exotic figure, even for the times, in red velvet trousers. He was a good cook, a lover of music and a staunch ally of dogs in need.

In 1959, his father had co-founded a freemarket and pro-West party, Swatantra. By 1971, it was the largest single opposition party to Indira Gandhi’s government. It sought to oust her at that year’s election, but Shakuntala Masani made headlines by campaigning for Mrs Gandhi, alongside Zareer. Both were shocked when Congress won by a landslide, with Minoo Masani forfeiting his seat.

Zareer Masani’s admiration for Indira Gandhi extended to writing a biography of her, but by the time this was published in 1974, she had begun a draconian clampdown on her opponents. After Masani incorporated into the book criticism of her suppression of dissent, he was advised he could be arrested if he visited India. Accordingly, he made his career in Britain as a freelance journalist and then for 20 years as a producer of current affairs programmes for BBC radio. He worked on The World Tonight and Analysis, with presenters such as Frances Cairncross and Peter Hennessy. Masani

could be relied on to deliver a thoughtful, accessible broadcast in record time, remaining calm (often in a silk scarf), no matter the pressures.

It was an approach that later became less admired at the corporation. He had, however, kept up his writing, publishing a companion volume to Charles Allen’s stories of British India. Indian Tales of the Raj (1987) recounted the perspective of those who had co-operated with Britain, sometimes tweaking noses, for instance dressing their wives in ridiculous outfits when memsahibs wanted to meet women in purdah.

Masani made several documentaries with Mark Tully, the BBC’s India correspondent, and together they published From Raj to Rajiv: Forty Years of Indian Independence

This obituary originally appeared on the King’s Club website.

James Newey died on 10 November 2024 suddenly and unexpectedly, aged 65. He arrived at King’s College School in

(1988). His principal work, however, was Macaulay: Britain’s Liberal Imperialist (2013), his biography of the Whig historian and politician. Macaulay spent four years in India in the 1830s and was responsible for the introduction of western education there and for the teaching of it in English. For all Macaulay’s own prejudices about India, Masani regarded this as ultimately central to India’s modernisation. He had hoped to write a biography of Robert Clive but was prevented by increasing ill health. Dignified to the last, he died in Switzerland.

Zareer Masani, historian and journalist, was born on 12 November, 1947. He died on 9 August, 2024, aged 76.

Reproduced by kind permission of The Times Register pages.

the first form, in 1966, and attended the school through to 1976. He went on to read history at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and then law at King’s College London. His deep-rooted commitment to social justice (which was shared by his long-term partner, Amanda) led him to a career in the public sector, initially as a legal advocate in the areas of housing and welfare, and subsequently as a tribunal judge.

Jim was also a passionate and talented musician. At King’s he played cello in the school orchestra and also formed his first band, playing guitar and bass. He later became an accomplished jazz pianist, and in recent years he was an enthusiastic member of the Cambria Community Choir.

He is survived by his wife, Amanda, and their son, Thad, and by his sister, Alison.

JAMES MARSHALL NEWEY (1977)

This obituary has been provided by Nick’s son, Joe.

Nick Osmond passed away on 27 March 2022 after a short stay at the Pines Nursing Home in Hove. He had heart

DR BENJAMIN RIPPIN FRCA (1996)

This obituary has been provided by Ben’s mother, Jackie, and his friend Roland Partridge FRCS.

Dr Benjamin Rippin sadly passed away on Wednesday 16 July. Ben joined the Hall in October 1996 to study Medicine and Physiological Sciences.

Ben graduated with a BA from SEH in

failure with some cognitive changes but didn’t succumb to full dementia. He complained that his beloved words had become elusive!

He was survived by his wife, Clare (my stepmother), my sister, Zoë, and myself. Between us we gave him four grandchildren.

After his academic career, he entered the world of community publishing, helping to produce oral histories of the Brighton fishing families and the Brighton gay/ lesbian community.

He also taught film and literature courses for the University of the Third Age.

His passion later in life was the life and work of the Brontë sisters.

Joe Osmond

1999. He continued his education at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, and was awarded his MBBS in 2001. He started his clinical career in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital Trust then worked in several other hospitals including the John Radcliffe in Oxford and The Royal Hospital, Melbourne. Realising it is in fact “glorious up North” Ben commenced his career in the art of anaesthesia in the North East, serving the communities of Newcastle, Durham and South Shields. He completed his anaesthetic training at The Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust and was awarded the FRCA in 2010. He spent the majority of his career in Leeds where he lived with his wife, Louise, and children, Conall and Ffion.

The following is a tribute to Ben written by a fellow medical student at SEH, Roland Partridge FRCS.

Ben met many of his lifelong friends from Teddy Hall at interview – his quiet calm

NICHOLAS HENRY HOLDWAY OSMOND (1953)

confidence mixed with a sense of fun was obvious right from the off. He famously did a little dance after his interview because he knew he’d aced it. That mental image can still be pictured, even though in the years that followed there were many, many, other times dance floors, balls and bops were graced with his free-flowing rhythmic shape-throwing.

If his dancing was impressive, his seemingly endless supply of jokes was truly legendary. The daily walk down Queen’s Lane to lectures provided his tute partners with a captive but always willing audience, as Ben unveiled a smorgasbord of new material each day. He never revealed his sources – and in the pre-internet era, many of us believed they were indeed ‘Rippin originals’.

Academically, his relaxed but assured approach shone from the very beginning. His first essay in his first week of term was so good that his tutor photocopied it and handed it to his tute partners, with the instruction: “this is what a proper essay looks like.” From there, he never looked back.

Alongside this diligence and talent, Ben

was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic supporter of seemingly all forms of sport, whether broadcast into the JCR, or supporting from the river or pitch side, and especially passionate if his beloved Wales were involved.

Through it all, Ben showed not only an easy grasp of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, but also the clear, gentle bedside manner that would go on to serve him – and his patients – so well. In time he became a Consultant Anaesthetist. His calm, reassuring face and voice in the mind of thousands of people as they underwent anaesthetic, and one of his innumerable jokes making them smile as they drifted off. Those patients were better not only for his skill, but for his calm presence – steady in normal times, and measured but swift in a crisis.

In many ways that is a metaphor for Ben’s life: a steady, ever-present force of calm, kindness and fun. He enriched the lives of all who knew him, and that inspiration and enrichment will live on.

Jackie Rippin and Roland Partridge FRCS (1996, Medicine)

JAMES SUGRUE (2023)

The following tribute has been kindly provided by James’ friends and housemates.

In the beginning, it was James who brought us together for a game of Texas hold ‘em poker. We were all Freshers and knew nothing of each other, but because of him, we still had the best fun. Soon, James’ Poker Fridays in the Chough Room were an institution, bringing people together from across College to have a good time, and encouraging connection in even the most introverted.

Over the course of two years, as we grew closer as a group of friends and eventually housemates, James was the spark that lit the flame of excitement and mischief, never running out of ideas of how to spend our nights and our weekends. Some of our favourites include dropping random items down the middle of the Kelly staircase, swapping the second and third floor signs (on BOTH staircases), and blocking Aaron’s doorway with stranger and stranger objects, including a wooden bench from the Upper Quad. Fond memories we have are the times we’d spend at the end of first year, venturing to other colleges’ common rooms just for the sake of novelty, in between revising for exams. We’d be joined by whoever else was available, but James was always the first person to go to. You could knock on his door at any time, even waking him up, but he never minded.

More of our best stories with James were inscribed in the places we visited together in the summer when we interrailed across Europe. While we enjoyed exploring cities and relaxing on beaches, the highlights were still late-night poker sessions and joke breaks on balconies. It was our tradition brought to us by James’ unwavering creativity and appetite for fun. And it is these that coloured our time spent as housemates on St Clement’s Street. We spent countless hours playing board games, watching movies, or ‘just’ talking. Even when deceptively uneventful, anything in James’ company was fun.

There are few who value friendship as much as James, and he was a close friend to so many at home and at university. It was always so easy to spend good quality time with him. Trivialities like ‘sitting on the bench’ were elevated to the status of an activity with James, rather than just an idle way to pass the time. He’d pose ridiculous hypotheticals, constantly entertaining us all. He was always a reliable confidant, willing to spend entire nights until sunrise in deep conversation about anything on our minds.

As our friendship with James grew deeper, it is natural that we began to see each other at some of our best and worst moments, but he would never pass judgement. We had a lot in common with James, but where our differences became apparent, he would understand. He was unpretending and human, never afraid to admit that there were aspects of life that he found challenging. But when you find yourself in the same boat as James, suddenly the seas aren’t so rough anymore.

James was a multifaceted person –sometimes stoic, sometimes intense and magnetically charismatic, but his kindness and sensitivity always shone through. He left a blazing trail of memories in his path, and will be impossible to forget.

Henry Zhao (2023, Experimental Psychology), Aaron Rambow Czarny (2023, Mathematics), Sidharth Thapliyal (2023, Physics and Philosophy) and Ethan Yin (2023, Engineering)

James’ tutors also reflected on their time with him:

“James was a talented mathematician, who clearly loved the subject. He often approached questions in creative ways, several times finding solutions that his tutors hadn’t thought of.”

Oliver Riordan, Professor of Discrete Mathematics and Tutor in Mathematics

A representation of James’ first tutorial in Dynamics during Hilary term 2024 with Luc Nguyen, Professor of Mathematics and Tutorial Fellow in Mathematics:

JSandX’sfirsttutorialinDynamics(HT2024)withLN

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