Wolfson College Record 2021

college record 2021

wolfson 

college 

record 

2021

Wolfson 

Published by Wolfson College 

Copyright 2021 Wolfson College 

Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD 

Telephone: +44 (0)1865 274 100 

communications@wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

All information is believed to be correct at the time of going to 

print (November 2021). Every effort has been made to verify 

details and no responsibility is taken for any errors or omissions, 

or any loss arising therefrom. 

Unless otherwise stated all Images © Wolfson College, University 

of Oxford. Every effort has been made to locate the copyright 

owners of images included in this record and to meet their 

requirements. The publishers apologise for any omissions, which 

they will be pleased to rectify at the earliest opportunity. 

Edited by Roger Tomlin, Femke Gow and Huw David 

Cover photo by Alistair Craigie 

Many thanks to Victoria, Luke, Megan, Tracy, Sandie, Fiona, Kathie, 

Clare and all our members who submitted reports. 

Discover more news on our social channels. 

@WolfsonCollege

Introduction 

Letter from the President 7 

Letter from the Bursar 14 

Letter from the 

Development Director 17 

List of Donors 2020–21 19 

Gifts to the Library 24 

Covid: to Mask or Not to Mask? 25 

Clubs and Societies 

AMREF Group 30 

Arts Society 31 

Board Games 33 

Boat Club 33 

Family Society 35 

Old Wolves and Archives 35 

Research Clusters 

Ancient World 38 

Oxford Trauma and Emergency Care 40 

South Asia 41 

Contents 

The Record 

College Officers and Membership 44 

President and Fellows 45 

Elections and Admissions 57 

Fellows 57 

Visiting Scholars 59 

Graduate Students 60 

Elected Members of GB and GPC 71 

Scholarships and Prizes 2020–21 71 

Degrees completed 2020–21 73 

Personal News 

Appointments and Awards 81 

Books published by Wolfsonians 82 

Births 84 

Marriages 84 

Deaths 84 

Obituaries 85 

Memories 

25 Linton Road 95 

60 Banbury Road 96 

College Lectures and Seminars 

Annual Lectures 43 

President’s Seminar 43 

The living stone beneath your feet 101 

Editor’s Note 103

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6 

The President toasts Sir Anthony Epstein on his hundredth birthday 

college record 2021 

Photo: Elisabeth Heida

The President’s Letter 

Sir Tim Hitchens 

The point of a College Record is to remember the year past. There will be many 

of us who would prefer to forget it. I hope we can look forward; but there is a 

time too for reflection. 

One of the effects of lockdown has been that academic colleagues have left us, 

and others have arrived, without the thanks, acknowledgement, or welcome that 

they deserve. 

In the course of this last year we have recorded, with great sadness, the deaths of 

individuals who played a major role in the College. In October Professor Marcus 

Banks, a serving Governing Body Fellow, died suddenly. He was an outstanding 

visual anthropologist, and a dedicated member of the College. We are still in 

shock. I am pleased to be able to announce that we have now established the 

Marcus Banks Hardship Fund which will support students in future years who 

encounter unexpected hardship during their studies. 

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The College also heard with great sadness of the death of three Emeritus Fellows. 

Bryan Sykes, geneticist and science writer, and expert in mitochondrial DNA, was 

a long-term resident of the College; he died in December. Ken Cranstoun, an early 

Governing Body Fellow of the College and for many years our Senior Tutor, also 

sadly died in March. And Chris Walton, former Bursar and Governing Body Fellow 

passed away in April. They will all be sorely missed. 

And in this year in particular I should record our understanding that almost all of 

you will have been touched in some way by the havoc wreaked by the pandemic: 

relatives who may have died, brushes with death yourself, longer-term suffering 

from the consequences of the infection, and the impact on our mental health 

of this extraordinary experience. I want to thank all our students and young 

researchers for the way in which they have borne the privations of this year with 

understanding and self-restraint. An older generation is grateful. 

We have seen changes among our senior Fellowship. Jon Austyn, Ellen Rice, Bob 

Coecke, Matthew McCartney, then Samson Abramsky, Julie Curtis, and Martin 

wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

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8 

Goodman have all left the Governing Body this year. All deserve much longer 

tributes than I am able to offer here. But I am delighted that we have been able to 

welcome Julie Cosmidis, Associate Professor of Geobiology, as a new Governing 

Body Fellow this last academic year. 

We are also pleased to welcome three new Supernumerary Fellows, as we 

strengthen our Medical Sciences representation: Steve Gwilym, David Keene, and 

Andrew Titchener. 

This may also be a moment to express the College’s support and thanks to all 

our Fellows in the Medical Sciences, who have played an extraordinary role in the 

University’s and country’s approach to the pandemic. Some have been actively 

involved in vaccine research; others in the psychological consequences of the 

Covid lockdown; others have been working in hospitals, their lives and energy 

levels affected deeply by the significant number of hospitalisations. A number were 

involved in October in a filmed conversation at College, taking questions from our 

community. Others not strictly in the Medical Sciences Division have been playing 

an important role. We thank them all. 

Other Fellows who deserve special tributes this year include Bettina Lange, 

Governing Body Fellow and elected on 17 March as the University Assessor, a role 

similar to the Proctors but focussed in particular on issues of welfare and mental 

health. It’s an honour for the College that she has been elected to this post, which 

she’ll hold for this year. 

It would be wrong to end this passage without warm congratulations to Professor 

Tony Epstein, Honorary Fellow, regular in the Hall in normal times. Tony marked 

his hundredth birthday this year on 18 May with an event in the College garden, 

and tributes from his many friends. He continues to be full of life and always 

forward-looking. What an admirable philosophy. 

This is normally the time of year to sing the praises of Wolfson’s sporting 

prowess. For obvious reasons there has been less activity this year – very 

much less – than normal. So I would just like to thank those who have kept the 

spirit of competition alive in College, with lockdown activity logs and prizes, 

the enthusiasm to bring gym equipment out again each time the rules allowed, 

and to get people onto the punts and into the sports fields when the gaps in 

the regulatory clouds emerged. The sporting stars of this year have to be our 

women’s rowing teams, who emerged from the restrictions and played a blinder 

at the Summer Eights in Trinity Term. They all did very well, but the Women’s 

First Team were exceptional, bumping every day until the last, when they 

bumped Hertford and became Head of the River. This means that they hold 


the Headship of both Torpids and Eights, their best ever performance. The last 

time any women’s team held both was New College in 2005, and before that 

Somerville in 1993. 

As far as the ideas which animate a College like ours, we have seen plenty of work 

around two themes in particular this year. 

One is the whole area of colonialism and ethnicity. I hope many of you will have 

read the preliminary report on the College’s origins, now up for all to see on our 

website and in the College Archive. The College recorded podcasts on South/ 

South personal stories; ran sessions on the African art in our collection; and 

considered the role of feminism in Pakistan. Among the guests who spoke to us 

this year was Wes Moore, alumnus, Baltimore resident and CEO of the Robin 

Hood Foundation, one of the largest anti-poverty organisations in the US; Sydney 

Roberts, alumna and former Chief of Police Accountability in Chicago; and a group 

of former prisoners from the US who described how art ‘decarcerated’ them 

from their cells. At a time when many of us felt imprisoned in our rooms, it was a 

liberating experience. 

The other aspect of this year for the College has been the ground-breaking work 

the College has been doing on climate change mitigation: our ‘Zero Carbon’ 

programme. 

Wolfson has, from its earliest days, prided itself on being progressive. Egalitarian 

decision-making in an Oxford too full of hierarchy; a focus on graduates 

and research in a University traditionally associated with the undergraduate 

experience; an open prospect across the river Cherwell rather than closed 

cloisters; a nursery from our earliest days; more high chair than high table. As the 

environmental movement was just getting going we purchased the meadow across 

the river to preserve for ever its natural value – and to stop it being turned into a 

University Science Park. We have allotments and raised beds to allow students and 

Fellows to produce their own fruit and vegetables. 

So we have always been an early adopter and pioneer. 

But there is one area where successive Presidents and Governing Bodies have 

scratched their heads and found it difficult to know how on earth to make 

progress. We cannot escape the fact that our early buildings were designed in 

a period before the 1970s energy crisis: they are gloriously open, but they are 

frighteningly wasteful of energy. And where this used to be primarily a matter 

of cost – watching pound signs disappear out of single glaze windows and thin 

roofs – it is now above all a question of how the College can play its full part in 

mitigating climate change. We have to face the facts: our architecture means that 

we are one of the most energy inefficient Colleges in Oxford. 


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Photo: Vortex Drone 

Over the last ten years we have done as much as we could to reduce the 

emissions we release into the atmosphere. Any new build was done to the best 

standards. Solar cells were installed on the roof of the main building, and green 

gardens on the roof of the new Academic Wing. We preserve our biodiversity, 

particularly the site of special scientific interest meadows. We have disinvested 

from the fossil fuel industry. We serve more vegan and vegetarian meals than 

fish- and meat-based meals. We encourage video conferencing and train journeys 

rather than flights. We are introducing electric vehicles and charging stations. 

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But despite all this, the emissions from our estate remain stubbornly high. It felt as if, 

however good our intentions, we could never achieve our dream of zero carbon. 

Last year we won a grant from the government to conduct a full professional 

survey. It set out the facts: we have a twenty-year carbon footprint of 24,000 

tonnes of CO2. To bring that down to zero we need to triple glaze our windows; 

install air source heat pumps; re-seal the roof; and install as many photovoltaic 

cells on the roofs as possible. The report set out the cost of making the College 

estate carbon neutral: about £14 million. 


That sounds like an impossible sum. 

But after extensive and quiet preparation, the College was awarded this spring 

a major grant from the government of £5 million to allow us to undertake the 

programme. We have taken the major step to match that with over £3million 

from the College’s own funds. 

Follow Sir Tim on Twitter 

@SirTimHitchens 

Photo: Wolfson College 


This will allow us to reduce our 

emissions on the main site by up 

to 75% over the next year, a very 

significant move towards complete 

decarbonisation of the estate. We 

are looking to other supporters to 

provide the remaining £6 million or 

so; our aim is to be well on the way 

to a zero-carbon estate by 2024, 

when the College will celebrate the 

fiftieth anniversary of its campus, 

and to have done so definitively 

by 2030 at the latest. Shifting from 

one of the worst to one of the best 

performers, and showing what can 

be done through proper planning 

and active collaboration. 

Making this happen means that, in 

this area too, Wolfson should be 

among the most progressive colleges 

in the world. I know that more 

students and researchers will now 

choose us because of what we have 

been able to achieve. It’s part of our 

gift to the future. 

Current students and Fellows have told me how proud they are to be a member 

of a College which is making this happen. I hope you agree. 

I am also pleased to report that the refurbishment of the Buttery, completed 

last year, won first place in its category in the Annual Oxford Preservation Trust 

awards: a great credit both to the architects and the College team who brought 

it to fruition. I’m also delighted that the refurbishment of the Upper Common 

Room balcony has now been completed, making it both elegant and safe. Work on 

11 

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planning the new gym and sports centre (growing from the current squash court), 

the Garden Rooms near the south car park, and the Long Gallery looking out 

onto Harbour Quad continues energetically. 

The intellectual life of the College has remained vibrant this year, though much 

more online than in person. 

One of the most moving experiences for me this year was a seminar at which 

several Governing Body Fellows spoke about what their peripatetic lifestyles 

have meant: experiences of deracination, varied allegiance, uncertainty – but 

with Oxford and Wolfson itself often being places which welcomed nomads and 

where many people felt similarly. It reminded me that our first President, Isaiah 

Berlin, was of course a refugee from what had been the Russian Empire, and our 

construction of a safe harbour was both physical and metaphorical. 

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Among the most stimulating talks were those given by Marc Quinn, the 

contemporary British sculptor, many of whose works now grace our corridors 

at College; by Sumanth Subramanian, the biographer of JBS Haldane; by John 

Ionnadis, on meta-research, and why so much research data is unreliable; and by 

Reid Hoffman, alumnus and founder of LinkedIn and PayPal, on the future of work. 

Many of these talks have been recorded this year and are now available to view on 

the College’s YouTube Channel. 

As we move towards a resumption of more normal habits, there will be memories 

of this last year, and its particular demands, which will stick in the mind. The visit 

of Santa Claus to the Nursery to distribute presents to the children – but at a 

social distance, sitting in a specially constructed grotto. The online Christmas 

Quiz on Christmas Eve for those having to stay in College over the festive season. 

The Social event for Governing Body Fellows in October, on Zoom but with 

participants moving from one break-out room to another, glass of College wine 

in hand; the great turnout at all General Meetings, since it was so much easier for 

people to participate from their rooms at home, in Oxford, Berlin or Shanghai. 

The sessions with so many of our students who were based from their homes 

in South Asia during the height of the Indian pandemic. There have been good 

lessons we are learning and adopting in peacetime, not least the importance 

always of that personal touch. 

12 

Yet for me, like our centenarian Tony Epstein, it’s important to look forward. 

We have a year ahead which looks full of promise, not least appreciating 

the simple things in life which we always took for granted. The sight in July 

of College children, working with College graduate students and Fellows in 

the meadows, measuring our biodiversity – who knew we had over eighty 


varieties of bird living here, for example? - was a reminder that Wolfson is a 

natural haven, and that we should tread softly and leave as little imprint on it as 

possible. Wolfson, naturally. 

Let me end with some of my favourite lines from the poet W B Yeats, which I 

recalled while out in the College meadows very early one summer morning this 

year: 

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths 

Enwrought with golden and silver light, 

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths 

Of night and light and the half-light, 

I would spread the cloths under your feet: 

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; 

I have spread my dreams under your feet; 

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. 

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13

Letter from the Bursar 

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Crescat Pecunia Wolfsoniensis, as Isaiah Berlin said in 1979. Despite the challenges 

of the last twelve months, Wolfson’s finances have indeed continued to grow: the 

College’s invested endowment reached an all-time high, and the operating budget 

achieved its first, albeit small, operating surplus for several years, with a surplus of 

£232k being achieved in the financial year 2019/20 and a surplus of £451k being 

forecast for 2020/21. In March last year it seemed that both of these outcomes 

would be impossible to achieve, but with the kindness of our many benefactors 

who contributed to the Covid hardship fund, and the hard work of our managers 

and staff, Wolfson has managed to land safely despite the financial challenges of 

the last year. 

Since the sharp correction last March at the beginning of the Covid crisis, our 

investment portfolio has continued to recover and then out-perform. It has grown 

by 24% since the low point of the Covid crisis, and now stands at an all-time high 

of £69m. This strong performance, coming after five years of strong returns, puts 

Wolfson in a very good position to meet its inflationary costs and to continue 

to draw down sufficient sums to support its students and Fellows: these will be 

£1.77m in 2021/22, up from £1.66m in 2020/21. The College will also be able 

to dip into its reserves to make progress on our aspirations for decarbonisation 

and the continued development of the College, as envisaged in last year’s Estate 

Masterplan by our architects Penoyre and Prasad. 

Wolfson has long aspired to tackle the excessive carbon footprint that results 

from its listed architecture which, whilst magnificent, does not lend itself easily to 

decarbonisation. For example, Wolfson’s heating still comes from its original fiftyyear-old 

gas boilers, and the majority of the heat is lost quickly through the single 

glazing that defines the building elevations across the College. 

Last year, in its new Estate Strategy, the College committed itself to decarbonise 

as a priority, and agreed to spend surpluses, if they could be achieved, on making 

progress with the many projects that would be required to reduce our carbon 

footprint. This process began last year with employing specialist consultants to 

carry out an energy audit and produce a decarbonisation plan. It revealed that 

replacing the single glazing with triple glazing would reduce heat loss by around 


80%, and that replacing the gas boilers with electric heat pumps would, together 

with new windows, reduce carbon emissions from the main site by at least 75%. 

We have developed a programme of work that provides a road map for Wolfson 

to achieve net zero carbon on its estate in the next five to ten years, depending 

upon the availability of funding. 

The decarbonisation plan is currently 

unaffordable in its entirety, but has 

been given a significant boost by the 

winning of a £5m decarbonisation 

grant from the Government, to which 

the Governing Body will add at least 

£3m from the College’s own reserves 

and expected surpluses. This creates 

an £8m project, which will allow us to 

move away from fossil fuel heating in 

most parts of the estate and to replace 

most of the windows with triple 

glazing. Given its listed architecture, 

the bespoke, ultra-thin triple glazed 

aluminium windows needed to achieve 

carbon reduction and satisfy the 

planning authorities come at a hefty 

price, and the College continues to 

seek funding opportunities wherever Photo: John Cairns 

it can to complete both the window 

replacements and the other works required. These include re-roofing, insulation, 

the installation of photovoltaic panels, LED lighting and the installation of small 

heat pumps for individual houses in Linton, Chadlington and Garford Roads. We 

still need to find another £6m to complete all decarbonisation, and will work hard 

in the coming year in the hope of raising these funds so as to achieve net zero 

carbon as soon as possible. 

The operating surplus achieved during the current financial year is remarkable 

given the challenges, and undoubted financial losses, caused by the Covid crisis. 

The Governing Body has confirmed that all such surpluses will go towards funding 

decarbonisation over the next five years, and we will continue to try and grow 

those surpluses as much as we can. Nevertheless, the budget planned for 2021/22 

is very much based on ‘business as usual’ since we expect life in College to resume 

in full after the Covid crisis. We will therefore continue to subsidise the communal 

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15

dining which strikes so many of the intellectual sparks between disciplines, 

students and academics, as well as the academic events and other hospitality 

that are so important to College life. We have also allowed for an increase in 

expenditure on student support and well-being as part of our plans to move into 

the post-Covid era whilst recognising the impact on individuals of the difficult last 

15 months. 

There will no doubt be bumps along the way, and the main worry for our 

investment portfolio is that a market correction, possibly overdue, might be 

triggered by any return of inflation when the global economy gathers pace. 

However, we feel well prepared and resilient to face any such turmoil. 

This summer saw substantial work begin on the estate, including the new electric 

air-pump heating systems, and the start of the window replacement programme. 

We will also replace our Marble Hall lift, which has broken down so often in the 

last few years, and resurface the courtyards around the families’ accommodation. 

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Thanks to one of our generous donors, we have also begun to design a new 

sports and wellbeing centre, and we look forward to sharing these plans with you 

in due course. Funds are not yet available to build the new gymnasium, but we will 

continue to work on this and other aspirations over the coming year. 

We are also currently in discussions with finance experts regarding the building 

of a new 49-room block of high standard living accommodation for students and 

Fellows on the site of the south car park. We are hopeful that we will be able 

to finance this important new development from the rental income that these 

additional rooms will generate over the next thirty years. We look forward to 

sharing more details of this exciting project in due course, and to the prospect of 

an even greater number of students and Fellows being able to live in College and 

enjoy the full Wolfson experience during their time in Oxford. 

16 


Letter from the 

Development Director 

Letter from the Development Director 

Although 2020–21 was an academic year like no other, Wolfson drew great 

strength from the loyalty and generosity of the College’s alumni and friends. 

Our special Coronavirus Hardship Appeal, launched in April 2020 to give direct 

financial aid to students and postdocs in unexpected hardship because of the 

crisis, generated a tremendous response. Thanks to the generosity of Wolfson 

Fellows, Members of Common Room, alumni, staff and students, we beat our 

initial target of £50,000 more than seven times over, raising a phenomenal 

£352,000. We are deeply grateful to everyone who gave so generously. 

Following the success of the Hardship Appeal, in April 2021 we launched the 

Wolfson 1966 Fund, named for the year the College was founded. With a focus 

on nurturing the expertise that has always been Wolfson’s hallmark, the Fund 

supports our students and postdocs through scholarships, bursaries, travel awards, 

and better sports and library facilities. 

The generosity of benefactors augmented our range of scholarships and bursaries. 

We are indebted to Ken Tregidgo (JRF 1983) and his wife Veronica for establishing 

a new scholarship in Atomic and Laser Physics; and to Andrew Prentice (JRF 

1967), who was himself Wolfson’s first-ever JRF, for his support for a scholarship, 

also in Physics. A hugely generous legacy from Reuben Conrad (MCR 1982) 

will enable Wolfson to establish an endowed scholarship in either Psychiatry or 

Psychology in honour of his wife Rachel. Two further university scholarships, 

both endowed, will become associated with Wolfson for the first time: the Alfred 

Landecker Scholarship in Public Policy, and the Sir Anwar Pervez Scholarship, 

available to outstanding students from Pakistan. 

We offer special thanks, too, to the Augustus Foundation for kindly renewing its 

support for the Lorne Thyssen Scholarship in the study of the Ancient World, and 

for establishing a new scholarship in Imperial History. Support once again from 

the Dorset Foundation and the J Paul Getty Museum enabled more outstanding 

work in Life-Writing and Assyriology respectively. As ever, we are grateful to 

Simon Harrison (GS 1972) for his philanthropy towards scholarships in Physics and 

Quantum Computing and for the Boat Club. The triumph of the Women’s First 


17 

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VIII in going Head of the River in Torpids, and the fact that Wolfson entered more 

crews in the races than any other College, were due in large part to the extra 

resources the Club has enjoyed for training and equipment. 

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Although we were unable to welcome alumni into College during the year, a 

switch to online events enabled Wolfsonians around the world to join us for some 

memorable talks and lectures. Matthew Landrus (GS 1999 and SF) gave the annual 

Alumni Lecture in March on ‘Leonardo da Vinci and National Identity’. Other 

online highlights were talks by alumni, including Wes Moore (GS 2001) on his 

book Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City, and on his own remarkable 

life and career; Sydney Roberts (GS 2001) on her role as head of Chicago’s 

Civilian Office of Police Accountability; Ira Lieberman (GS 1982) on the future of 

microfinance; and Reid Hoffman (GS 1990 and HF), founder of LinkedIn, on the 

future of work. Many of these are available to watch again on Wolfson’s YouTube 

channel. As we all became well-versed in using Zoom and Teams, the Alumni 

and Development team greatly enjoyed ‘meeting’ Wolfsonians far and wide, from 

Auckland, to Karachi, to Quito, hearing your news and sharing the latest from 

College. 

We look forward to resuming our normal programme of events in 2021–22 

– such as Christmas drinks, the London Lecture in March, and the summer Gaudy 

and Syme Society Luncheon – and to seeing many more alumni and friends once 

again in person. 

18 


List of Donors 2020–21 

The College thanks all these people and organisations for their generous donations in 

the last academic year. 

The Romulus Circle (£50,000+) 

Augustus Foundation 

Dorset Foundation 

Estate of Dina Ullendorff 

Estate of Reuben Conrad 

Ken Tregidgo 

Liu Chak Wan 

Reid Hoffman and Michelle Yee 

Simon Harrison 

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The Lycidas Circle (£20,000+) 

J Paul Getty Museum 

The Berlin Circle (£10,000+) 

Derrill Allatt Foundation 

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 

Estate of Fay Booker 

Isaiah Berlin Literary Trust 

The Family of Bob Sim 

The Harbour Circle (£5,000+) 

Felix Appelbe 

Derek Hill Foundation 


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20 

The Tree Circle 

(£1,000+) 

John Adams 

Kay and Mary Bispham, in memory 

of Andrew Matus 

Thomas Black 

Margaret Dick 

Stephen Donaldson 

Anthony Gray 

Peter Halban 

Christopher Hodges 

Bill and Lanna Kelly 

Thayne McCulloh 

Jonathan Paine 

Ulla Plougmand 

Andrew Prentice 

Marie Richards 

Moritz Riede 

Walter Sawyer 

George Smith 

Leslie Tupchong 

Anthony Wickett 

Anthony Wierzbicki 

Patricia Williams 

Four anonymous donors 

Patrons of the College 

(£500+) 

Paul and Edith Babson Foundation 

William Beaver 

Derek Boyd 

James Byrne 

Tim and Kathy Clayden 

David Dalgarno 

Helen de Borchgrave 

Pierre de Vries 

Roberto Delicata 

Kennerly Digges 

Clifford Jones 

Ravindra Khare 

Helen Lambert 

Patricia Langton 

Roland Littlewood 

Gideon Makin 

Leonard Makin 

Gregor McLean 

Andrew Neil 

Carol O’Brien 

Judith Peters 

David Robey 

Alison Salvesen 

Lesley Smith 

Richard Sorabji 

Christopher Staker 

Lindsay Stead 

Peter Turner 

Seven anonymous donors 

Sponsors of the College 

(£100+) 

Philippa Archer 

Martin Banks 

Simon Barker 

Steve Barry 

Christopher Bartley 

Alan Berman 


Michael Bevir 

Alicia Black 

Michael Bloom 

David Bounds 

Sebastian Brock 

Richard Buch 

Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski 

Robin Buxton 

Helen Caldwell 

Carl Calvert 

Choon Chai 

Cyril Chapman 

Dan Chen 

Chia-Kuen Chen 

Nicola Clarke 

Andrew Crane 

David Cranston 

George Cranstoun 

Abigail (Gail) Cunningham 

Paula Curnow 

Sarah Donaldson 

Simon Dowell 

Arthur Dyer 

Charles E. Ehrlich 

John Edgley 

Kate Elliott 

Georgina Ferry 

Caro Fickling 

Thomas Figueira 

Peter Flewitt 

Penelope Gardner-Chloros 

Google via Benevity 


Alan Gordon 

Barbara Harriss-White 

Sabina Heinz 

Ian Hembrow 

Raymond Higgins 

Michael Hitchman 

David Holloway 

Ann Jefferson 

Jing Jing 

Jeremy Johns 

Carolyn Kagan 

Lorcan Kennan 

Dave King 

John Koval 

Yusaku Kurahashi 

Bettina Lange 

Ann Laskey 

Helen Lawton Smith 

Robin Leake 

Mark Loveridge 

Jeffrey Lucas 

Marc Mangel 

Alan Mapstone 

Jody Maxmin 

Colin McDiarmid 

Tom Mclean 

Paul Metzgen 

Hans-Caspar Meyer 

Alkis-Triantafyllos Mirkos 

James Morrissey 

Victoria Mort 

Lucia Nixon 

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Nicholas Peacey 

Mary Anne Pidgeon 

John Pinot de Moira 

Karla Pollmann 

Raymond Pow 

Anthony Rabin 

Julie Richardson 

Janet Rossant 

David Roulston 

Judith Ryder 

Louise Samuel 

Malcolm Savage 

Christopher Scruby 

John Sellars 

Joanna Shapland 

Charles Smith 

Alan Spivey 

Gillian Stansfield 

Ian Storey 

Anne Sykes 

Heinrich Taegtmeyer 

Michael Taylor 

Swee Thein 

Noreen Thomas 

Barrie Thomas 

Christopher Thompson-Walsh 

Edward Thorogood 

Michael Tully 

Anne Ulrich 

Nouri Verghese 

Richard Walker 

Christopher Walton 

Henry Winstanley 

John Woodhead-Galloway 

Adam Wyatt 

Seong Young Lee 

Three anonymous donors 

Supporters of the College 

Robert Abernethy 

Maximilian Abitbol 

Marcus Banks 

Peter Berkowitz 

Naomi Berry 

John Bidwell 

David Blackman 

Steven Bosworth 

Harry Bryden 

Kurt Burnham 

Andrew Busby 

Penelope Cave 

Alfred Cerezo 

Timothy Claridge 

Myra Cottingham 

James Crabbe 

Diana Crane 

John Cubbon 

Joshua Curk 

Julie Curtis 

Shimon Dar 

Huw David 

David Davison 

Christophe Delaere 

Davide Di Maio 

Elena Draghici-Vasilescu 


Madhuri Dutta 

Cynthia Eccles 

Pedro Ferreira 

Thomas Filbin 

Alun German 

Camille Gosset 

Patricia Halligan 

Paul Harrison 

Jonathan Hart 

James Henle 

Martin Henry 

Alexander Homer 

Tim Horner 

Tara Hurst 

John Hyde 

Agnieszka Iwasiewicz-Wabnig 

St John Simpson 

Barry Johnston 

Roger Just 

Paul Klenerman 

David Langslow 

Matthew Lecznar 

Nancy Macky 

Diana Martin 

Gail McCoy-Parkhill 

Alison McDonald 

Dan Mercola 

Hector Miller-Bakewell 

Rana Mitter 

Trude Myklebust 

Helene Neveu Kringelbach 

Shona Nicholson 


Jonathan Noble 

Jason Oke 

Robert Owens 

Lorraine Pickering 

Jane Potter 

Mark Pottle 

Steven Prawer 

Roy Preece 

Tabassum Rasheed 

Peter Raven 

Christina Redfield 

Peter Rhodes 

Marlene Rosenberg-Petrie 

Enid Rubenstein 

Elizabeth Saville 

Philipp Schafer 

David Scobey 

Bridget Simpson 

Robert Tanner 

Shawkat Toorawa 

Frank Van den Heuvel 

Judith Walton 

Martin Wilson 

David Wiles 

Jonathan Woolf 

Mackenzie Zalin 

David Zeitlyn 

Three anonymous supporters 

23 

introduction

Gifts to the library 

The Library welcomes gifts of books from all its members, past and present, which 

enhance its academic collections and add to the pleasure of its readers. This year 

it has received a bequest from Sir Fergus Millar, and in association with OCLW the 

library of the biographer Fiona MacCarthy. Books have generously been donated 

by those whose names follow, authors or contributors being identified by an 

asterisk. Only those books received by 30 June 2021 are included. 

Fiona Wilkes (Librarian) 

introduction 

*Dr Nicholas J. Allen 

*Dr Maryam Aslany 

*John Maxwell Atkinson 

*Mr Jacob D. Biamonte 

*Dr Timothy Clayden 

*Professor Julie Curtis 

*Professor Janet Delaine 

*Mr Murray Eiland 

*Dr Franz Xaver Erhard 

Professor Barbara Harriss-White 

*Mr Reid Hoffman 

*Professor Bettina Lange 

*Professor Dame Hermione Lee 

*Mr John P. Linstroth 

*Dr Chiara Marletto 

Dr Mark Merrony 

*Dr Francisco Mora 

*Linda Murgatroyd 

*Dr Charalampos Pennas 

*Professor Harm Pinkster 

*Dr Sarah Shaw 

*Dr St John Simpson 

Professor Sir Richard Sorabji 

*Dr Richard Vokes 

*Chigusa Yamamura 

24 


Covid: to Mask or Not to Mask? 

by Michael L Hitchman (JRF 1968–70) 

Michael L Hitchman is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Technology at the University 

of Strathclyde. At the end of this Record he recalls his memories of Wolfson at 60 

Banbury Road. 

To Mask or Not to Mask? A question as significant as Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, 

updated to read: 

To live, or to die? That is the question. 

Is it nobler to suffer through all the terrible things 

fate throws at you, or to fight off your troubles 

and, in doing so, end them completely? 

When the coronavirus first arrived, early in 2020, there was fierce debate about 

the wearing of face masks. The World Health Organisation, Public Health England 

(PHE) and many medics said there was ‘no robust scientific evidence suggesting 

a benefit of face masks in preventing virus transmission, and that for the general 

public they gave no protection against coronavirus.’ 

However, empirical evidence was presented in April 2020 relating deaths per 

million to mask-wearing. In countries with a low mask-wearing culture they were: 

USA 105, Italy 367, Spain 413, France 275, UK 202, Switzerland 149, Belgium 445, 

Netherlands 193. In countries with a high mask-wearing culture: China 3, South 

Korea 4, Japan 2, Singapore 2, Hong Kong 0.5, Taiwan 0.3. Of course, for all those 

countries other factors would have been involved, but the situation was much 

simpler then than now since there was less emphasis on social distancing and 

there were no vaccines. Recent studies in countries with widescale mask-wearing 

have also shown, though, significant reductions in per capita infections and death 

rates compared with regions where mask-wearing is not prevalent. 

Through my Korean wife I learnt of studies in her country of the effect of mask 

use on the rate of virus spread: ‘In large-scale infectious diseases, we don’t know 

who has the potential infection, so everyone wearing a mask can help reduce the 

spread.’ I decided to look further into the science behind it. 


25 

introduction

introduction 

I discovered there had been extensive investigations extending as far back as 

1934 of the science and technology of the dynamics of airflow around people, 

of exhaled droplet distribution, and of person-to-person aerial transmission 

of infections by coughing, sneezing and just breathing. A more recent analysis 

in 2007 of droplets expelled through respiratory activities found that large 

droplets were carried by sneezing more than 6 m by exhaled air at a velocity 

of 50 metres per second (m/s), over 2 m at 10 m/s by coughing, and up to 1 

m at 1 m/s just by breathing; there’s no chance of dodging viruses! Then in 

2014 a more detailed study was made with direct observations of sneezing 

and coughing which revealed that air flows are turbulent buoyant clouds with 

suspended droplets of various sizes. The authors pointed out that the clouds 

play a critical role in extending the range of the pathogen-bearing droplets. Their 

cloud model predicted that the droplet range is increased to dozens of metres 

for the smallest droplets. In addition, virus droplets falling out of the cloud can 

be re-suspended by ambient air currents, and they can remain viable for several 

days. Even without violent expirations, just breathing and talking without social 

distancing is fraught with hazards, particularly in enclosed areas where there is 

poor air-circulation or recirculating air-conditioning systems, such as restaurants, 

cinemas, theatres and shops. 

The various studies have shown that the factors involved in disease transmission 

by respiratory exhalations are numerous and constitute a rich class of problems. 

Eventually, though, there was an acceptance of the results, leading to prevention 

measures for controlling the spread of coronavirus in hospitals and in the 

community at large. A major factor has been the use of face coverings. 

A face covering has, of course, the same function as the well-established 

handkerchief which has been used for hundreds of years; interestingly, the word 

is based on the French ‘couvrir’ and ‘chef’, or ‘cover the head’. (Hey, that’s a 

mask!) So, what characteristics are required of a mask? Let’s first look at the 

use of a mask as a permanent handkerchief to protect others from any infection 

we may have. 

26 

With a mask, droplets can only travel a centimetre or so from the nose and 

mouth before they are trapped. In this very humid environment they are all 

hydrated and have comparable geometric sizes; in fact, for all respiratory activities 

there are practically no droplets with diameters less than about three-thousandths 

of a millimetre. So, any face covering that is going to prevent the spread of liquid 

drops has to trap ones greater than that size. 


There have also been investigations of face mask efficiencies for filtration of 

respiratory droplets. One in 2020 showed that a surgical mask had an efficiency 

of more than 99% for exhaled droplets, and cotton-based ones were comparably 

effective. Infected droplet exhalations from others coming towards a mask-wearer 

lose some encapsulating water by evaporation and become very much smaller; 

the diameter of a ‘naked’ Covid-19 virus is about thirty times less than a hydrated 

virus. That presents more demanding requirements of a mask, but if it fits well on 

the face then filtering efficiency can be maintained at greater than 90%, although 

for surgical masks it can be lower. 

It is clear that to be socially responsible and for self-protection, one should wear 

a mask whenever social distancing cannot be observed. With the high filtration 

performances indicated, it is understandable why there has been widescale 

acceptance of the benefits of wearing masks. 

Now you might well say that is all very interesting, but with the undoubted 

beneficial protection of vaccinations why should there still be a need for wearing 

masks? Certainly, with 73% of the UK population currently having received the 

first jab and 67% the second, there have been dramatic effects on the number 

of daily cases, hospital admissions and deaths. The daily numbers for those 

respective categories fell from about 60,000, 4000, and 1300 in January, to 3000, 

125 and 8 in late May. Vaccines have undoubtedly weakened the link between 

cases and infections. However, the link is not broken. At the time of writing (late 

September), daily numbers for hospitalisation of 650 and of 120 for deaths are 

well down on January, although still higher than in May, but new daily cases of 

35,000 are over 50% of the numbers in January. So why has there now been an 

increase in all the numbers, especially with a large spike in infections? 

introduction 

The vaccines are designed to protect people against becoming seriously ill 

or dying from Covid-19; the Office for National Statistics has said that covid 

deaths are rare among the fully vaccinated. However, vaccines are less effective 

at stopping viral infection and they cannot stop transmission of coronavirus. 

Since the release from lockdown, many of the previous measures such as social 

distancing, restricted numbers for gatherings and table service in pubs and 

restaurants, and capacity limits at concerts, sporting events and in theatres 

and cinemas, have been swept away. And although the exact rulings vary for 

each nation in the UK, we have moved into a period where there are few legal 

restrictions. As a result, many of those who have been doubly vaccinated have 

‘let their guard down’, especially since the wearing of a mask is largely voluntary, 

a matter of personal responsibility. 


27

There has also doubtless been the effect of the highly infectious Delta variant. 

PHE studies suggest that for both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, two doses 

protect 80% of people against getting symptoms from the Delta variant compared 

with 89% for the Alpha variant. But it must also be noted that vaccine protection 

wanes with time; hence the need for booster jabs. 

One of the most concerning features of lifting curbs and decreasing effectiveness 

is that there can still be ‘long Covid’ cases where medical symptoms persist for 

weeks after a viral infection. There are about a million long Covid sufferers in 

the UK, 12% of the total Covid cases. Symptoms can range from relatively mild 

effects such as weakness, tiredness, shortness of breath and muscle ache, to more 

disturbing memory loss, confusion and chest pain. Long Covid can also cause 

those only mildly affected initially to still be ill months later. It can be debilitating, 

with indications that it is also affecting young teenagers; in fact, the first clinics for 

treating children are now being set up in England. 

introduction 

So here we are at the threshold of a new phase in the Covid saga, and by the time 

you read this we will be well into that new era. And, just as at the beginning of the 

pandemic, there is a debate about the wearing of masks. 

I have presented some of the experimental evidence for why mask-wearing is to 

be encouraged and to show that the benefits are incontrovertible. Indeed, there 

is an even stronger case to wear a mask than in times of lockdown, for there is 

no doubt that with eased restrictions far fewer people will wear a mask, and it 

will be important for the general health of the populace that as many as possible 

wear face coverings, just as the Koreans have discovered. Interestingly, with a first 

vaccination rate of 75% of the population comparable to that of the UK for the 

first dose and a lower rate of 49% for the second, they currently have a much 

lower infection rate of 5 per 100,000 of the population compared with our 51 per 

100,000. 

28 

Covid is not going away. There will be new variants, and we will be living 

with it for many years to come. We need to minimise the effect short-term 

and long Covid will have on ourselves and others. We need to be socially 

aware and community-minded. It is not just an ‘I thing’, but a ‘we thing’: my 

behaviour affects your health and yours affects mine. For decades before 

Covid-19 upended our lives, we minimised contagion during the cold and flu 

season by washing our hands, by not coughing or sniffing near others, and by 

using handkerchiefs. For Covid, mask-wearing could become a norm of social 

responsibility. 


A strategy for coping with situations with the potential for causing harm where 

extensive scientific knowledge is lacking is the Precautionary Principle. This 

emphasises care, pausing and review, before leaping into the unknown. Critics may 

argue that it is vague, unscientific and an obstacle to progress, but I would argue 

that Hamlet got it right. Do you want to suffer through all the terrible things fate 

throws at you, or to fight off your troubles and, in doing so, end them completely? 

To Mask or Not to Mask? I know what my answer is. What is yours? 

introduction 

Photo: Roger Tomlin 

Lady Covida wears her mask more negligently than Professor Hitchman would 

like, but she plants her elbows firmly on the coronavirus. This is a votive figure 

made in terracotta by a mask-wearing member of College to express his thanks 

that – so far at least – the virus has passed him by. 


29



The pandemic has driven many clubs and societies into suspended animation or virtual 

activity at best. These are the only reports the Record has received. 

AMREF Group 

Our work continued successfully despite the turbulence of the past year. In virtual 

meetings and events, our connection with Amref Health Africa UK has grown ever 

stronger, and Wolfson has received exciting updates on the projects we have been 

supporting. Although in-person fundraising activities have stalled, Wolfsonians have 

continued to demonstrate their generous support and commitment to Amref’s 

work, enabling the College to contribute to a crucial new project centred on 

Kajaido County in southern Kenya. 

In Trinity 2021, Wolfson donated £2,500 to Amref’s campaign against female 

genital mutilation or cutting, ‘End FGM/C: Alternative Rites of Passage and Wash’. 

This project will build on Amref’s work in Kajaido County, where women bear 

the greatest burden in gaining access to healthcare and water, sanitation and 

hygiene. Many are also at risk of complications from pregnancy and childbirth, 

early marriages, unwanted pregnancy, and FGM/C. The new funds will help to 

train Community Health Workers in preventing infection at community and health 

facilities, in communicating vital information, and providing access to clean water 

for over 3,000 people. The donation will also support girls at risk of FGM/C in 

seven villages, and in so doing help these villages become free of FGM/C by 2023. 

The College has since received a letter of thanks from Amref for this contribution 

and its continued support. 

30 

The Group has continued to meet virtually each term, and was very pleased to 

welcome Alex Gray, Amref’s UK Fundraising Officer, to meetings in Hilary and 

Trinity. Group members have also attended Amref-led virtual events, including 

the Quarterly Supporter Update in Hilary and the ‘Vaccine Solidarity with Africa’ 

webinar in Trinity. In December, the Group was informed that Amref’s project 

‘Sport for Health: Empowering Girls Though Sport’, to which the College donated 

£3,000 in 2020, had resumed after being halted by the pandemic. In May 2021, 

we received an update which highlighted the sports and sexual health training 

provided to young girls, and the creation of all-female sports clubs in informal 


settlements in Nairobi. Trained Peer Champions have been helping their peers 

connect through sport, in a safe environment where girls can speak openly about 

the issues that are affecting them, and the sports clubs themselves allow girls to 

develop their fitness and self-confidence, as well as meeting new people who face 

the same issues as they do. 

Social distancing has limited in-person fundraising events, but the Group has been 

inspired by the support it has continued to receive from Wolfsonians. The bike 

maintenance team, for example, staged three super sales of second-hand bikes 

in Michaelmas, with the proceeds to Amref. We plan to return to our regular 

fundraising activities when restriction-easing makes it feasible, and to recruit more 

student representatives in the coming academic year. 

Wolfson’s relationship with Amref has continued to thrive despite the necessity 

for virtual interaction, a relationship whose success is due to the wonderful 

support of College members. To all concerned, we offer our warmest thanks. 

Ryan Walker 

AMREF Student Representative 

Arts Society 

The Society’s annual report is usually dominated by news of temporary 

exhibitions in College, but the pandemic has paused activity on that front, even 

though exciting plans are in hand for 2021–22. Nevertheless, the last year has 

seen exciting developments, both virtual and physical. Central to these was the 

‘rehang’ of Wolfson’s art collection. The relatively public areas of College have 

been refreshed by rotating the permanent collection and presenting important 

new loan-works by major artists. Having sadly said goodbye to loans by Anselm 

Kiefer, Marc Quinn, Antony Gormley and others, we were delighted to receive a 

generous new loan of works from the collection of Christian Levett, which can 

now be seen around the College. They include Marc Quinn’s series of anguished 

lead sculptures, The Seven Deadly Sins, a large diptych, Albus by Marcus Harvey, 

which now dominates the Marble Hall, and works by Christopher Le Brun, Keith 

Coventry, Uzo Egonu, Adriano Costa and Neil Stokoe. 


Thanks to a loan by the artist, Mark Neville, arresting photographs from his 

celebrated series, Parade, have gone on display, as well as four works from his 

series, Child’s Play. Mark himself joined us via Zoom in November 2020 and spoke 

powerfully about his work, post-traumatic stress disorder, and experiences with 

all kinds of communities from Port Glasgow to Kabul, in an interview with our 

Creative Arts Fellow, Carey Young. 


31


Rob Ward, Tre Fiori (Photo: Peter Stewart) 

Meanwhile, the permanent collection 

has been enhanced and diversified 

by the purchase of modern and 

contemporary works on paper by 

nine artists, including Chris Ofili, 

Zhang Enli, Faith Ringgold, Phyllida 

Barlow and Tariz Alvi. The outdoor 

collection was also augmented by a 

new commission made possible by 

the legacy of Dr Geoffrey Garton. Tre 

Fiori by the veteran sculptor Rob Ward 

was specially made for a corner of the 

Asian Garden and commemorates the 

late Kay Garton and Natalie Garton. 

Its floral forms in patinated bronze 

sway in the breeze and overflow with 

collected rainwater. 

Wolfson has also received two donations (eighteen pieces in all) of works by the 

modernist painter Morris ‘Charlie’ Chackas, thanks to the kindness of Gerard 

and Elisabeth Ledger, and Jane Moir. 

‘Charlie’ Chackas, Two Birds (Photo: Peter Stewart) 

The events programme made a virtue of necessity by presenting further live 

and recorded online talks, some of which would have been hard to arrange in 

normal circumstances. Carey Young hosted a discussion with the American poet, 

performer, and prison activist Bryonn Bain – The Art of Mass Decarceration – 

who also introduced the extraordinary Jermaine Archer and Alberto Lule. The 

President, Sir Tim Hitchens, spoke with Marc Quinn and also presented his own 

talk on modern African art, based on the Wolfson collection. Some of the events 

are still available on the College’s YouTube channel. 

32 


Arts Sub-Committee members were shocked, as the whole Wolfson community 

was, by the untimely death of Marcus Banks, who had served the Arts Society so 

energetically. It is typical of his thoughtfulness that he had made arrangements for 

us to be able to choose art works from his own collection, which have now been 

received and contribute to the array which College members can borrow for their 

rooms and offices. 

Peter Stewart 

Board Games 

This is the fourth anniversary of the Board Game Society, founded by Nicola 

Dotti and myself to share our passion for board games with all members of the 

College. Last year, the games got a new dedicated space in the refurbished TV 

room, including a proper playing area. The TV room was recently reopened 

for College members as part of the relaxation of Covid-19 rules, and playing 

sessions have slowly begun to start again. With the funds given by the College this 

year, we were able to extend our collection of board games. In building up this 

collection, our goal has been to address all interests and difficulties, so that players 

without previous knowledge will have fun, while experts can still be challenged. 

The collection contains strategic and role-playing games, as well as social games 

for larger gatherings. Games are being played regularly, and we believe that they 

extend the range of entertainment possibilities within the College, especially with 

some popular games that were released recently. Board games are a great way to 

meet new people and have fun together. 


We hosted a large event at Freshers’ Week with more than twenty people 

attending. This was, however, an online event, in which online versions of board 

games that we own were played. It was a lot of fun, and a great success. However, 

this online event could not replace the atmosphere of playing board games inperson. 

As soon as the situation allows, we will return to in-person events. 

Michael Slota 

Boat Club 

The 2019–20 season was difficult, what with flooding and the pandemic, but in 

2020–21 the Club was able to return to the water, to racing – and to winning 

Headships! 

After a slow, phased reopening over the summer of 2020, the Club was ready 

to welcome the latest batch of Wolfson and St Cross students. The committee 

recruited a good number of new novice rowers and coxes, as well as a few new 


33


34 

seniors, by holding a mix of virtual and Covid-secure in-person events. Covidrestrictions 

and rising river levels made the training of novices a challenge, but the 

captains did their best to get new members out onto the water. Outings were 

supplemented with socially distanced training on the rowing machines to help novices 

develop their technique, and with virtual circuits. Senior training continued alongside 

novice training and crews were able to compete in a time trial race here in Oxford, 

the Isis Winter League. The men’s side achieved the fastest two times with crews 

from the top squad and the women’s side did the same, also achieving the fastest two 

times for women’s crews. As well as larger boats, the Club entered a women’s pair, 

which finished faster than many singles, doubles, quads, fours and even two women’s 

eights; and a men’s single which came second in its category. 

Then the pandemic struck again, closing the boathouse for several months and causing 

the much anticipated Michaelmas novice regatta to be cancelled for the second year 

in succession. The captains organised virtual training sessions instead, and during 

Hilary Term a ‘Lockdown Challenge’ in which members travelled virtually around the 

world – almost 9500 kilometres in six weeks – in running, cycling and circuits. Prizes 

were awarded to the top contributors at a virtual social event organised to coincide 

with the week when Torpids would have ended in a normal year. 

As the world slowly reopened, so did the boathouse. The Club was able to begin 

training for Summer Torpids, a ‘bumps’ regatta held at the end of Trinity but under 

‘Torpids’ rules for safety’s sake. We entered eight crews, three men’s and five 

women’s. It had been two years since the last bumps regatta (Summer Eights 2019), 

so the Club was ready to make up for lost time. The results were: W5 -1; W4 +1; 

M3 -6 (spoons); W3 +4; M2 -2; W2 0, M1 -3; W1 +4 (Headship blades). After 

reinserting crews that did not enter this year into the finish order, Wolfson crews 

were 1st in WDivI; 7th in MDivI; 11th in WDivII; 10th in MDivIII; 12th in WDivIII; 

10th in MDivV; 1st and 6th in WDivVI. 

Not only did W1 bump every day to go Head of the River, but in Torpids the Club 

also had the highest W2, W3, W4 and W5 on the river. Some crews were bumped 

more than they would have liked, but everyone was delighted to be back racing. 

W1’s Headship means that Wolfson W1 now holds both the Torpids and Summer 

Eights Headships, a double which was last achieved by a women’s crew in 2005 

(New College). 

Over the summer the crews have been enjoying the quieter river, entering a few 

external regattas and getting ready for another excellent year of rowing in which 

the Club will remind other colleges once again to fear the Wolf. 

Karen Heathcote 

Boat Club President 


Family Society 

Not so many highlights as usual this year, since restrictions prevented our regular 

calendar of events, but we held a virtual Welcome Meeting on Zoom, enabling 

new families in college to meet their neighbours and ask any questions they might 

have. 

To give children their taste of Halloween despite restrictions, we organised 

delivery of treat bags to them all. As restrictions lifted during the summer 

months we took the opportunity of organising a family barbecue with lunchtime 

and evening events, so as to allow all families to attend. The delicious food was 

provided by the talented College catering team. 

We have also helped families to communicate with the College about the 

resurfacing work around Blocks H, G and F, helping them to secure a discount on 

rent and making sure they were provided with alternative accommodation during 

the day, to avoid the noise and dust caused by the works. 

Now that restrictions are allowing indoor events to take place again, we have 

lots planned for the new term, starting with a Welcome Party in the Buttery, as 

well as our annual pumpkin-carving event, the trick-or-treat evening and our very 

popular Winter Party. We look forward to working with the College to help and 

care for the student family community. 

Judith Palmer, Helen Hudson, Ahu Coskun, Mariana Dal Santo 

Co-chairs of the Family Society 


Old Wolves and Archives 

The pandemic inevitably limited what we were able to do this year. We organised 

no displays and were unable to meet for our usual termly lunches in Hall. 

Nevertheless, we enjoyed a varied programme of talks, thanks to the wonders of 

Zoom and the ability, the nerves of steel, of speakers who kept their cool in the 

face of a few home internet wobbles. 

In November 2020, poet and critic Merryn Williams (MCR) gave us ‘Mrs Oliphant’, 

the Scottish-born Victorian novelist Margaret Oliphant. In one of her many books, 

The Curate in Charge, the curate’s daughter asks: ‘Why should Oxford dons be so 

much worse than other men? Papa is an Oxford man – he is not hard-hearted. 

Dons, I suppose, are just like other people?’ ‘No’, replies her sister. ‘They live by 

themselves among their books; they have nobody belonging to them; their hearts 

dry up, and they don’t care for common troubles. Oh, I know it: they are often 

more heathens than Christians.’ 


35

In February 2021, Wolfson DPhil candidate Laurence Hutchence (GS) gave us an 

illustrated talk on ‘Skilled Crafts in the early Stone Age’. In his spare time, when 

not adding to his collection of homemade tools, he has been working in the 

College library and as assistant to the Archivist. 

In May, Wolfson alumnus Dr Nicholas Márquez-Grant (GS 1999, MCR), who is 

one of the few practising forensic anthropologists in the UK, gave us a talk about 

his extraordinary work: ‘What do bones tell us?’ 


Skulls on the Beach (Photo: Budd Christman) 

We enjoyed a bonus in April, arranged in liaison with Wolfson’s new Earth 

Emergency Cluster. Professor James Crabbe (SF) gave us an inspiring talk on 

climate change: ‘What can the world do about it? Adaptation and Evolution in 

Marine and Terrestrial Environments.’ Professor Crabbe sits as a Justice of the 

Peace and chairs a Special Interest Group on Education in the Criminal Justice 

System for the Educators’ Company. But he is also a keen scuba diver. 

36 


James Crabbe diving (Photo by courtesy of James Crabbe) 

Some of these talks were recorded and may now be found on the College’s 

YouTube channel. We are very grateful to all our speakers, and also very grateful 

to Dr Ellen Rice (EF), to whom we said goodbye as Fellow Archivist. We welcome 

as her successor Professor Erica Charters (GBF). Let me conclude with four dates 

for your diary. 

4 November 2021. Paulo de Souza, doctoral student researching the effects of 

corruption on the environment and Green Team champion. 

3 February 2022. Professor Erica Charters, Fellow Archivist and historian of 

disease, war and empires. 

19 May 2022. Dr George Barker, Wolfson alumnus and Director of the Centre for 

Law and Economics, Australian National University. 

3 November 2022. Dr Susan Walker (EF), Honorary Curator of the Ashmolean 

Museum and former Keeper of Antiquities. 

Liz Baird 

College Archivist 



37

Ancient World 

Research clusters 

The Cluster supports members of College and Common Room working on 

Ancient World topics, and promotes interdisciplinary working and exchange 

between scholars of different age groups and experience through meetings and 

lectures, through grants and sponsorship of research events, and through the 

organisation of a variety of other activities intended both for our members and for 

the wider University and public. The breadth of our members’ research interests is 

reflected in the wide variety of events we have been able to organise and fund. 


The pandemic inevitably affected the Cluster’s ability to bring its members 

together at academic events and in social settings but, despite the restrictions, it 

hosted online a series of events featuring distinguished Cluster members or invited 

speakers. Towards the end of the year, it also proved possible to organise a few 

events in person. 

Some of the online lectures this year were organised entirely by the Cluster 

(AWRC), while others were organised jointly with the Oxford Centre for Life 

Writing (OCLW) as the Ancient Lives seminar. 

38 

The AWRC lectures were: ‘Building, Living, and Experiencing Urban Spaces: Lepcis 

Magna (Libya). A Case Study’, by Dr Niccolò Mugnai (Oxford); ‘Arabian Flights: 

Aerial Archaeology in the Middle East’, by Dr Bob Bewley (Oxford); ‘Revisiting 

Latin-Romance Developments: ad versus the dative’, by Professor Wolfgang de 

Melo (Oxford); and ‘Anthropomorphic Sculpture? Thoughts for Going “Beyond 

the Human” on Indigenous Stonework from Central America (AD 400–1500)’ by 

Professor Alexander Geurds (Oxford / Leiden). 

The Ancient Lives seminar talks this year were: ‘Arabic Dialogues: Writing Lives of 

19th Century Arabic Teachers and Interpreters’, by Prof Rachel Mairs (Reading); 

‘Artefacts as Actors at Abydos’, by Prof Rosalind Janssen (UCL); ‘Monumental 

Lives: Group Presentation and Performance in Ancient Egypt’, by Dr Leire 

Olabarria (Birmingham); ‘The Faces of Nefertiti’, by Lucia Nixon (Oxford); and 

‘The Poetics of Displacement, based on Roman Lyric Poetry’, by Professor Peter 

Kruschwitz (Reading). 


In the late spring and early summer, the Cluster emerged from lockdown with 

three social events, one held over lunch and two held in the evenings. 

Grants, awards, bursaries 

Thanks to generous funding from Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemiszma and the 

Augustus Foundation, the Cluster made a number of grants to support research. 

Applications for funding for travel (fieldwork and conferences) were much reduced 

because of the pandemic, but there remained other calls which the Cluster was 

able to answer. 

1. This academic year the Cluster awarded three grants in support of 

archaeological fieldwork, post-excavation analyses, and laboratory analyses on 

archaeological materials. They included excavation of a Neolithic cave burial in 

Wales, post-excavation analysis of material from a partially excavated Roman 

building in Ibiza, and radiocarbon samples from archaeobotanical materials 

recovered from an Iron Age context at Tell Gezer in Israel. 

2. Three grants were made in support of publication of two research projects and 

one conference proceedings. They included copy-editing costs for the publication 

of A Citizen of Nowhere: Jaroslav Černý, Egyptologist (1898–1970): A Journey through 

the Twentieth Century; and copy-editing costs for the publication of the proceedings 

of a conference held at Wolfson, ‘Ancient Architectural Restorations in the Greek 

World’. 

3. Two grants were made to support payment of a copyright fee for a thirteenthcentury 

Syriac manuscript belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in 

Damascus; and for use of images of objects from the Hungarian National Museum 

and the Louvre, for an article called ‘Privilege, Pleasure, Performance: Reading 

Female Nudity in Late Antique Art.’ 

4. In recognition of the exceptional difficulties faced by some students as a result 

of the pandemic, the Cluster invited applications by Wolfson students working on 

the Ancient World for grants to alleviate pandemic-related financial hardship. Five 

bursaries were awarded. 


Running the Cluster 

This was a transitional year. In December 2020, Diana Rodriguez Perez stepped 

down from her joint roles as the Administrator and a Co-Director, and in March 

2021 the directorship passed from the remaining Co-Directors, Janet DeLaine and 

Sarah Graham, to Martin Goodman. In early 2021, the Cluster advertised for a 

new Administrator and Christoph Bachhuber was appointed, taking up his post at 

the end of Hilary 2021. 


39

Our thanks go to Janet, Sarah and Diana, for the smooth transition and for 

everything they achieved as exceptionally effective Co-Directors, as well as to 

Diana for her efficiency as the Administrator. We are also grateful to the Events 

Office Team for their ready support for all our events, particularly as we emerged 

from lockdown. 

Martin Goodman (Director) 

Christoph Bachhuber (Administrator) 


Oxford Trauma and Emergency Care 

The Cluster normally holds two open-invitation meetings each term, preceded 

by lunch in College. Their outline agenda is an update on Oxford Trauma and 

Emergency Care activities in the UK and abroad; an educational session on aspects 

of trauma care and the methodology surrounding trauma and emergency care 

research; an open-invitation general interest lecture. But this year the pandemic 

reduced us to one meeting each team, and that online. This has favoured 

attendance, especially by those who would normally have to travel, but has 

impaired the interaction which makes these events special. We hope to resume 

face-to-face meetings as soon as possible. 

28 October 2020, ‘Patient and Public Involvement’ (PPI) 

In the morning, members of the UK Trauma PPI Group, hosted at Wolfson, 

met and discussed patient involvement in setting research priorities, including 

their experience of the latest James Lind Alliance Research Setting Partnership, 

for patients with fragility fractures of the upper limb. We also discussed PPI 

communications, PPI at the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and thee 

experience of being members of research teams for specific research projects. In 

the afternoon, there were lay presentations of results from two of the recently 

completed UK multicentre clinical trials: UKSTAR reported on the management of 

Achilles tendon rupture, and the DRAFFT 2 trial looked at the best management 

for patients with a fracture of the wrist. There was also an Oxford Traumathemed 

online interactive quiz. 

24 March 2021, ‘Research Methods and Reporting’ 

We heard about the importance of clearly defining a research question when 

developing a study protocol, and the importance of getting the right team 

together to deliver each element of the research. We also discussed the 

importance of reporting research according to the EQUATOR standards for 

clinical research. The session ended with Professor Dan Perry presenting the 

40 


UKSTAR trial results as an example of the different ways in which reporting of 

research influences clinical practice and policy. 

19 May 2021, research in the Emergency Department 

Alex Nowak, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Research Lead for 

Emergency Medicine at Oxford University Hospitals, spoke about current research 

projects in the Emergency Departments of the Trust and its plans for new 

projects in Oxford and beyond. Sally Beer, Lead Research Nurse in Emergency 

Medicine, talked about her huge experience of recruiting patients into clinical 

research projects under the most acute circumstances. We also heard from David 

Metcalfe, Clinical Lecturer in Emergency Medicine, University of Oxford, about his 

plans to research a rare but hugely damaging condition affecting the spine, Cauda 

Equina syndrome. 

Other Activities 

The Cluster’s Senior Management and Strategy Group usually meets in a Wolfson 

seminar room, often on the morning of a session, but this year it met online. 

Likewise the Trial Management, Steering and Data Safety and Monitoring Group. 

South Asia 

We mourned the death of Marcus Banks, who solidly supported SARC 

throughout its nine years. 


In concert with Somerville’s Oxford-India Centre for Sustainable Development, 

Maryam Aslany (Wolfson) and Vinita Govindarajan (Somerville) organised two 

reading groups: ‘Food and nutrition’ with contributions from Anant Jani and 

Barbara Harriss-White (Oxford) and Komal Bhatia (UCL); and ‘Climate change 

and India’ with contributions from Radhika Khosla (Oxford) and Sharad Lele 

(ATREE and Berkeley). Thanks to Zoom, we discussed controversial agricultural 

reforms with Professor Shailaja Fennell of Cambridge. Later, their implications for 

food security were debated by Professor Madhura Swaminathan (Indian Statistical 

Institute, Bengaluru) and Professor R Ramakumar (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 

Mumbai). 

SARC joined the University’s Indox in sponsoring a Zoom lecture on ‘Urban 

Theo-topias in India: Religious Identities, the State, Private Capital and the Making 

of the New “Ordinary” Person’ by Professor Sanjay Srivastava (IEG, Delhi and 

UCL, London). 

A highlight of the year was the international, multidisciplinary web-seminar 

organised and chaired by Dr Maryam Aslany in which research on agricultural 


41

markets in Pakistan and India – now hot topics – was presented and discussed. 

Expert participants included Wolfson’s political economists Ali Jan (Lahore, 

Pakistan) and Barbara Harriss-White, lawyer Amy Cohen (University of NSW, 

Australia), anthropologist Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Ashoka and CPR, India), 

geographer Shreya Sinha (Cambridge, UK) and Indian economists R Ramakumar 

(TISS, Mumbai), Vikas Rawal (JNU), Sukhpal Singh (IIM, Ahmedabad), and Sudha 

Narayanan (IGIDR, Mumbai). A special issue of Millennial Asia co-edited by 

Professors Singh and Harriss-White with contributions from Bangladesh and Sri 

Lanka follows from the web-seminar. 

Professor Imre Bangha organised a SARC-hosted webinar ‘Kavi Kovid’ in Classical 

Hindi Textual Study. 


The Punjab Research Group has often been hosted by SARC in the past, so 

we congratulate our supporter Professor Pritam Singh (MCR) on his Lifetime 

Achievement Award from UC Riverside (USA) for his distinguished contribution 

to the Group. 

In the academic year 2021–22 we look forward to welcoming several postdocs 

and visiting scholars whom Covid prevented from visiting Wolfson last year; to 

supplementing our link with Somerville by working with the Oxford Pakistan 

Programme based in LMH; and to continuing Dr Aslany’s book discussion series. 

Barbara Harriss-White and Maryam Aslany 

SARC Co-ordinators 

42 



Annual Lectures 

Sarfraz Pakistan Lecture (13 November 2020) 

‘The Politics of Propriety: Feminist Actions, Culture and Cultural Rights in 

Pakistan’ 

Farida Shaheed 

Haldane Lecture (6 May 2021) 

‘Meta-research: in quest of reproducible and useful evidence’ 

John Ioannidis 

The President’s Seminars 

Michaelmas term (5 November 2920): Climate Change 

Moritz Riede, Kate Guy, Nameerah Khan 

Hilary term (1 February 2021): A matter of life and death 

Professor Nicola Smart, Dr Nick Marquez-Grant, Cheng Xie 

Trinity term (10 May 2021): Rarity in languages 

Professor Yuhan Vevaina, Professor David Zeitlyn, Dr Theresia Hofer 



43

The Record 

the record 

44 

College Officers and Membership 

President: Sir Tim Hitchens 

Vicegerent: Professor Nikita Sud 

Bursar: Richard Morin 

Senior Tutor and Dean of Welfare: Emily Eastham 

Development Director: Dr Huw David 

Secretary to the Governing Body: Professor Jay Lewis 

Fellow for Archives: Professor Erica Charters 

Fellow for Library: Professor Erica Charters 

Research Fellows’ Liaison Officer: Professor Christina Redfield 

Visiting Scholars’ Liaison Officer: Professor Tarje Nissen Meyer 

Dean of Degrees: Professor Wolfgang de Melo 

Deputy Deans of Degrees: Professor Imre Bangha, Professor Erica Charters, 

Dr Roger Tomlin 

Data Protection Officer: Professor Jacob Dahl 

Editor of the College Record: Dr Roger Tomlin 

Wine Steward: Professor Jacob Dahl 

College Membership 

Governing Body Fellows 52 

Honorary Fellows 40 

Emeritus Fellows 53 

Research Fellows 23 

Junior Research Fellows 65 

Visiting Fellows 1 

Graduate Students 850 

Members of Common Room 765 

College record 2021

Abbreviations 

EF Emeritus Fellow 

GBF Governing Body Fellow 

GS Graduate Student 

HF Honorary Fellow 

HMCR Honorary Member of Common Room 

JRF Junior Research Fellow 

MCR Member of Common Room 

RF Research Fellow 

RMCR Research Member of Common Room 

SF Supernumerary Fellow 

SRF Senior Research Fellow 

SF Supernumerary Fellow 

VF Visiting Fellow 

Wolfson College 

at 1 October 2021 

the record 

President 

Hitchens, Sir Tim, KCVO, CMG, MA (MA Cambridge) 

Governing Body Fellows 

Andersson, Ruben, MA (BA SOAS, MA City London, MSc, PhD LSE) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Social Anthropology 

Aveyard, Paul, MA (BSc, MB, BS London, MPH, PhD Birmingham) 

Professorial Fellow, Clinical Reader in the Department of Primary Care Health 

Sciences, Professor of Behavioural Medicine 

Bangha, Imre, MA (MA Budapest, PhD Santineketan) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Hindi 

Barrett, Jonathan, MA (MA, PhD Cambridge) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Quantum Information Science 


45

Boehmer, Elleke, MPhil, DPhil (BA Rhodes University, South Africa) 

Professorial Fellow, Professor of World Literatures in English 

Charters, Erica Michiko, MA, DPhil (BA Carleton, MA Toronto) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Global History and the History of Medicine; 

Fellow for Archives 

Cosmidis, Julie, MA (MA, PhD Paris) 

Ordinary Fellow and Professor of Quantum Geobiology 

Costa, Matthew, MA (MB, BChir, PhD East Anglia, MA Cambridge) 

Professorial Fellow, Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery 

Dahl, Jacob Lebovitch, MA (BAS Copenhagen, PhD California) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Assyriology; Data Protection Officer 

David, Huw, MA, DPhil (MA Warwick) 

Ordinary Fellow; Development Director 

the record 

46 

De Melo, Wolfgang David Cirilo, MPhil, DPhil (MA SOAS) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Classical Philology 

Eastham, Emily, MA (MA Oxford Brookes) 

Ordinary Fellow; Senior Tutor and Dean of Welfare 

El Khachab, Chihab, DPhil (BA Ottawa) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Visual Anthropology 

Fellerer, Jan Michael, MA (MA Vienna, Dr Phil Basel) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Non-Russian Slavonic Languages 

Gardner, Frances, MA, DPhil 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychology, 

Reader in Child and Family Psychology 

George, Alain, MSt, DPhil (BSc LSE) 

Professorial Fellow, I M Pei Chair in Islamic Art and Architecture 

Giaccia, Amato (BA Lafayette, PhD Pennsylvania) 

Professorial Fellow, Professor of Oncology and Biology 

Harrison, Paul Jeffrey, MA, BM, BCh, MRCPsych, DM 

Ordinary Fellow, Clinical Reader in Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry 

Howgego, Christopher John, MA, DPhil 

Professorial Fellow, Keeper of the Heberden Coin Room, Professor of Greek 

and Roman Numismatics 


Jarvis, R Paul, MA (BSc Durham, PhD Norwich) 

Ordinary Fellow, University Lecturer in Plant Sciences, Professor of Plant Cell Biology 

Johns, Jeremy, MA, DPhil 

Ordinary Fellow, University Lecturer in Islamic Archaeology, Professor of the Art 

and Archaeology of the Islamic Mediterranean 

Jones, Geraint, MA, DPhil 

Ordinary Fellow, University Lecturer in Computation 

Landau, Loren, MA (MSc London, PhD Berkeley) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Migration and Development; Research Fellows’ 

Liaison Officer 

Lange, Bettina, MA (BA, PhD Warwick) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Law and Regulation; 

University of Oxford Assessor 

Lewis, James Bryant, MA (BA University of the South, MA, PhD Hawaii) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Korean History; 

Secretary to the Governing Body 

Lowe, John, MA, DPhil 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Sanskrit 

Maschek, Dominik, MA (MA, PhD Vienna, Habilitation Darmstadt) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Roman Archaeology and Art 

Mathur, Nayanika, MA (MA Delhi, MPhil, PhD Cambridge) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of the Anthropology of South Asia 

Morin, Richard Antony, MA (MA KCL) 

Ordinary Fellow; Bursar 

Mulcahy, Linda, MA (LLB Southampton, LLM, MA, PhD London) 

Professorial Fellow, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies 

Nanchahal, Jagdeep (BSc, MBBS, PhD London) 

Ordinary Fellow and Professor of Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 

Nissen-Meyer, Tarje, MA (Diplom Munich, MA, PhD Princeton) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Geophysics; Visiting Scholars’ 

Liaison Officer 

Pila, Jonathan, MA (BSc Melbourne, PhD Stanford) 

Professorial Fellow, Reader in Mathematical Logic 


47 

the record

the record 

48 

Probert, Philomen, MA, DPhil 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Classical Philology and Linguistics 

Ray, David (MBChB, PhD Manchester) 

Ordinary Fellow and Professor of Endocrinology 

Redfield, Christina, MA (BA Wellesley, MA, PhD Harvard) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Molecular Biophysics 

Riede, Moritz, MA (MSc Cambridge, PhD Konstanz) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Soft Functional Nanomaterials 

Roberts, Paul Christopher, MA (BA Cambridge, MPhil Sheffield) 

Professorial Fellow, Sackler Keeper of Antiquities 

Roesler, Ulrike, MA (MA, PhD Münster, Habilitation Munich) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies 

Rushworth, Matthew, MA, DPhil 

Professorial Fellow, Watts Professor of Experimental Psychology 

Schulting, Rick J, MA (BA, MA Simon Fraser, PhD Reading, PGCE Queen’s Belfast) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Scientific and Prehistoric Archaeology 

Smart, Nicola, MA (BSc Kent, PhD London) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Development and Regeneration 

Stewart, Peter Charles N, MA (MA, MPhil, PhD Cambridge) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Ancient Art 

Sud, Nikita, MA, MPhil, DPhil (BA Delhi, MA Mumbai) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Development Studies; Vicegerent 

Taylor, David Guy Kenneth, MA, DPhil 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Aramaic and Syriac 

Vedral, Vlatko, MA (BSc, PhD Imperial) 

Ordinary Fellow, Professor of Quantum Information Science 

Ventresca, Marc J, MA (AM, PhD Stanford) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Strategic Management 

Vevaina, Yuhan, S-D, MA (BA Tufts, MA, PhD Harvard) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Sasanian Studies 

Wolff, Jonathan, BA, MPhil 

Professorial Fellow, Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy 


Woodruff, Christopher Marshall, MA (BSc Chicago, MA California, PhD Texas) 

Professorial Fellow, Professor of Development Economics 

Yürekli-Görkay, Zeynep, MA (BArch, MArch Istanbul, PhD Harvard) 

Ordinary Fellow, Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture 

Honorary Fellows 

Adams, John W (BA Rutgers, JD Seton Hall, LLM New York) 

Armitage, Simon (MA Manchester) 

Barnard, John Michael, MA, BLitt 

Berman, Alan Jay (MA Cambridge, Dip Arch UCL) 

Bostridge, Ian, MA, DPhil (MPhil Cambridge) 

Bradshaw, William Peter, the Rt Hon Lord Bradshaw (MA Reading), FCIT 

Brendel, Alfred, KBE 

Burgen, Sir Arnold (Stanley Vincent) (MB, MD London, MA Cambridge), FRCP, FRS 

Chan, Gerald Lokchung (BS, MS California, SM, SCD Harvard) 

Davies, Dame Kay Elizabeth, MA, DPhil 

Deutsch, David, MA, DPhil (MA Cambridge) 

Ekert, Artur (MSc Krakow) DPhil 

Epstein, Sir Anthony, CBE, MA (MA, MD Cambridge, PhD, DSc London, Hon MD 

Edinburgh, Prague, Hon DSc Birm), Hon FRCP, FRCPath, Hon FRCPA, 

FRS, Hon FRSE, FMedSci 

Gellner, David Nicholas, BA, MPhil, DPhil 

Ghosh, Amitav, DPhil 

Halban, Martine (BA Sussex) 

Halban, Peter (BA Princeton) 

Hamilton, Andrew David, MA (BSc Exeter, MSc British Columbia, 

PhD Cambridge), FRS 

Hardy, Henry Robert Dugdale, BPhil, MA, DPhil 

Harrison, Simon John, (BSc London) DPhil 


49 

the record

His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, Jikmé Pema Wangchen 

Hoffman, Reid (BS Stanford) MSt 

Kennedy, Baroness Helena Ann, QC, FRSA 

Khalili, Nasser David (BA New York, PhD SOAS) 

Lee, Dame Hermione, DBE, MA, MPhil, FBA, FRSL 

Levett, Christian Clive (BTEC Durham) 

Lewis, David John 

Macdonald, Michael Christopher Archibald, MA 

Mance, Jonathan, the Rt Hon Lord Mance, MA 

Miller, Andrew, CBE, MA (BSc, PhD Edinburgh) 

Reed, Robert John, Lord Reed of Allermuir, DPhil (LLB Edinburgh, 

Hon LLD Glasgow) 

the record 

Rezek, Francisco (DipL LLB, DES Minas Gerais, PhD Paris) 

Robinson, Dame Carol Vivien (MSc Wales, PhD Cambridge) 

Sawyer, Walter, MA 

Segal, Karen Ilona Marianne 

Sorabji, Sir Richard, CBE, MA, DPhil, FBA 

Thyssen-Bornemisza, Baron Lorne 

Vike-Freiberga, President Vaira (MA Toronto, PhD McGill) 

Williams, Patricia (MA Cambridge) 

Wood, Sir Martin, OBE, MA (BA Cambridge, BSc London), FRS 

50 

Emeritus Fellows 

Abraham, Douglas Bruce, MA, DSc (BA, PhD Cambridge) 

Abramsky, Samson, MA (MA Cambridge, PhD London) 

Anderson, David Lessells Thomson, MA (MA Cambridge, BSc, PhD St Andrews) 

Austyn, Jonathan Mark, MA, DPhil 

Benson, James William, MA (BA Macalester College, MA Minnesota, 

PhD Stanford) 


Briggs, George Andrew Davidson, MA (PhD Cambridge) 

Brock, Sebastian Paul, MA, DPhil (MA Cambridge, Hon DLitt Birmingham), FBA 

Brown, Harvey Robert, MA (BSc Canterbury New Zealand, PhD London) 

Bryant, Peter Elwood, MA (MA Cambridge, PhD London), FRS 

Bunch, Christopher, MA (MB, BCh Birmingham, FRCP, FRCP Edinburgh) 

Cerezo, Alfred, MA, DPhil 

Cluver, Lucie, MSc, DPhil 

Coecke, Bob, MA (PhD Brussels) 

Conner, William James, MA (BA Grinnell) 

Curtis, Julie Alexandra Evelyn, MA, DPhil 

Davis, Christopher Mark, MA, DPhil (BA Harvard, MSA George Washington, 

PhD Cambridge) 

Deighton, Anne, MA, DipEd (MA, PhD Reading) 

Delaine, Janet, MA (BA, PhD Adelaide) 

Dercon, Stefan, BPhil, DPhil (BA Leuven) 

Francis, Martin James Ogilvie, MA, DPhil 

Galligan, Denis James, BCL MA DCL (LLB Queensland, AcSS) 

Giustino, Feliciano, MA (MSc Torino, PhD Lausanne) 

Gombrich, Richard Francis, MA, DPhil (AM Harvard) 

Goodman, Martin David, MA, DPhil, DLitt, FBA 

Gordon, Alan Fleetwood, CBE, MA, FCMI 

Harriss-White, Barbara, MA (DipAgSc, MA Cambridge, PhD East Anglia) 

Hoare, Sir Charles Antony Richard, MA, DFBCS, FRS 

Isaacson, Daniel Rufus (AB Harvard) MA, DPhil 

Jarron, (Thomas) Edward Lawson (MA Cambridge) 

Kennedy, William James, MA, DSc (BSc, PhD London) 

Kurtz, Donna Carol, MA, DPhil (BA Cincinnati, MA Yale), FSA 

Langslow, David Richard, MA, DPhil 


51 

the record

the record 

Mann, Joel Ivor, CNZM, DM (MBChB, PhD Cape Town), FFPHM, FRACP, FRSNZ 

McDiarmid, Colin John Hunter, MA, MSc, DPhil (BSc Edinburgh) 

McKenna, William Gillies, MA (BSc Edinburgh, PhD, MD Albert Einstein) 

Meisami, Julie Scott, MA (MA, PhD California Berkeley) 

Neil, (Hugh) Andrew Wade (MB, BS, DSc London, MA Cambridge) MA, FFPHM, 

FRCP, RD 

Penney, John Howard Wright, MA, DPhil (MA Pennsylvania) 

Perrins, Christopher Miles, MA, DPhil, (BSc London), FRS, LVO 

Ramble, Charles Albert Edward, MA, DPhil (BA Durham) 

Rawlins, (John) Nicholas Pepys, MA DPhil 

Rice, Ellen Elizabeth, MA, DPhil (BA Mount Holyoke College, MA Cambridge) 

Rickaby, Rosalind, MA (MA PhD Cambridge) 

Robey, David John Brett, MA 

Robinson, Chase Frederick, MA (BA Brown, PhD Harvard) 

Sanderson, Alexis Godfrey James Slater, MA 

Shotton, David Michael, MA, DPhil (MA, PhD Cambridge) 

Tomlin, Roger Simon Ouin, MA, DPhil, FSA 

Walker, Susan Elizabeth Constance, MA (BA, PhD London), FSA 

Watson, Oliver, MA (BA Durham, PhD London) 

Watts, Anthony Brian, MA (BSc London, PhD Durham) 

Wilkie, Alex James, MA (MSc, PhD London), FRS 

Wyatt, Derek Gerald, MA, DPhil 

Supernumerary Fellows 

Barber, Peter Jeffrey, BA, MPhil, DPhil 

Bhaskaran, Harish, MA (BE Pune, MS PhD Maryland) 

Brockdorff, Neil, MA (BSc Sussex, PhD Glasgow) 

Clemit, Pamela Anne, BA, MPhil, DPhil 

Coleman, John Steven, MA (BA, DPhil York) 

Collins, Paul Thomas (MA, PhD UCL) 

52 


Crabbe, Michael James Cardwell, FRGS, MA (BSc Hull, MSc, PhD, 

DSc Manchester) FRSA, FRSC, CChem, CBiol, FIBiol, FLS 

Cronk, Nicholas, BA, DPhil 

De Roure, David, MA (PhD Southampton) 

Ehlers, Anke (Hab. Marburg) MA (PhD Tübingen) 

Ferreira, Pedro, MA (Licentiate Lisbon, PhD Imperial) 

Gwilym, Stephen, DPhil (MBBS London) 

Hodges, Christopher, OBE, MA (PhD KCL) 

Jabb, Lama, MA, DPhil (MSc SOAS) 

Kaski, Kimmo Kauko Kullervo, DPhil (MSc Helsinki) 

Kay, Philip Bruce, MA, MPhil, DPhil, FSA 

Keene, David, DPhil (MSc Birmingham) 

Key, Timothy James Alexander, DPhil (BVM&S Edinburgh, MSc London) 

Kurkchiyan, Marina (MSc Yereven, PhD Vilnius) 

Landrus, Matthew, MA, DPhil (MA Louisville) 

Leeson, Paul (MB BChir, PhD Cambridge, BSc St And, FRCP) 

Maltby, Colin Charles, MA 

Merrony, Mark Woodridge, MPhil, MSt, DPhil (BA Wales St David’s) 

Mueller, Benito, MA, DPhil (Dip ETH Zurich) 

Nuttall, Patricia Anne, OBE, MA (BSc Bristol, PhD Reading) 

Paine, Jonathan, BA, MPhil, DPhil 

Perry, Dan, MBChB (PhD Liverpool) 

Pottle, Mark Christopher, MA, DPhil (BA Sheffield) 

Quinn, Catherine Ward, EMBA (BA Birmingham, MA Ohio State) 

Seymour, Leonard William, MA (BSc Manchester, PhD Keele) 

Sheldon, Benjamin Conrad, MA (MA Cambridge, PhD Sheffield) 

Titchener, Andrew (MA Cambridge, MSc Cardiff) 

Toth, Ida, MA, DPhil (BA, MPhil Belgrade) 


53 

the record

Tucker, Margaret Elizabeth, MA, DPhil 

Willett, Sir Keith Malcolm, MA (MB BS London), FRCS 

Zeitlyn, David (MSc London) MA, DPhil (PhD Cambridge) 

the record 

54 

Research Fellows 

Bales, Adam (MA Monash, PhD Cambridge) 

Banella, Laura (MA Pisa, PhD Padua) 

Barrett, Gordon, MPhil (BA Mount Allison, PhD Bristol) 

Bortone, Pietro, MPhil, DPhil 

Bowden, Thomas, DPhil (MA St Andrews) 

Cagnan, Hayriye (BSc Cornell, MSc Imperial, PhD Amsterdam) 

Castello Palomares, Alfredo (BSc, PhD Madrid) 

Cohn, Martin, MA (MSc Denmark, PhD Copenhagen) 

Fallon, Maurice (MSc Dublin, PhD Cambridge) 

Georgieva, Antoniya (BSc Technical Univ Sofia, PhD Portsmouth) 

Geurds, Alexander (MA, PhD Leiden) 

Kayachev, Boris (Diplom Russia, PhD Leeds) 

Kennedy-Allum, Kate (BA, PhD Cambridge, MA KCL, Dip RC Mus) 

Weinrebe Fellow in Life Writing 

Lechterman, Theodore (MA, PhD Princeton) 

Mahdi, Adam (MSc Kracow, MSc, PhD Barcelona) 

Marletto, Chiara, DPhil (BA, MSc Turin) 

Montelongo, Yunuen (MSc Dundee, PhD Cambridge) 

Nimura, Courtney (MA London, PhD Reading) 

Palacios-Gonzalez, Cesar (MPhil Mexico, PhD Manchester) 

Smith, Olivia, MA (BA UEA, MA, PhD London) 

Tanner, Rachel, BA, DPhil 

Viney, Tim (MBiol Bath, PhD Basel) 

Williamson, Victoria (BSc, PhD Bath) 


Stipendiary Junior Research Fellow 

Page-Perron, Emilie (BA Quebec, MA Geneva, PhD Toronto) Assyriology 

Junior Research Fellows 

Al-Rashid, Moudhy, MPhil, DPhil 

Andersen, Anna (MA, PhD London) 

Araneda Machuca Gabriel (MA Chile, PhD Innsbruck) 

Arantes, Virginie (MA Liege, PhD Brussels) Wiener Anspach 

Ashkenazi, Shaked (MSc, PhD Weizmann) 

Baitner, Hallel (MA, PhD Jerusalem) 

Bardelli, Martino (MSc Switzerland, PhD London) 

Bongianino, Umberto, MPhil, DPhil 

Bonilla Osorio, Ruy Sebastian, DPhil (BS Los Andes, MPhil Cambridge) 

Bruche, Susann (Diplom Leipzig, MCRS, PhD Imperial) 

Carlebach, Naomi, DPhil (BSc Jerusalem) 

Chatterjee, Mihika, MPhil, DPhil 

Christoforo, Mark Greyson (BA Notre Dame, MA Georgia Tech, PhD Stanford) 

Clavel-Vazquez, Adriana (BA, MPhil Mexico, PhD Sheffield) 

Collins, Katherine (MA, PhD West of England) 

Dafinca, Ruxandra, MSc, DPhil (BSc Jacobs Bremen) 

Davis, Emma (MSc, PhD Warwick) 

Degli Esposti, Michelle, BA, DPhil 

Doody, Brendan (MA Lincoln, PhD Durham) 

Forrow, Aden (BA Middlebury, PhD Massachusetts) 

Fransham, Mark, MSc, DPhil 

Gassman, Mattias, MPhil (MA Minnesota, DPhil Cambridge) 

Genaro-Motti, Silvia (MSc Sao Paulo, PhD Milan) 

Godin, Marie Veronique, MSc (PhD London) 


55 

the record

the record 

Grecksch, Kevin (MA Leipzig, PhD Oldenburg) 

Green, Alice, DPhil (MChem St Andrews) 

Hampton, Sam, BA, DPhil 

Hass, Binesh, MSt, DPhil 

Haskett, Tim, (BSc, PhD Murdoch) 

Hatfield, Peter, DPhil (MSci Cambridge) 

Herskowitz, Daniel, DPhil (BA Israel, MA Hebrew) 

Hsiao, Yaling, MA (BA Taiwan, PhD Wisconsin) 

Jackson, Cailah, MSt, DPhil 

Kefelian, Anahide (BA, MA Lyon, PhD Sorbonne) 

Kim, Young Chan, DPhil (MRes Nottingham) 

Kolpashnikova, Kamila (BA Yakutsk, MA Tokyo, PhD Columbia) 

Lachman, Jamie, MSc, DPhil (BA Yale) 

Lu, Yi (PhD Harvard) 

Lutomski, Corinne (BSc Wayne, DPhil Indiana) 

Makarchev, Nikita, MSc (PhD Cambridge) 

Matke-Bauer, Anna-Katharina (MA, PhD Oldenburg) 

Metcalfe David, DPhil (MSc Edinburgh) 

Molina-Munoz, Adriana (MA Costa Rica, PhD Illinois) 

Ozdemir, Tugrul (BSc Bilkent, PhD Vienna) 

Parkinson, Rachel (BSc, PhD Saskatchewan) 

Pradhan, Uma, DPhil (MA Sussex) 

Queloz, Matthieu (MA Zurich, PhD Basel) 

Rassi, Salam, DPhil (BA, MA SOAS) 

Robert, Martin (BA, MA, PhD Quebec) 

Robinson, Natasha, MSc, DPhil 

Rudgard, William (MSc, PhD London) 

Salman, Mootaz (MSc, PhD Sheffield) 

Sandri, Maria Giovanna (MA Venice, PhD Pisa) 

56 


Schmid, Nora (MA, PhD Berlin) 

Shalev, Nir, DPhil (MA Tel Aviv) 

Shao, Shuai (MA, PhD Wisconsin-Madison) 

Tarruell, Cecilia, MA (MA, PhD Madrid) 

Tennie, Felix, DPhil (Diplom Hamburg, MASt Cambridge) 

Wang, Guanlin (BEng Jiliang, PhD China) 

Watteyne, Simon (BA, MA, PhD Brussels) Wiener Anspach 

Winkler, Andreas, MA (BA, MA, PhD Uppsala) 

Yamaura, Chigusa (MA Chicago, PhD Rutgers) 

Zhao, Pu, (BSc Fudan, PhD Cambridge) 

Zharkevich, Ina, MPhil, DPhil 

Creative Arts Fellow 

Brennan, Tom (BA American Theatre Arts) 

Elections and Admissions 

Governing Body Fellow 

El Khachab, Chihab, DPhil (BA Ottawa) 

the record 

Emeritus Fellows 

Abramsky, Samson, MA (MA Cambridge, PhD London) 

Austyn, Jonathan Mark, MA, DPhil 

Coecke, Bob, MA (PhD Brussels) 

Curtis, Julie Alexandra Evelyn, MA, DPhil 

Goodman, Martin David, MA, DPhil, DLitt, FBA 

Supernumerary Fellows 

Gwilym, Stephen, DPhil (MBBS London) 

Keene, David, DPhil (MSc Birmingham) 

Titchener, Andrew (MA Cambridge, MSc Cardiff) 


57

Honorary Fellow 

Sawyer, Walter, MA 

Research Fellows 

Bales, Adam (MA Monash, PhD Cambridge) 

Banella, Laura (MA Pisa, PhD Padua) 

Bowden, Thomas, DPhil (MA St Andrews) 

Lechterman, Theodore (MA, PhD Princeton) 

Montelongo, Yunuen (MSc Dundee, PhD Cambridge) 

Palacios-Gonzalez, Cesar (MPhil Mexico, PhD Manchester) 

Tanner, Rachel, BA, DPhil 

the record 

Junior Research Fellows 

Andersen, Anna (MA, PhD London) 

Araneda Machuca, Gabriel (MA Chile, PhD Innsbruck) 

Arantes, Virginie (MA Liege, PhD Brussels) Wiener Anspach 

Carlebach, Naomi, DPhil (BSc Jerusalem) 

Davis Emma (MSc, PhD Warwick) 

Green, Alice, DPhil (MChem St Andrews) 

Herskowitz, Daniel, DPhil (BA Israel, MA Hebrew) 

Kim, Young Chan, DPhil (MRes Nottingham) 

Lu, Yi (PhD Harvard) 

Makarchev, Nikita, MSc (PhD Cambridge) 

Metcalfe, David, DPhil (MSc Edinburgh) 

Robinson, Natasha, MSc, DPhil 

Salman Mootaz (MSc, PhD Sheffield) 

Sandri, Maria Giovanna (MA Venice, PhD Pisa) 

Shao, Shuai (MA, PhD Wisconsin-Madison) 

58 


Wang, Guanlin (BEng Jiliang, PhD China) 

Watteyne, Simon (BA, MA, PhD Brussels) Wiener Anspach 

Creative Arts Fellow 

Brennan, Tom (BA American Theatre Arts) 

Visiting Scholars in residence or Remote during 

the academic year 2020–21 

Akisik Karakullukcu, Aslihan (BA Brown University, MA Bosphorus, PhD Harvard) 

Amerasinghe Ganendra, Shalini (BA, MA Cambridge, LLM Columbia) 

Bentz, Anne-Sophie (BA Strasbourg, MA, PhD Geneva) 

Bonnerjee, Samraghni (BA, MA Calcutta, PhD Sheffield) (Remote) 

Bugliani, Paolo (BA, MA, PhD Pisa) 

Dasgupta, Rana, BA (MA Wisconsin-Madison) 

Dubochet, Lucy (MA, Geneva, MA University for Peace, MRes, PhD LSE) 

(Remote) 

Ebler, Daniel (BSc, MSc Zurich, PhD Hong Kong) 

Effe, Alexandra (BA, MA Freiburg, PhD London) (Remote) 

Galnoor, Itzhak (BA Hebrew University, MA, PhD Syracuse University) 

Gianoncelli, Eve, MA, PhD (MA Paris, PhD Paris) 

Griffin, Michael, DPhil (BA Bath, MPhil) (Remote) 

Laerke, Mogens (BA, MA Copenhagen, MPhil, PhD Paris) (Remote) 

Mirkos, Triantafyllos (MSc LSE, LLM, LLB University College London) (Remote) 

Nwosu, Oge (BA Cambridge, MA Guildhall School of Music and Drama) 

Ozlu, Nilay (BArch METU, MBA San Francisco, MArch Yildiz, PhD Bosphorus) 

Parker, Louisa (BA, MA Leeds, PhD Loughborough) (Remote) 

Peaker, Carol DPhil (BA Toronto, MA London) (Remote) 

Przepiórkowski, Adam (MSc, PhD Warsaw, PhD Tübingen) 

Rainhorn, Judith, (MA, Paris-Diderot, Paris-Nanterre, PhD Tours) 


59 

the record

Sakashita, Chikashi (BA International Christian University, BA, MA Tokyo) 

(Remote) 

Schirg, Bernhard (MA, PhD Gőttingen) 

Singh, Pritam, DPhil (BA, MA Panjab, MPhil Jawaharlal Nehru) 

Smagur, Emilia (MA, PhD Krakow) 

Xue, Hui (BA China, MA Stockholm, PhD Macquarie) 

CARA Visiting Scholar 

Coskun, Murat (BA Kocaeli, MA, PhD Sheffield) from September 2020 

the record 

Graduate students 

Acuña Csillag, Gabriel (MSc Law and Finance) 

Aggarwal, Daattavya (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Ahmad, Haseeb (EMBA (Jan)) 

Akpakwu, Stephen Chinedu (MBA) 

Al-Atari, Lilian (MPhil Development Studies) 

Almeida, Stefanie Joan (MSc Economics for Development) 

Alrefae, Tarek (MSc Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing) 

Amani, Valerie Asiimwe Alexander (MFA (Full-time)) 

Anderson, Talah (DPhil Oriental Studies) 

Aquilina, Laura (MJur) 

Arlt, Svenja Tabea (DPhil Archaeology (Full-time)) 

Ashraghi, Mohammad Reza (DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) 

Azhar, Nimra (MSc Economics for Development) 

Badovska, Stepanyda (MSc Law and Finance) 

Bartha, Benedek András (MPhil Tibetan and Himalayan Studies) 

Baxter-Jones, Owen (MSt Women’s Studies) 

Beal, Samuel Jacob (MSt History – History of War) 

Bechteler, Christian (DPhil Materials) 

60 


Bent, Justine Olivia (MSc African Studies) 

Bentley, Catherine Eleanor (MSt History – Early Modern History 1500–1700) 

Benussi, Elias (DPhil Computer Science) 

Bergold, Louisa Marion Ulrike (MSt History – Early Modern History 1500–1700) 

Bhalla, Ananya (MSc Integrated Immunology) 

Bharadwaj, Sriram Sekhar (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Biering-Sørensen, Tor (MSc Clinical Trials (Part-time)) 

Biniari, Stavroula (MJur) 

Bobboi, Saudatu Ahmed (MSc Energy Systems) 

Bohr, Nils Jacob Wilhelm (MSc Economics for Development) 

Bourigault, Emmanuelle (Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Sciences: 

Responsible and Reproducible Research (CDT)) 

Bratton, William James Anthony (DPhil Geography and the Environment) 

Brown, Katie Leanne (MSc Psychological Research (Direct Entry)) 

Buchanan-smith, Megan Grace (MSt History of Art and Visual Culture) 

Buckland, Adam Jeffrey Boltar (Master of Public Policy) 

Buys, Elinor Anne (MPhil Law) 

Cader, Fathima Aaysha (MSc Clinical Trials (Part-time)) 

Campbell, James Francis (DPhil Socio-Legal Studies (Part-time)) 

Carr, Christie (DPhil Oriental Studies) 

Carroll, Gregory David (MSc Mathematical Sciences) 

Caspi, Benjamin (DPhil Oriental Studies) 

Chan, Long Landon (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Chatterjee, Ipshita (MSc Computer Science) 

Cheng, Xingrui (DPhil Materials) 

Cheng, Zehua (DPhil Computer Science) 

Chin Soto, Jay Sang (MPhil Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics) 

Chow, Yui Kee Raphael (MSc Law and Finance) 


61 

the record

Christofyllakis, Konstantinos (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Civetta, Nicholas Anthony (MSc Energy Systems (24 Months)) 

Colon-Perez, Andrea Nicole (MSc Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience) 

Colonna, Giuseppe (DPhil Philosophy) 

Colvero Maraschin, Natália Regina (MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy) 

Coulton, Jennifer Ewa (MSt Medieval Studies) 

Coutts, Ophelia Harriet (MSc Russian and East European Studies) 

Cowtan, Alexander (DPhil Computer Science) 

Cronin, Michael James (EMBA (Sept)) 

Cunningham, Christine (MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology) 

D’Armau De Bernede, Alexis Marie-Joseph 

(MSt History of Art and Visual Culture) 

the record 

Dausgaard, Christoffer Hentzer (MSc Sociology) 

Dobbie, Hannah Abigail (MSt History of Art and Visual Culture) 

Domeneghini, Caterina (DPhil English) 

Dong, Shi (MPhil Sociology and Demography) 

Dong, Ye (MSc Theoretical and Computational Chemistry) 

Drabovica, Darta (DPhil Education (Full-time)) 

Duneau, Fanny Evelyne Helene (DPhil Computer Science) 

Ebeze, Odera Chiamaka (MPhil Development Studies) 

Eguiluz Hernandez, Kevin Teobaldo (MBA) 

Eigler, Konradin Thomas (DPhil History) 

El Hassan El Rifai, Wael Omar (EMBA (Sep)) 

Elizondo Garcia, Isaac (MSc Energy Systems) 

Elshenawy, Badran Mohamed Badran Abdelsalam (DPhil Oncology) 

Erdal, Erkin (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Faghih, Amir Hossein (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Fan, Xiang (MSc Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology) 

62 


Farfal, Jan Karol (DPhil Area Studies (Russia and East Europe)) 

Favell Gallifant, Cameron Alexander (DPhil Materials) 

Federer, Simon John (MSc Musculoskeletal Sciences) 

Feng, Ruoyang (MSc Statistical Science) 

Ferder, Romi (MPhil Politics: Political Theory) 

Florenz, Frederik Georg (DPhil International Relations) 

Fobe, Cédric (MSc Law and Finance) 

Friend, Isaac Charles (DPhil Computer Science) 

Fuemmeler, Bryce Daniel (MSc Economic and Social History) 

Gale, Harrison Renee (MSt Film Aesthetics) 

Gao, Yexuan (MSc Energy Systems) 

Geddes, Thomas Joseph Des Garets (MSc Sociology (Part-time)) 

Gedikli-Gorali, Naide (DPhil Oriental Studies) 

Giorkas, Konstantinos (MPhil Law) 

Glushkova, Anastasi (MSc Statistical Science) 

the record 

Goodair, Benjamin James (DPhil Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation) 

Graf Thun-Hohenstein, Siegfried (MSc(Res) Organic Chemistry) 

Grennan, Isaac Claude (DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) 

Grohmann, Jakub Grzegorz (MSc Statistical Science) 

Guardiola, Laia Roxane (MJur) 

Haddad, Ali Abdul-Rehmadn Mahmoud (EMBA (Sept)) 

Hadjipaschalis, Andreas (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Harbord, Sophie (Environmental Research (NERC DTP)) 

Hatibie, Taufan Ariq Hidayatullah (MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy) 

Hawes-Iafrate, Sarah Rachel (MSt Slavonic Studies) 

He, Jingxuan (MSc Mathematical and Computational Finance) 

Heath, Cai Julian (DPhil Population Health (Part-time)) 


63

the record 

64 

Henderson, Eva Hanna Evelina (DPhil Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics) 

Hillyer, Jack David (DPhil Engineering Science) 

Hirst, Sabrina Lucie (MSt History - Medieval History) 

Hoeltgen, Benedikt Tim Antonius (MSc Computer Science) 

Holmström, Ebba Ellen (MSc African Studies) 

Holt, Nicola Rachel (DPhil Medieval and Modern Languages (Full-time)) 

Horton, Elizabeth (DPhil Medical Sciences) 

Hughes, Austin Tyler (MPhil Japanese Studies) 

Humberstone, Andrew Richard (MSc Teacher Education) 

Humphries, Michael William (MSt Music (Musicology)) 

Huynh, Tuan Quoc (DPhil Oriental Studies) 

Illiano, Sabrina Maria (DPhil Anthropology) 

Ito, Shugo (MSt Diplomatic Studies (Full-time)) 

Jang, Myeongjun (DPhil Computer Science) 

Janowski, Roselinde Katharina (DPhil Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation) 

Jarvis, Anthony Howard (MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies) 

Jedding, Nicole Michele 

(MSc Evidence-Based Soc Intervention and Policy Evaluation) 

Jehart, Tejo (DPhil Engineering Science) 

Jeon, Kelsea Ahjin (MPhil Socio-Legal Research) 

Jevtic, Lucas (MSc Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing) 

Jing, Yixiong (DPhil Engineering Science) 

Jiwa, Alisha (MSc Energy Systems) 

Jones, Anna Lee (Environmental Research (NERC DTP)) 

Jones, Carys Vittoria (DPhil Zoology) 

Juarez Rocha, Humberto (MSc Latin American Studies) 

Kamarudin, Muhammad Aliff Aiman Bin 

(MSc Education (Child Development and Education)) 


Kang, Daniel Shin Un (Master of Public Policy) 

Karmy Colombo, Josefa Andrea (MSc Education 

(Child Development and Education)) 

Karstens, Malin Inga (DPhil Experimental Psychology (Direct Entry)) 

Kelley, Jason (DPhil History) 

Keßler, Christina Annette (MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy) 

Khan, Abdul Wahid Wahid (MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance) 

Khatri, Sakshi Singh (MSc Water Science, Policy and Management) 

Kloepfer, Dominik Alexander 

(Auto Intelligent Machines and Systems (EPSRC CDT)) 

Kong, Wan Ting (MSc Integrated Immunology) 

Kovacs, Boldizsar (MSc Clinical Trials (Part-time)) 

Krastev, Pancho Borisov (MSc Statistical Science) 

Krejcie, Jessica Nicole (Master of Public Policy) 

Kressel, Hannah Yael (MSt History of Art and Visual Culture) 

Kupka, Danny (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Kwon-Salkin, Sekoah Onnuri (MPhil Development Studies) 

Küstermann, Leon David (MSc Comparative Social Policy) 

Lalvani, Simiran (DPhil International Development) 

Lam, Man-Wah (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Lapalikar, Maitrai Parag (MSc Modern South Asian Studies) 

Lason, Wojciech (DPhil Clinical Medicine) 

Law, Shu Ting (MSc History of Science, Medicine and Technology) 

Laylor, Veniecia Abby-Gayle (Master of Public Policy) 

Lee, Kun (DPhil Social Policy) 

Legg, Frederick Jack (MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice) 

Liao, Tizhong (DPhil Law (Part-time)) 

Lin, Xiaoyu (MSc Economics for Development) 


65 

the record

Liu, Dimin (MPhil Economics) 

Liu, Feng (DPhil Molecular and Cellular Medicine) 

Liu, Zongyue (DPhil History (HSM and ESH)) 

Lloyd, Hannah (MPhil Development Studies) 

Lo, Yat Long (MSc Computer Science) 

London, Charles (MSc Computer Science) 

Lopez Ospina, Ines Veronica (MJur) 

Lowe, Christopher Sebastian 

(MPhil History – Modern British History 1850–present) 

Lu, Kai (DPhil Computer Science) 

Lu, Ziyu (DPhil Inorganic Chemistry) 

Luo, Henglong (DPhil Sociology) 

the record 

Lynn, Ailie Estelle (MSc Russian and East European Studies) 

Lyu, Zirong (MSc Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology) 

M’Charrak, Amine (DPhil Computer Science) 

Manley, Helen Louise (DPhil Psychiatry) 

Margaritaki, Olga (DPhil Molecular and Cellular Medicine) 

Marshall Payne, Freya Belle (DPhil Education (Full-time)) 

Mavrogiannis, Matthew (BPhil Philosophy) 

McAuliffe, Thomas (DPhil History) 

McCallion, Oliver (DPhil Surgical Sciences) 

McGeoch, Luke John (MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology) 

Meng, Jiayao (DPhil Engineering Science) 

Mernyei, Péter (MSc Computer Science) 

Mi, Ella Zhelong (MSc Computer Science) 

Miao, Yirun (MSc Integrated Immunology) 

Michalski, Anton Thomas (MPhil Economics) 

Morrison, Paul (MSt Slavonic Studies) 

66 


Muthukumarapillai, Premavathanan (MSc Clinical Trials (Part-time)) 

Nakkazi, Annet (MSc Radiation Biology (Direct Entry)) 

Nekrasov, Ilya (MSc Law and Finance) 

Newman, Thomas (MSc Russian and East European Studies) 

Ng, Aik Seng (DPhil Medical Sciences) 

Niazi Varnamkhasti, Ali (Master of Public Policy) 

Noguchi, Koichi (MSc Water Science, Policy and Management) 

Normand, Yannis (MSc Law and Finance) 

Nwaugbala, Glory (DPhil Law) 

O’Neill, Ryan Kevin (MSc Economic and Social History) 

Oguntade, Ayodipupo Sikiru (DPhil Population Health) 

Ohsada, Sari (MSc Environmental Change and Management) 

Omer, Amina Saadeldin Abdelmotalab (MSc Pharmacology) 

Park, Robin Yijung (MSc Social Data Science) 

Patel, Mohammed (MSc Law and Finance) 

Paterson, Melissa Anne (DPhil Primary Health Care (Part-time)) 

Patsalias, Athanasios (DPhil Oncology) 

Paulus, Estelle Laura Verena (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Peña Leal, Nicolas (MSc Law and Finance) 

Pham, Huu Dang Nhat (DPhil Computer Science) 

Pinchetti, Luca (MSc Computer Science) 

Ping, Xueye (MSc Mathematical and Computational Finance) 

Poulot, Gaspard Manuarii (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Pritchard, Emma Elizabeth (DPhil Clinical Medicine) 

Promi, Maisha Maliha (MSc Pharmacology) 

Psychas, Hanna Eilitta (MSt Women’s Studies) 

Rabin, Molly Andrea Tuulikki 

(MSc Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (Full-time)) 


67 

the record

Rahal Pretti, Luiz Guilherme (Master of Public Policy) 

Ramtoula, Benjamin Nadir (Auto Intelligent Machines and Systems (EPSRC CDT)) 

Rayden, Lydia May (MSc Comparative Social Policy) 

Ren, Sichen (MSc Education (Higher Education)) 

Reville, Rachel Laura (DPhil History (Part-time)) 

Richmond, Katherine Charlotte L’Estrange (MSc Economic and Social History) 

Riedesel Freiin Zu Eisenbach, Annabelle (MSc Sociology) 

Robbins, Elizabeth Hannah Joan (Interdisciplinary Bioscience (BBSRC DTP)) 

Robinson, William Dare Roper (MSt Theology) 

Rodriguez Montero, Francisco (DPhil Astrophysics) 

Rodriguez Plazas, Fernando Urkiola (DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) 

the record 

Rotilu, Maria Oluwafunmike (MBA) 

Roy, Praveen Kumar (MSc Clinical Trials (Part-time)) 

Ryan, Kevin Donald (MSt Diplomatic Studies (Full-time)) 

Sababathy, Harikumara (Master of Public Policy) 

Salihi, Rabia (MSc Refugee and Forced Migration Studies) 

Savoie, Patrick Joseph Marc (MSc Social Data Science) 

Scarpa, Lodovico (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Schlemmer, Michael André (MJur) 

See, Zheng Hong (BCL) 

Sermon, James John (DPhil Clinical Neurosciences) 

Shatrunjay, Arjun (MPhil Development Studies) 

Shelton, Edward (DPhil Engineering Science (Part-time)) 

Shelton, John Griffin Masefield (MSt History – Medieval History) 

Singh, Sanjula Dhillon (MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology) 

Soderberg, Philippa (MSc Migration Studies) 

68 

Solomon, Christopher John (MSc Statistical Science) 


Sorokin, Vasily (MSc Radiation Biology (1+3)) 

Sourlas-Kotzamanis, Kimon (BPhil Philosophy) 

Stall, Anton (MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics) 

Stein, Merlin David (MSc Economics for Development) 

Stephenson, Hannah Maria (MSc Precision Cancer Medicine (Part-time)) 

Storey, Oliver James Daniel (MPhil Development Studies) 

Strube, Tom (MSc Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing) 

Tain, Eva Amara (MSt History of Art and Visual Culture) 

Takehana, Mei (MPhil Development Studies) 

Tang, Yingxian (MSc Social Science of the Internet) 

Taufiq, Muhammad Faaiz (DPhil Statistics) 

Thayanandan, Tony (DPhil Psychiatry) 

Thomas, Lauren Catherine (MSc Social Data Science) 

Thursfield, Dylan John (DPhil English) 

Timmermans, Kiki Laura (MSt Philosophy of Physics) 

the record 

Tong, Jason Chung Lim (DPhil Medical Sciences) 

Trautner, Viktoria Elisabeth (DPhil Earth Sciences (Full-time)) 

Tucker, Elena (DPhil History) 

Turner-Fussell, Edward Reginald (MSt Late Antique and Byzantine Studies) 

Vaiciukynaite, Justina (MPhil Russian and East European Studies) 

Vally, Zahir (MSc Clinical Trials (Part-time)) 

Van de Moortel, Dragana (DPhil History (Part-time)) 

Vankadari, Madhu Babu (DPhil Computer Science) 

Vergara Murillo, Alicia (DPhil Oriental Studies) 

Viega, Isabella Elena (MSt English (1830–1914)) 

Vlcek, Filip (MJur) 

Waite, Isobel (MSc Education (Research Design and Methodology (Part-time)) 


69

the record 

Wang, Jiaxin (MSc Sociology) 

Wang, Jingsi (MPhil Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology) 

Wang, Pinqi (DPhil Organic Chemistry) 

Wang, Xinyi (MSc Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (Full-time)) 

Wang, Xinyu (MSc Sociology) 

Wankhede, Asang (MPhil Law) 

Warburton, Jack (MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice) 

Warnatsch, Rahel Johanna (MSc Education (Child Development and Education)) 

Wells, Adam Stewart (DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics) 

Welsh, Anna Katherine (MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy) 

Wetzel, Johanna Marie (DPhil International Development) 

Wiendl, Theresa (MBA) 

Wiese, Samuel Cornelius (DPhil Computer Science) 

Wildi, William Trevor (DPhil Engineering Science) 

Williams, Archie John (MPhil Islamic Art and Architecture) 

Williams, Gwenllian Carey (MSc Psychological Research (Direct Entry)) 

Winterhalter, Benedikt Louis Alfred (MSt Ancient Philosophy) 

Wu, Cheng-Cheng (MSc Environmental Change and Management) 

Xin, Cheng (DPhil Medical Sciences) 

Xin, Sangminjie (MSc Mathematical and Computational Finance) 

Xiong, Shaobai (MSc Archaeology) 

Xu, Juntong (MSc Radiation Biology (Direct Entry)) 

Xu, Zihan (MPhil Medical Anthropology) 

Yang, Xinze (DPhil Materials) 

Yoo, Woongseon (DPhil Computer Science) 

Yoong, Guo-Zheng Theodore (MSc Mathematical and Computational Finance) 

Yu, Eunice Hyun-Gyoung (DPhil History of Art) 

Yu, Runlong (MSc Statistical Science) 

Zeng, Chijing (MSc Statistical Science) 

70 


Zeufack, Sergine Cindy Metsakem (MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology) 

Zhang, Meiwen (DPhil Clinical Medicine) 

Zhang, Wenjia (MSc Teacher Education) 

Zhao, Jinyi (DPhil Molecular and Cellular Medicine) 

Zhu, Sisi (MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies) 

Elected Members of Governing Body until Hilary 2022 

Yifu Ding GS) 

Caixuan Ji (GS) 

Maisha Maliha Promi (GS) 

Juan Neves Sarriegui (GS) 

Catherine Wormald (GS) 

Matthew Landrus (SF) 

Katherine Collins (JRF) in Trinity 2021 

Elected Members of General Purposes Committee 

until Hilary 2022 

Elizabeth Robbins (GS) 

Yuancheng (Tommy) Sun (GS) 

Yu Zhao (GS) 

Matthew Landrus (SF) 

the record 

Scholarships and Prizes 2020–21 

David Thomas Scholarship in Ancient Documents 

Chiara Scanga 

Jeremy Black Scholarship 

Eleanor Home 

Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize 

Tara Lee (Corpus Christi College) 

Lorne Thyssen Scholarship 

Gregory Thompson 


71

Norman Hargreaves-Mawdsley AHRC Scholarship 

Juan Ignacio Neves Sarriegui 

Norman Hargreaves-Mawdsley Clarendon Scholarship 

Hanna Psychas 

the record 

Oxford Wolfson Marriott Graduate Scholarships 

Tom Maltas 

Anna Jungbluth 

Helen Theissen 

Jessica Kelley 

Elizabeth Rose Stair 

Thomas Lewin 

Gabriela Smarrelli 

Naide Gedikli-Gorali 

Katherine Truslove 

Marieke van Beest 

Syed Munim Husain 

Lesley Nelson-Addy 

Lena Reim 

Maribel Schönewolff 

Elsa Kugelberg 

Joe Hasell 

Svenja Arlt 

Sophie Harbord 

Melissa Paterson 

Christie Carr 

Freya Marshall Payne 

Oxford Wolfson Reginald Campbell Thompson Assyriology Scholarship 

William Skelton 

Wolfson Guy Newton Clarendon Scholarship 

Garrett Bullock 

Daniya Aynetdinova 

Wolfson Harrison UKRC Quantum Foundation Scholarship 

Alexis Toumi 

Irene Rizzo 

Alexander Cowtan 

72 

Wolfson Harrison UKRC Physics Scholarship 

Joey Tindall 


Jonas Wuerzinger 

Joost Wardenier 

Francisco De Paula Rodriguez Montero 

Wolfson Isaiah Berlin Clarendon Scholarship 

Sophia Backhaus 

Domiziane Turcatti 

Oxford Centre for Life-Writing Derrill Allatt ESRC Graduate Studentship 

Freya Marshall Payne 

Degrees 2020–21 

(1 June 2020 – 31 May 2021) 

Adderley, 

Morgan Michéa 

Alomari, 

Faisal Abbas Y 

Alotaiq, Abdullah 

Anderson, 

Benjamin Goode 

Andersson, Ebba 

Margareta Gunilla 

Artinger, 

Brenna Grace 

Astigarraga Baez, 

Maria Paz 

Balaam, Toby 

Douglas 

(2019–20) Master of Public Policy 

(2019–20) MBA 

(2019–20) MSc Energy Systems 

(2019–20) MBA 

(2018–20) MPhil Development Studies 

(2018–20) MPhil Buddhist Studies 

(2019–20) Master of Public Policy 

(2016–21) Renewable Energy Marine Structures (EPSRC 

CDT), ‘Development and Calibration of Cyclic Loading Models 

for Monopile Foundations in Clays’ 

Bandara, 

Samantha Kumari (2018–20) MPhil Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology 

Battye, Holly (2019–20) MSt Slavonic Studies 

Baxi, Ruchi (2015–20) DPhil Population Health (PT), ‘Sharing infectious 

disease related data and biological samples from low resource 

settings: perspectives on ethics and governance’ 

the record 


73

the record 

Benainous, 

Hugo Louis 

Bin abdul kadir, 

Azrul 

Biswas, Manisha 

Bjøranger, 

Thea Moe 

Broketa, Matteo 

Brooke, 

Mark Daniel 

Carlebach, 

Naomi Efrat 

Carr, Christie 

Chan, Leung Sing 

Chen, Meitong 

Chin, Yong 

Chang 

Chiu, Yuk Lun 

Cho, Sunghwan 

Chou, Ying-Ching 

Cipollitti, 

Patricia Elena 

Collyer, Miltiades 

Michael Graham 

Condoleo, Elisa 

Cripovich, 

Alejandrina 

(2017–21) DPhil Oncology, ‘The repair mechanisms of 

DNA damage induced by G-quadruplexes stabilisation in 

BRCA1/2-deficient cells’ 

(2016–20) DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, ‘Ketone 

metabolism in the heart’ 

(2019–20) MSc Cognitive Evolutionary Anthropology 

(2019–20) MSt History of Art and Visual Culture 

(2019–20) MSc(Res) Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, ‘The 

role of ABCC5 in the transport of inhibitory neuropeptides 

into vesicles’ 

(2017–21) DPhil Oncology, ‘Incorporation of biological factors 

in radiation therapy treatment planning’ 

(2015–20) DPhil Experimental Psychology (Direct Entry), ‘On 

the use of confidence judgements to guide behaviour’ 

(2018–20) MPhil Cuneiform Studies 

(2017–21) DPhil Statistics, ‘Understanding Small Molecule 

Conformations using Statistical Machine Learning’ 

(2019–20) MFA (Full-time) 

(2018–20) MPhil Sociology and Demography 

(2019–20) MSc Mathematical and Computational Finance 

(2016–21) DPhil Engineering Science, ‘Physical Layer Security 

for Visible Light Communication Systems Subject to Eavesdropper 

Location Uncertainty’ 

(2015–20) DPhil Archaeology (Full-time), ‘A Study of How 

Packaging Reveals Categorisation and Status in the Qianlong 

Emperor’s Collection’ 

(2018–20) BPhil Philosophy 

(2018–20) MSc Social Science of the Internet (Part-time) 

(2019–20) MSc Japanese Studies 

(2019–20) MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine 

74 


Crosse, 

David James 

MacDonald 

Curtis, Amanda 

Nicole 

Dai, Simin 

Davies, Daniel 

Dickinson, 

Matthew John 

Drugda, Šimon 

Dube, Mbongeni 

Egieva, Maria 

Emes, David 

Tresco 

Fàbregas Badosa, 

Didac 

Fawzy, Sherif 

Hosam Fouad 

Forward, 

David James 

Foster, Alexander 

Louis Stuart 

Gedikli-Gorali, 

Naide 

Goglio, Alessia 

Gomez Cortes, 

Cristobal 

Eduardo 

Gonzalez Farina, 

Raquel 

Gosset, Camille 

Handley, Michael 

Hanson, Megan 

Leigh Megan 

(2013–20) DPhil Zoology, ‘The social evolutionary dynamics 

of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections’ 

(2019–20) MSc Social Science of the Internet 

(2018–20) MPhil Sociology and Demography 

(2019–20) MBA 

(2016–20) DPhil Clinical Medicine, ‘Exploring the impact of 

TGF-β superfamily cytokines on HIV-1 replication’ 

(2017–20) MSt Socio-Legal Research, ‘Comparative Powers 

of Constitutional Court Presidents in World Constitutions’ 

(2019–20) MSc Energy Systems 

(2019–20) MSt Film Aesthetics 

(2019–20) MSc Economics for Development 

(2018–20) MSc Social Science of the Internet (PT) 

(2019–20) MSc Computer Science 

(2019–20) MSt Classical Hebrew Studies 

(2018–20) MPhil Medical Anthropology 

(2018–20) MPhil Islamic Art and Archaeology 

(2019–20) MSc Psychological Research (Direct Entry) 

(2019–20) MBA 

(2016–21) Ind Focused Maths Modelling (EPSRC CDT), 

‘Modelling the Mechanisms of Microsilica Particle Formation 

and Growth’ 


(2019–20) MSc Statistical Science 

(2019–20) MSc Education (Higher Education) 

the record 


75

the record 

Hao, Zelin 

Hell, Sandrine 

Holtz, Katja 

Hughes, 

Austin Tyler 

Hung, 

Chung-Chieh 

Gary 

Jabin, Nusrat 

Jessen, Gesa 

Jo, Sang Woo 

Jones, 

Gwion Wyn 

Khan, 

Yasser Shams 

Kim, Richard 

Yoonho 

Knight, Jonathan 

Knight, Timothy 

Christopher 

Koh, Cheryl 

Michaela 

Kosuge, Tetsuaki 

Kralova, Jitka 

Kroeger, Carolin 

Kylander, 

Daniel Eric 

Laerke-Hall, 

Sif Rhiannon 

(2019–20) MJur 

(2017–21) DPhil Organic Chemistry, ‘Silyl Radical-Mediated 

Late-Stage Hydrofunctionalisation of Alkenes’ 

(2019–20) MSc Migration Studies 

(2019–20) MPhil Japanese Studies 

(2019–20) MSt Archaeology 


(2017–21) DPhil Medieval and Modern Languages (Full-time), 

‘Nature After Romanticism – Literary Explorations of the 

Natural World in the Works of Heine, Lenau and Droste- 

Hülshoff’ 


(2019–20) MSt History – US History 

(2015–21) DPhil English, ‘Black Bodies: Racial Representation 

and Performance in Georgian-Period Drama’ 

(2018–20) MPhil Traditional East Asia 

(2019–20) MSt Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (AS) 

(2019–20) MSc Japanese Studies 

(2019–20) MSc Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy 

Evaluation 

(2019–20) MSc Law and Finance 

(2019–20) MSc Social Anthropology 


(2019–20) MSc Sociology 

(2019–20) MSt Greek and/or Roman History 

Law, Chess 

Man Weng (2019–20) MSt English (1700–1830) 

76 


Lawlor, 

Hannie Elenor 

Le Roux, Florian 

Leng, Houfu 

Li, Wenrui 

Linton, Charlotte 

Antoinette 

Liu, Shuhan 

Liu, Zongyue 

(2017–20) DPhil Medieval and Modern Languages (Full-time), 

‘Balancing Acts? Relational Responses to Trauma in Twenty-First 

Century French and Spanish Women’s Writing’ 

(2016–20) DPhil Condensed Matter Physics, ‘Tuning 

Light-Matter Interaction Inside Organic Microcavities Using 

Semiconducting Polymer Chain Geometry’ 

(2016–20) DPhil Molecular and Cellular Medicine, ‘Translational 

Potential of a Novel Osteoclast Inhibitor, Eliglustat, in 

Myeloma Bone Disease’ 

(2019–20) MSc Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology 

(2016–21) DPhil Anthropology, ‘Sustainability reconsidered: 

An ethnography of natural dyeing in contemporary Japan’ 


(2018–20) MPhil Economic and Social History 

Livesey, 

Matthew Terence (2019–20) MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Management 

Mabombo, 

Viviana Cecilia 

Joao 


Majczak, 

Ewa Barbara 

Manzini, 

Arianna 

Mehta, 

Kiran Alexia 

Miller-Bakewell, 

Hector John 

Mishra, Megha 

Misri, Didon 

Moller, 

Timothy Owen 

Moore, 

Brian Michael 

Nagrani, 

Arsha 

(2012–21) DPhil Anthropology (Part-time), ‘Beauty work: 

consumption, gender and hope in Yaoundé, Cameroon’ 

(2016–21) DPhil Psychiatry, ‘Citizenship, genomics, and 

mental health: An empirical bioethics study of young people’s 

attitudes towards advances in autism genomics’ 

(2017–21) DPhil History, ‘Courts and Prisons: practices of 

criminal imprisonment in the London metropolis, 1750–1845’ 

(2015–20) DPhil Computer Science, ‘Graphical Calculi and 

their Conjecture Synthesis’ 

(2019–20) MSc Social Science of the Internet 

(2019–20) BCL 

(2019–20) MSc African Studies 

(2019–20) MSt English (1900–present) 

(2016–21) DPhil Engineering Science, ‘Video Understanding 

using Multimodal Deep Learning’ 

the record 


77

the record 

O’Donohoe, 

Heather Sylvia 

Ota, 

Thomas Akira 

Pant, 

Anita Cathleen 

Partsch, Cornell 

Julie Josepha 

Rahel 

Petersen, 

Charlotte 

Wagner Santos 

Pikane, Eliza 

Pinho-Gomes, 

Ana-Catarina 

Piperno, Shirly 

Shirly 

Pretelt Harries, 

Daniela 

Rady, Nora A. 

Rahman, 

Matiur Matiur 

Rossides, Nicole 

Rowand, 

Michael Barclay 

Sagar, 

Danielle Anjali 

Saidani, Younes 

Scheven, Pascal 

Schwedhelm, 

Diana Lee 

Scriven, 

Lorel Marie 

(2018–20) MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice (PT) 

(2017–20) DPhil Engineering Science, ‘Enhancement of temperature 

diagnostics with application to dynamically compressed 

materials’ 

(2019–20) MSc Russian and East European Studies 


(2018–20) MSc Social Anthropology 

(2019–20) MSc Russian and East European Studies 

(2018–20) DPhil Women’s and Reproductive Health, ‘Management 

of Blood Pressure in Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Failure 

and Multimorbidity’ 

(2019–20) MSt Jewish Studies 

(2018–20) MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice (PT) 

(2019–20) MSc Psychological Research (Direct Entry) 

(2019–20) MSc Modern South Asian Studies 

(2019–20) MSc Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience 

(2018–20) MPhil Modern Chinese Studies 

(2016–21) DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, ‘Study of 

sex determination in mice lacking candidate genes identified 

by human exome sequencing’ 

(2018–20) MPhil Economics 


(2019–20) MBA 

(2017–21) DPhil Organic Chemistry, ‘Molecular Carbon Allotropes: 

Cyclo[n]carbons’ 

78 


Serrano, Louis 

François Raphael 

Siddiqui, 

Aliyah Iram 

Siddiqui, Misha 

Sikyta, Michal 

Sommerschield, 

Thea 

Sonnenberg, 

Lukas 

Spangenberg, 

Marlene 

Stafford, 

Grace Eleanor 

Steemers, 

Alexander 

Sebastiaan 

Stone, 

Jean-philippe 

David Germain 

Tagashira, 

Masashi 

Tang, Ziyao 

Tanghetti, Carlo 

Tebeka, 

Nchimunya 

Nelisa 

Tesfay, 

Nardos Kebreab 

Tian, Chenghao 

Trivedi, Akash 

Rajnikant 


(2019–20) MSc Modern South Asian Studies 

(2019–20) MSc Integrated Immunology 

(2018–20) MPhil International Relations 

(2016–21) DPhil Ancient History (Full-time), ‘Breaking 

boundaries: a study of socio-cultural identities in Archaic and 

Classical western Sicily’ 

(2018–20) MPhil Politics: European Politics and Society 

(2015–20) DPhil Experimental Psychology (Direct Entry), 

‘Phonological Competition during Spoken-Word Recognition 

in Infants and Adults’ 

(2017–21) DPhil Classical Archaeology, ‘Women, Gender, and 

Society in Late Antiquity: A Study in Visual Culture’ 

(2019–20) MSc Integrated Immunology 

(2016–20) DPhil History, ‘Strikes and Discontent in the 

French Empire and Beyond 1947–48’ 

(2019–20) MBA 

(2018–20) MPhil Modern Middle Eastern Studies 

(2019–20) MSt History – British and European History 

1700–1850 

(2016–21) DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, ‘Investigating 

the role of Viperin in ß-cells Function and Inflammation’ 

(2012–20) DPhil Education (Full-time), ‘What mediates the 

effects of wealth on children’s cognitive developmental trajectories 

in Ethiopia? A longitudinal analysis’ 

(2018–20) MPhil Cuneiform Studies 

(2016–20) DPhil Engineering Science, ‘High Rate Properties 

of Particulate Composites’ 

the record 


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the record 

Truslove, 

Katherine 

Stephanie 

(2018–21) DPhil Comp Philology and Gen Linguistics, ‘The 

relationship between English and German in Germany: A 

sociolinguistic study of the use of English and anglicisms, and 

attitudes towards them’ 

Valmorbida 

McSteen, 

Francesca Elise (2019–20) Master of Public Policy 

Van Balen, 

Liselotte Merel (2019–20) MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy 

von Behr, William (2019–20) MSt Greek and/or Latin Language and Literature 

Wang, Yizhi (2019–20) MSc Sociology 

Werens, 

Karolina Barbara (2019–20) MSc Archaeological Science 

Westwood, 

Ursula Anne 

Wiedemann, 

Milan 

Wiesen, 

Maik Maria 

Wollburg, Clara 

Wong, Yue Shun 

Yang, Oscar 

Yates, Malika Rae 

Yin, Zi 

Zhang, Jingwei 

Zhu, Yuxiang 

Zoulis, Rafail 

(2017–20) DPhil Ancient History (Full-time), ‘A Jewish 

Lawgiver in a Greek World: Moses in Josephus’ Antiquities in 

Light of Plutarch’s Lives’ 

(2016–21) DPhil Experimental Psychology (Direct Entry), 

‘Processes of change in cognitive therapy for posttraumatic 

stress disorder’ 

(2019–20) MSc Medical Anthropology 

(2019–20) MSc Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy 

Evaluation 

(2018–20) MPhil Politics: Political Theory 

(2012–20) DPhil Clinical Medicine, ‘MITF-Dependent Phenotypic 

Plasticity Regulates Proton-Coupled Transport and 

Controls Lineage Resistance to Acidotic Stress’ 

(2018–20) MPhil Modern Middle Eastern Studies 

(2018–20) MPhil Economics 

(2019–20) MBA 

(2016–20) DPhil Organic Chemistry, ‘Using Electrophilic Alcohols 

as Alkylating Agents for the Stereoselective Synthesis 

of Heterocycles in HFIP Solvent’ 

(2019–20) MSt Greek and/or Roman History 

80 


Personal News 

Appointments and Awards 

Eduardo Benitez-Inglott Y Ballesteros (GS) was awarded a bursary from the 

Isaiah Berlin Fund by the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages Faculty, and a 

grant by the Jewish Society of England. 

Kevin Grecksch (JRF) was appointed Departmental Lecturer and Course 

Director in the School of Geography and the Environment. 

Christopher Hodges (SF) was awarded the OBE for services to business and 

law. He has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities 

and Local Government, to the Commonhold Council to advise him on the 

implementation of the government’s policy for a national shift from leasehold to 

commonhold ownership of shared properties. He also advises other governments 

on the reform of various regulatory regimes, including food, water, energy, online 

harms, data protection, and medical devices. 

Niccolò Mugnai (RMCR), was elected Assistant Director of the Society for 

Libyan Studies. 

Juan Neves Sarriegui GS) was awarded a funding scholarship by the German 

Academic Exchange Service to spend a semester at the Free University of Berlin. 

Katja Simon (MCR) was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. 

Domiziana Turcatti (GS) was awarded a grant by the Public Engagement with 

Research Seed Fund to pursue a project with Professor Carlos Vargas-Silva called 

‘Enhancing the impact of migration research with Latin Americans in London’, 

which seeks to understand the impact of Brexit and Covid-19 on Latin American 

immigrants in London. 

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Books published by Wolfsonians 

Steven A. Beebe 

Sebastian P. Brock 

Carmen Bugan 

Kevin L Cope 

(MCR) C. S. Lewis and the Craft of Communication 

(New York: Peter Lang, 2020) 

with Timothy P. Mottet and R. David Roach, Training 

and Development: Enhancing Talent for the 21st Century 

(Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishers, 2021) 

with Susan J. Beebe and Diana K. Ivy, Communication: 

Principles for a Lifetime (Eighth Edition. New York: 

Pearson, 2021) 

(EF) An Inventory of Syriac Texts published from Manuscripts 

in the British Library (Gorgias Handbooks 50; Piscataway NJ: 

Gorgias Press, 2020) 

(HMCR) Poetry and the Language of Oppression: Essays on 

Politics and Poetics (Oxford: OUP, 2021) 

Lilies from America: New and Selected Poems (Bristol: 

Shearsman, 2019) 

Releasing the Porcelain Birds: Poems After Surveillance (Bristol: 

Shearsman, 2017) 

The House of Straw, poems (Bristol: Shearsman, 2014) 

Sulla Soglia Della Dimenticanza / On the Side of Forgetting 

(Ferrara: Edizioni Kolibris, 2014) 

Seamus Heaney and East European Poetry in Translation: 

Poetics of Exile (London: MHRA / Maney Publishing, 2013) 

Burying the Typewriter: Childhood Under the Eye of the Secret 

Police, memoir (London: Macmillan / Picador; Minneapolis: 

Graywolf, 2012) 

Crossing the Carpathians, poems (Manchester: 

Oxford Poets / Carcanet, 2004) 

(MCR) editor, Hemispheres and Stratospheres: The Idea and 

Experience of Distance in the International Enlightenment 

(Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2021). 

editor, Paper, Ink, and Achievement: Gabriel Hornstein and the 

Revival of Eighteenth-Century Scholarship (Lewisburg: Bucknell 

University Press, 2021). 


Julie Curtis 

Jacob L Dahl 

(EF) editor, New Drama in Russian: Performance, Politics and 

Protest in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (London: Bloomsbury 

Academic, 2020) 

(GBF) Ur III texts in the Schøyen Collection (Cornell University 

Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology Vol. 39, Eisenbrauns: 

Pennsylvania State University Press. 2020) 

Stephanie Dalley (MCR) The City of Babylon: a history c.2,000 BC to AD 116 

(Cambridge: CUP, 2021) 

Kevin Grecksch 

(JRF) Drought and water scarcity in the UK: Social science 

perspectives on governance, knowledge and outreach 

(Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) 

Hermione Lee (HF) Tom Stoppard: A Life (London: Faber and Faber, 2021) 

with Kate Kennedy, editor, Lives of Houses (Princeton 

University Press, 2020), which originated in a conference at 

OCLW 

Andrew Mackintosh (MCR) Getting smarter: a strategy for knowledge & innovation 

assets in the public sector: The Mackintosh report (published 

online by gov.uk, 2021) 

Iftikhar H. Malik 

(MCR) The Silk Road and Beyond: Narratives of a Muslim 

Historian (Oxford: OUP, 2020) 

Curating Lived Islam in the Muslim World: British Scholars, 

Sojourners and Sleuths (London: Routledge, 2021) 

Mark Merrony (SF) Spirit of the East: Ancient Art, 6000 BC–AD 300 

(Innsbruck: Druckerei Hernegger, 2020) 

Oliver Watson 

Merryn Williams 

(EF) Ceramics of Iran: Islamic Pottery in the Sarikhani Collection 

(Yale University Press, 2020) 

(MCR) editor, Poems for the Year 2020: Eighty Poets on the 

Pandemic (Shoestring Press, 2021) 

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Births 

To Toby Hudson (GS 2019–) and Helen Hudson: a son, Sebastian Edward Moses, a 

brother for David and Verity, in December 2020. 

To Etienne Hanelt (GS 2017–): a daughter, Callista Cora, on 10 June 2021. 

Marriages 

Ana Carol Torres Gutiérrez (GS 2018–) to Ian Jon MacDonald on 17 April, 2021. 

Kathiravan Muthu (GS 2015–16) to Soniya Dhevi on 2 July 2020. 

Personal News 

Deaths 

Marcus Banks (RF 1988–95, GBF 1995–2021, Junior Proctor 2007–08, 

Vicegerent 2014–16) on 23 October 2020, aged 60 

Bryan Sykes (MCR 1981–85, RF 1985–88, GBF 1988–2004, SRF 2004–14, EF 

2014–20) on 10 December 2020, aged 73 

George Kennedy Lyon Cranstoun (SF 1971–74, GBF 1974–89, Senior Tutor 

1975–89, EF 1989–2021) on 2 March 2021, aged 88 

Francesca Ghillani (GS 2009–14, Elected Member of Governing Body 2012–14) 

on 8 September 2021, aged 43 

Ani King-Underwood (HMCR) on 18 October 2020, aged 70 

Terry Mugglestone (Lodge Receptionist 1995–2006) on 7 February 2021, 

aged 79 

John Troyer (VF 1969, MCR 1970–2020) on 11 August 2020, aged 77 

Christopher Henry Walton MBE (Bursar and GBF 1987–95, EF 1995–2021) 

on 28 April 2021, aged 90 

84 


Obituaries 

Marcus Banks 

(1960–2020) 

Research Fellow 1988–95, Governing Body 

Fellow 1995–2021, Vicegerent 2014–16, 

died on 23 October 2020. University 

Proctor in 2007–08, he recalled his ‘year 

in sub fusc’ in the Record for 2007–08. 

This obituary is by Richard Vokes, Associate 

Professor in Anthropology at the University 

of Western Australia. 


The anthropologist Marcus Banks 

transformed our understanding of the possibilities for cultural representation 

through visual media. He also played an influential role in the wider transformation 

of anthropology, from a discipline once framed as a study of ‘exotic’ faraway 

peoples, towards one primarily concerned with the politics of social and cultural 

difference in the world around us. 

Born in Liverpool in a working-class household, where he attended New Heys 

Comprehensive School, Marcus went up to Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1978 

to read Social Anthropology. Having taken a First, he stayed on for a PhD with 

Caroline Humphrey and Deborah Swallow, completing his thesis in 1985. 

Even at that stage, Marcus’ work was breaking new ground, his doctorate being 

a study of Jainism in both Jamnagar, Gujarat, and Leicester, UK. At a time when 

anthropology was still generally equating cultures with singular places, his study 

– published in 1992 as Organizing Jainism in India and England (OUP) – was 

an exemplar for understanding how cultural forms may be also extended and 

transformed across transnational fields. Methodologically, the study was an early 

example of what came to known as ‘multi-sited ethnography’, and – in its focus 

upon Leicester – of ‘anthropology at home’. 

However, it was at Oxford that Marcus was to make his greatest contribution. 

After his appointment as a ‘Demonstrator’ at the Institute of Social and Cultural 

Anthropology (ISCA) in 1987, he remained at that university for the rest of his 

life, later being promoted to Professor (2001) and Director of the School of 

Anthropology and Museum Ethnography (2012–16). 

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A year’s training at the National Film and TV School in 1986–87 – as part of 

a special scheme set up by the Royal Anthropological Institute, designed to 

deepen ties between the discipline and the media industry – turned out to be 

transformative. From the time he arrived at Oxford, Marcus focused his energies 

upon the then nascent sub-discipline of Visual Anthropology. Over the following 

three decades he went on to establish himself as one of the world’s pre-eminent 

scholars in that field, which he re-defined in a long series of publications including 

the collections Rethinking Visual Anthropology (co-edited with Howard Morphy, 

1997) and Made to be Seen (co-edited with Jay Ruby, 2011), and the book Visual 

Methods in Social Research (2001). 

Personal News 

Beginning with studies of Indian iconography, but moving on to a range of other 

examples as well, Marcus’ contribution was to show how visual production should 

never be analysed as a ‘peripheral’ activity, the domain of a specialised group of 

individuals (‘artists’). Rather, the making of visual artefacts (of all kinds) should be 

thought of as a central – perhaps the central – means through which all people, 

everywhere, forge their identities, and order and transform the social and political 

worlds around them. In short, his interest was in the possibilities of image-making 

as a mode of cultural expression. Writing largely in an era before Facebook, 

Instagram, and other kinds of social media had become commonplace, his ideas 

were well ahead of their time, and in many ways anticipated the effects of the 

visually and media-saturated worlds in which we all now live. 

86 

It was not only Marcus’ research that was ahead of its time. So too was his 

teaching. At a time when Oxford’s anthropology syllabuses were still marked by 

the legacy of structuralist theories – with their emphasis upon such concepts as 

rules, roles, offices, and obligations – from early on Marcus’s teaching centred 

around refreshing new ideas of post-colonial theory, of de-construction, of 

the ‘new’ gender and queer theories. His textbook Ethnicity: Anthropological 

Constructions (1996) was equally forward-looking. It remains in common use for 

university courses on that subject, even today. 

All of this innovation, combined with Marcus’ personal charisma and generosity, 

endeared him to successive generations of students who went through ISCA’s taught 

Master’s programmes. He also built up strong loyalties amongst many generations of 

the Institute’s growing numbers of doctoral students (of whom I was one). 

Marcus was as supportive and committed a member of his college as he was to 

the other communities to which he belonged. He quickly became a stalwart of 

the Wolfson College community. Scrupulously calm, balanced and erudite in his 

advice and judgement on all matters, Marcus quickly gained the trust of the wider 


College body, and was elected to the Governing Body in 1995, holding a series of 

senior offices, including that of Vicegerent (2014–16). His year as Proctor (2007– 

08) won him the respect of the wider Oxford community. He leaves his mark on 

Wolfson in various ways, having been heavily involved in the College’s recent redevelopment 

scheme, having introduced a humanist ‘grace’ at formal dinners, and 

having influenced the College’s decision to hoist the LGBTQI+ flag on its flagpole. 

Marcus also leaves his mark on the wider discipline of anthropology. He 

held Visiting Professorships at the Universities of Vienna (2010), Paris V 

Descartes (2011), and Canterbury, New Zealand (2012); and sat on the Royal 

Anthropological Institute’s Film Committee (2001–05), and the European 

Association of Social Anthropologists’ Executive Committee (2017–19). 

He is survived by his partner Barrie Thomas, by his brother Martin, and by Tessa, 

the daughter of his late sister. 

Brian Buck 

Governing Body Fellow 1971– 

2002, Emeritus Fellow 2002– 

20, died on 24 July 2020 

Brian was born and brought 

up in Middlesborough, which 

in those days was in the 

North Riding of Yorkshire, 

and he surely acquired there 

the plain-speaking matter-offactness 

of his approach to 

Photo: David Robey 

life, so characteristic of that Brian Buck and Ani discuss the wine with Andrew Neil (left) 

county and so often mistaken 

at David Robey’s Silver Wedding celebration in 2006. 

by southerners for dourness of manner. After attending Middlesborough High 

School, he came up to Oxford to read Physics at Jesus College, and then went on 

to complete a DPhil in Theoretical Nuclear Physics. This enabled him to defer his 

National Service, which conveniently had been abolished by the time he finished. 

Then followed ten years of research posts in the United States at Brookhaven and 

Oak Ridge before he returned to England, having been appointed an honorary 

Colonel in order to secure transatlantic transport on a USAF plane. Later in life he 

refused to fly anywhere. 

Brian returned to Oxford in 1971 as University Lecturer in the Department 

of Physics and in the same year became a Fellow of Wolfson. He pursued his 


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88 

research with single-minded passion well into retirement, often collaborating 

with Sandy Perez from South Africa and Alan Merchant at Oxford, to produce 

an impressively long list of publications, the results of which have been described 

as ‘ground-breaking’. To an outsider his work seemed dauntingly technical, but 

Brian was always ready to give patient and lucid explanations that dispelled at 

least a little of the fog. In his funeral eulogy, David Robey said of him that ‘he 

deeply disliked all forms of pretentiousness and self-praise, and never talked up his 

own achievements: the closest I can remember him coming to that was a casual 

remark once that, for some years, every scientific topic he touched seemed to 

turn to gold. For these reasons, no doubt, he may not have received all the public 

recognition that his work merited. It would not have occurred to him to seek 

public recognition, or to complain about not receiving it.’ 

Within the College Brian regularly did what was expected of him, attending 

meetings and helping with JRF interviews, but the only administrative post he held 

was Acting Secretary to the Governing Body for a term, which he found wholly 

uncongenial. The social life of the College, on the other hand, he greatly enjoyed 

and entered into fully. 

‘I don’t see why’ was an expression that fell often from Brian’s lips. Ever the 

rationalist, he needed to be convinced of the rightness of any course of action, 

whether it was a matter of College policy or general conduct: David Robey recalls 

an evening in a pub in Jericho when Brian broke a glass and refused to make the 

required donation to the charity box because he didn’t see why he should. He 

was firm about doing what he wanted to: for several years he spent Christmas 

alone in bed with a bottle of whisky. But he was far from being a grouch, having 

a good sense of fun and a dry wit, and he was excellent company. He was a great 

collector of books and used to tour the country visiting second-hand bookshops, 

returning with amusing anecdotes about the dottier proprietors as well as his 

spoils. He had a special interest in the works of Robert Graves (he acquired a 

virtually complete set of first editions) but read voraciously and widely. In fiction 

he preferred detective stories (preferably, and rather bafflingly, not those written 

by women) and, unlike most of us, he could remember not only all the titles but 

also the details of every plot. 

With his first wife Brian had four children, and when the marriage broke up he 

looked after the two youngest (then in their early teens) in a house in Garford 

Road, stubbornly insisting on a prompt return from evening parties despite any 

ensuing sulks. He was always very proud of them all, not least of their artistic 

efforts. ‘He then had’, as David Robey has noted, ‘two significant relationships 

with women of great character, strength and achievement, and resolutely resisted 


settling down with either of them.’ Then he met Ani (King-Underwood), another 

strong and fascinating character, and capitulated; he enjoyed several years of close 

companionship with her. But the end was tragic: Brian succumbed to Alzheimer’s 

and eventually had to be moved into a nursing home, regularly and lovingly visited 

by Ani (although he no longer recognised her), until she herself was afflicted by 

motor-neurone disease. She died a few months after Brian. 

John Penney (EF), with the assistance of David Robey and Alan Merchant 

Bryan Sykes 

(1947–2020) 

Member of Common Room 1981–85, Research 

Fellow 1985–88, Governing Body Fellow 1988– 

2004, Vicegerent 2004–06, Senior Research 

Fellow 2004–14, Emeritus Fellow 2014–20, died 

on 10 December 2020 

Bryan was never happier than when he had 

a problem to solve. Sitting in his armchair at 

4.00 in the morning, a mug of tea beside him, 

pencil and paper to hand, he would toy with 

the challenge of the moment, be it scientific 

research in nature, inspiration for his latest 

book, ancestry and archetype, DIY, how to 

catch the big trout which lay beneath the river Photo: Wolfson College 

bridge or the strategy for his forthcoming 

croquet match. Even the latest of his inventions, of which there were plenty, might 

qualify for these reflections: night after night until the ‘pink wire’ moment – an 

allusion to his design of an early polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine aptly 

called the Genesmaid – when the pieces would fall neatly into place. In all his 

reasoning and practice Bryan was observant, analytical, practical and meticulous. 

The words ‘approximately’, ‘perhaps’ or ‘I think it could be …’ irritated his desire 

for clarity. 

Bryan Sykes was born in London and educated at Eltham College where he was a 

keen sportsman in rugby, cross country and swimming. He read biochemistry at 

the University of Liverpool (1966–69) and was awarded a PhD by the University 

of Bristol for his studies into the connective tissue and bone proteins elastin and 

collagen. Coming to Oxford in 1974, he joined the research teams of Martin 

Francis and Roger Smith at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and led their effort 

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90 

to demonstrate the central importance 

of the collagens in severe bone disease. 

The identification of the genetic basis 

of an inherited disorder, brittle bone 

disease (osteogenesis imperfecta), 

was a key achievement at this time. 

Bryan pursued his fascination with the 

complexities and importance of the 

collagens at the Radcliffe Infirmary and 

the John Radcliffe Hospital, and later in 

the Weatherall Institute of Molecular 

Medicine. The innovative and energetic 

tempo of research in the Institute, and 

indeed Professor Weatherall himself, were 

an inspiration which lasted many years. 

Here Bryan’s interest in the possibility of 

Oxford’s victorious croquet team in 1978. 

Bryan is bottom right 

extracting DNA from ancient bone was born, and his collaboration with Professor 

Robert Hedges at the Oxford Department of Archeology allowed ideas to be 

translated into successful practice. 

Two unrelated and unplanned events at about this time took Bryan’s career in 

new directions. The first was a Royal Society Fellowship as a science researcher 

and writer with ITN News. Tracking down science findings that would catch 

media interest, the challenge of writing about these in ways that would engage the 

public, together with the adrenalin-driven time demands of the 10.00 pm news, 

were all great fun. They impressed Bryan with the importance of good science 

communication. 

The second came during a sabbatical in which Bryan visited Rarotonga in the 

Cook Islands en route from Seattle to Melbourne. He collided with a palm tree 

after starting his motor scooter in gear, and a dislocated shoulder delayed further 

travel. It did not take him long to seek out the island’s library and immerse himself 

in local archeology. It soon became apparent that the origins of the Polynesian 

people remained a matter of controversy. Were they South American, as 

postulated by Thor Heyerdahl, or Eastern Asian? A few pink wire nights led to 

the hypothesis that using mitochondrial DNA to trace maternal ancestry could 

be just the tool to resolve this matter. Unlike nuclear DNA, derived from both 

father and mother at each generation, mitochondrial DNA, passed solely through 

the maternal line, was not ‘contaminated’ with the DNA of marauding pirates 

or explorers from distant lands and thus offered a true Polynesian descendency. 

This thinking not only led to the salient conclusion that the Polynesians were 

descended from Asian ancestors, but also that the large majority of Europeans 


were descended from just seven ancestral mothers. Such was the interest in this 

latter finding that Bryan was inspired to write The Seven Daughters of Eve (2001), 

in which he melded scientific fact with the imagined names and lives of his Seven 

Daughters and their extrapolated time of existence. 

Huge interest followed publication of the book, with readers principally from 

the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, wishing to discover from 

which of the Seven Daughters they were descended. Hence the foundation of 

Oxford Ancestors in 2000, the world’s first genealogy company, offering analysis 

of mitochondrial DNA which would identify with one of the Seven Daughters’ 

reference sequences. The paternal equivalent or Y-line service which traced son 

to father, to grandfather and so on, was added later by Oxford Ancestors and 

described in detail by Bryan’s second book, Adam’s Curse (2003), which advanced 

the contentious view that the life of the Y chromosome might be limited and 

the extinction of men would follow. A third book, Blood of the Isles (2007), built 

on the Y chromosome theories to suggest Viking or Celtic origins for those of 

relevant descent. 

Research for Blood of the Isles took Bryan on an extended trip to the highlands of 

Scotland. The mountains, the geology, people and myths, took their hold. His love of 

the Isle of Skye in particular lasted even into the last few months of his life; it was a 

place where he often found the time to write, far from the disturbances of city life. 

Bryan married Sue Foden in 1978 and although the marriage was subsequently 

annulled he and Sue remained close. Later in life he met Ulla Turner with whom 

he enjoyed a special relationship until his death in 2020. 

Perhaps Bryan’s greatest joy in life was his son Richard, born 1991. Richard was an 

intellectual challenge, especially in chess tournaments, and a wonderful companion 

in person and spirit in so many adventures. Their shared sense of fun and laughter 

was a delight, nowhere more evident than in their travels by train from the 

American East Coast to the West Coast during his research for a later book, DNA 

USA (2012). 

Bryan valued his life in Wolfson College, as Wine Steward and Vicegerent in 

particular. Guestnight dinners gave him the time to enjoy good food, good wine 

and unfettered conversation, the opportunity of talking late into the night about 

science and nature, philosophy, ancient history or politics. Never did the kindness 

of College staff go unnoticed. With the pride he felt at receiving a DSc from 

Oxford, he took seriously his responsibilities in College for mentoring students, 

enjoying their youth, their inquisitive minds and their energy. Oxford Ancestors 

sponsored a new College boat for Torpids and Eights, aptly named Tara, his 

favourite of the Seven Daughters. 


91 

Personal News

Bryan’s kindness and sense of humour, his competitive approach to all games and 

his enviably high scores in general knowledge, lasted throughout and brought 

much laughter and pleasure to those close to him. 

Sue Foden 

John Troyer 

Personal News 

(1943–2020) 

Visiting Fellow 1969, Member of Common Room 1970–2020. He wrote his own 

obituary, which his daughter Jennifer sent to the Record after he died of heart failure on 

11 August 2020. 

John Troyer was born on 12 February 1943, the only child of Dorothy (Dew) Troyer 

and Gordon Troyer. He spent his childhood in Aruba, and much of his youth in New 

Mexico. He attended Swarthmore College (1961–65) and Harvard University, where 

he earned his PhD in philosophy in 1970. In 1969 he was a Knox Fellow at Wolfson 

College, Oxford, where he remained a Member of Common Room until his death. 

In the Fall of 1969 he became a member of the Department of Philosophy at the 

University of Connecticut. He remained teaching in that department for 41 years, 

serving twice as acting Department Head and filling many university administrative 

posts. For more than thirty years he served as the advisor for all Philosophy 

majors, and was on the graduate committees of tens of graduate students. He 

edited three books and published more than twenty articles. 

In 1965 he married Stephanie Fantl, who became a Professor of Mathematics 

at the University of Hartford, and who predeceased him in 1989. John and 

Stephanie had two daughters, Jennifer and Gwyneth, who survive him, as do three 

grandchildren. He is also survived by his wife Barbara, an emerita Professor of 

Psychology at the University of Connecticut, whom he married in 1992. 

John kept bees for forty years and had a number of other quirks, all of them 

harmless. 

Christopher Henry Walton 

(1930–2021) 

Bursar and Governing Body Fellow 1987–95, Emeritus Fellow 1995–2021 

When my husband was appointed Bursar to Wolfson College in 1987, he felt 

extremely fortunate as it was the ideal re-introduction to life in Britain after a career 

spent in overseas development, and he immediately got on extremely well with the 

President, Sir Raymond Hoffenberg. He much enjoyed his years at the College until 

92 


his retirement in 1995 and his subsequent appointment as Emeritus Fellow. 

Chris’s childhood was spent in Heaton Moor, where his father was Deputy Registrar 

of Manchester University. He attended Stockport Grammar School followed by 

National Service spent largely in the Middle East, and then Gonville and Caius 

College, Cambridge, where he acquired his lifelong love of rowing. After graduating 

he started his career with the Commonwealth Development Corporation where he 

spent eleven years alternating between London and Lagos – where he and I met, as I 

had just arrived to work at Government House. After our marriage he was sent to 

Nairobi, Kenya, where we lived for six years and where he initiated and established 

the Kenya Tea Development Authority for smallholders, which made Kenya the 

largest tea exporting nation in the world at the time. 

On returning to England in 1965, he spent a couple of years with a tea company 

in the City of London, when there came an unexpected offer of an appointment 

to the World Bank in Washington, where we lived very happily for almost twenty 

years, during which time Chris travelled extensively, mainly to India and Africa. 

On returning to England and living very happily in Oxford, Chris became involved 

in many aspects of life here as well as enjoying his life at Wolfson before and after 

his retirement. He was a Governor of Stowe for thirteen years, Financial Advisor 

to the Oxford Union Society, and a Governor of Pusey House, Oxford. 

However, his greatest love was the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust which he 

served first as Chairman and later President, for which service he was appointed 

MBE in 2011. This gave him the chance to enjoy his greatest interest, Church 

history and architecture. 

He was able to keep very active until his last few months, still living on Boars Hill, 

until he sadly died at the age of almost 91 on 29 April after a very full and active life. 

Judith Walton 

Personal News 

Nicholas Justin Allen 

(1939–2020) 

An obituary was published in last year’s Record. R S Khare, Professor Emeritus of 

Anthropology at the University of Virginia, has sent this Appreciation. 

Professor Rodney Needham introduced me to Nick Allen in the first week of 

June 1976. I was visiting Oxford to meet Rodney at All Souls, and Nick met me 

briefly for the first time on the afternoon of 3 June at the Institute of Sociocultural 

Anthropology on Banbury Road. His courteous and sincere, yet reserved social 

stance was consistently his. We talked of our main research interests, his field 

study of the Thulung Rai groups in Nepal and my own study of the complex 


93

Personal News 

caste hierarchical and food ranking systems of the northern Indian Kanya-Kubja 

Brahmans in Uttar Pradesh. We began to correspond occasionally about our 

teaching and research interests. 

In 1979 I was given a Visiting Fellowship at Wolfson for 1980, but could only be 

there from December 1979 until June 1980, because that autumn I was scheduled 

to teach in Virginia. Still, my College stay allowed me to write parts of a book on 

the Chamars of Lucknow. During those seven months, Nick arranged the formal 

talks and presentations I gave at the Institute of Sociocultural Anthropology and in 

the College. In addition, he encouraged me to meet interesting Oxford scholars, 

visitors and research students. This priceless collegial gesture from my sagacious 

academic friend endured for many years. 

In the summer of 1986, I joined Wolfson College again as a temporary Member of 

Common Room. After lunch there, I used to meet Nick and other Oxford scholars 

in small-group discussions in the Common Room upstairs. I recall two of Nick’s 

topics, his spirited appreciation of Marcel Mauss’s rich and original conceptualization 

of ‘the social’ and of Louis Dumont’s binary – traditional versus modern – 

structural explanation not only of caste hierarchy in India but of Indic civilization 

as well. However, here we differed. Another time he talked about his long, careful, 

comparativist pursuit of the two major epics, Homer’s Odyssey and the Mahabharata. 

My short visits to Oxford continued every year until 2000 and always included 

at least one lunch at Wolfson with Nick. In 1998, he mentioned he would soon 

be retiring from regular teaching, but he continued to research after retirement 

with books and papers appearing regularly. Wikipedia credits him with ‘seven 

books and eighty articles’ by 2020, including his DPhil thesis ‘Miyapma: Traditional 

Narratives of the Thulung Rai’ in 2015. This depth of knowledge and research over 

the decades makes him a ‘hedgehog’, not a ‘fox’, in the poet Archilochus’ image 

as elaborated by Isaiah Berlin. Nick was a polyglot sociocultural anthropologist 

who ranged deeply and widely in his interests. Having learned six European 

languages (to which he later added Russian, Old Norse and Old Irish), not to 

mention Sanskrit and Pali for his Indic research, he was highly qualified to study 

and compare Indo-European mythologies with diverse Tibeto-Burman and Nepali 

socio-cultural narratives. 

Nick never lost sight of a culturally comprehensive yet contextually well 

differentiated and inclusive humane anthropology. But the research he found most 

meaningful was to compare the Odyssey and the Mahabharata in the manner of 

Georges Dumézil’s classic study. At the same time he made a bow to his Oxford 

mentor in anthropology, Rodney Needham, the Needham of the early 1970s who 

wrote Belief, Language and Experience (1972). I can just see Nick smiling as he 

drew these intellectual connections ever more subtle, deep and wide. 

94 



Two Memories of Wolfson 

in the 1960s 

25 Linton Road in 1967–68 

by Doug McIlroy (MCR 1967) 

Malcolm Douglas McIlroy, adjunct Professor of Computer Sciences at Dartmouth 

Colllege, is a pioneer of software engineering; a member of the team which developed 

Unix. He recalls ‘a top highlight of my career’, his year in Oxford working with 

Christopher Strachey, one of Wolfson’s Founding Fellows, in the Programming Research 

Group. 

Andrew Prentice and I were the College’s first resident members, living in an old 

house on Linton Road that afforded us a close-up view of the gutting of ‘Cherwell’ 

on the Wolfson site and the blessing of the new foundation stone. My family 

occupied two floors and Andrew Prentice’s family lived on the top floor. Some 

rooms were vacant. 

American caricatures of British heating arrangements were confirmed by the 

immense boiler that (in our part of the house) heated one bathroom towel rack 

and a solitary radiator in the three-storey stairwell. The only other radiator – in 

the disused dining room – was shut off. But three electric storage heaters and the 

kitchen stove provided enough heat to simulate American comfort. The Domestic 

Bursar, Cecilia Dick, had thoughtfully furnished our quarters with everything we 

needed, right down to egg cups. I forget what the rent was, but I do remember it 

was quoted in guineas, a mythical unit so far as I was concerned, but I negotiated 

it down to pounds. 

Beside the boiler was a long-abandoned coal bin, and a coal shovel that I used to 

clear the driveway after a snowstorm, unaware that in England snow disappears 

quickly without human assistance. Near the boiler was a large electric closet 

whose frightening contents resembled the jumbles of wires in the streets of Indian 

slums. 

Many vignettes from Linton Road are fixed in my memory. Great tits pecking open 

the foil tops of milk bottles left at the door from an electric wagon; Frenchmen 

peddling lovely strings of onions; the rag and bone man asking my wife: ‘Any old iron, 

luv?’; Air Vice-Marshal McNiece-Foster, who lived next door, telling our two-year- 

95 

Memories

old son to call him ‘Air Foster’; Mrs. Cross, our other neighbour, collecting shillings 

for charity when she opened her distinguished garden to visitors; Harold Macmillan 

as Chancellor marching past the house with the University mace to dedicate 

Wolfson’s building site; and the Queen’s Bentley, having overshot the red carpet at 

the dedication, backing up the temporary driveway that had been expressly made 

circular because ‘the Queen does not back up’. 

And then there was the Dragon School, where boys in shorts studied topics well 

in advance of their counterparts in America. And ‘Cherwell’ now derelict, with J S 

Haldane’s evocative gas chamber inside and giant mole hills outside: a pigeon hunter 

hiding behind a tree with his gun called them ‘oontie hills’, a word my wife Barbara 

and I love and still use with its overtones of a fairy world. And finally the epitaph on 

‘Cherwell’ by another surprising character, the eternal, tweedy North Oxford lady 

who declared almost spectrally: ‘I saw it go up and now I’m seeing it come down.’ 

Banbury Road Nostalgia 

by Michael L Hitchman (JRF 1968–70) 

Memories 

Michael Hitchman is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Technology at the University 

of Strathclyde. Earlier in this year’s Record he offers his advice about Covid, whether ‘To 

Mask or Not to Mask’. 

‘Hello, can I help you?’ These were the first words I heard as I walked through the 

door of 60 Banbury Road on Tuesday 1 October 1968. I had entered with a little 

trepidation as a newly appointed JRF. The friendly greeting from Mrs Dick put me 

at ease. She was the Domestic Bursar and, as I discovered as time went by, one 

could not have had a friendlier or more practically minded person for that position. 

However, my composure was then ruffled somewhat by the exchange that followed. 

‘Yes’, I replied. ‘I am a new Junior Research Fellow.’ 

‘And what’s your name?’ 

‘Michael Hitchman’, I said. 

Her response dumbfounded me: ‘Which Michael Hitchman are you?’ And seeing 

my look of astonishment and bewilderment, she continued: ‘You see, we’ve 

appointed two Michael Hitchmans as Junior Research Fellows.’ I could not believe 

it. In all my 27 years I had never come across another Hitchman outside my family, 

let alone another Michael Hitchman. I thought I would bring some clarification by 

saying: ‘Well, I’m the chemist.’ 

‘The other Michael Hitchman’s a chemist too’, was Mrs Dick’s reply. 

I am sure there had been no confusion and that our merits justified both our 

appointments, but I sometimes mused that Sir Isaiah would have taken an impish 

delight in the muddles that might ensue amongst the administration, as indeed 

96 


they did. 

After my revelatory initiation into the College, I quickly settled down into the 

homely and comfortable environment of No. 60. The ambience of this nineteenthcentury 

house generated a feeling of relaxation and bonhomie, and it was a delight 

to be there. In that marvellous small volume Wolfson College Oxford: The First Fifty 

Years, under the section on 60 Banbury Road, the comment is made that the 

relaxed atmosphere that the College prides itself on today is an important legacy 

from those days. 

Of course, as a scientist I spent most of my time in the lab, the Physical Chemistry 

Laboratory in South Parks Road, but I could stroll to No. 60 in ten minutes or 

so across the Parks for lunch or for a post-diurnal period of recuperation before 

going home. The dining room was small, so it was inevitable that very soon one 

got to know practically everyone, students and staff. And it wasn’t long before I 

met my namesake. 

Michael Hitchman and I got on very well, and exploring our respective heritages it 

seemed that we had no familial link. What we did have in common, though, was 

that we had both been given our second names from our fathers’ names, which 

fortunately were not identical: I was L and he was A. The two Michael Hitchman 

chemists could be distinguished. At least, we hoped so, but see below … 

I have fond memories of those I met during my time at Wolfson. Amongst the 

students there were those in particular whom I joined in forming the first Boat 

Club, of which more later. And some of the Fellows whom I recall having interesting 

discussions with were Michael Argyle, Michael Brock, Frank Jessup, Geoffrey Masefield 

and Stuart McKerrow. But one for whom the memory is particularly vivid was Peter 

Hulin. Roger Hausheer has given a delightful account of Peter’s erudition and unique 

character in The First Fifty Years, but I would like to add a few personal reminiscences. 

Peter could be smartly dressed when it was called for, but he often came into College 

in what could only be described as builder’s clothes: a scruffy jacket, open-necked shirt 

and baggy trousers, all of which were spattered with paint, plaster and cement dust. 

He was very much involved in the renovation of his house south of Oxford and, as 

he once said to me, he was often so absorbed in building that he did not notice the 

approaching time for a lecture he had to give, and he just had to drop everything and 

dash into town as he was. Interestingly, he named the house ‘Shalmaneser’s Palace’ 

after the Assyrian king whose inscriptions he studied for much of his scholarly life. 

The original palace covered about five hectares and included more than two hundred 

rooms, but Peter’s building efforts were not on quite such a grand scale. 

I had the chance to see for myself the results of his DIY labours when I was 

invited to his house one evening. There is no doubt he was a very accomplished 

craftsman. The pièce de résistance was a huge weaving layout for the family model 


97 

Memories

Memories 

train-set with tunnels that went through the skirting boards of every room in the 

house. When I went there it was a work in progress, but sufficiently advanced 

for him and his children to be developing timetables for main-line expresses and 

side lines to way-by stations. Peter’s and his family’s enthusiasm for trains also 

took them on rail excursions to Europe and the Middle East armed with printed 

timetables (no internet in those days) for hundreds of connections. Meeting 

Peter Hulin and his sharing with me some personal insights into his interests and 

obsessions is one unforgettable memory of my Wolfson sojourn. 

Another delight was the informal seminars initiated by Sir Isaiah where staff and 

students were asked to talk about their research and to make a presentation that 

could be understood and appreciated by College members from all disciplines. I 

recall trying to explain my work on the rates of chemical reactions. To illustrate 

that increased temperature speeds up reaction rates, I dug up an ants’ nest in 

the garden and spread the ants over the glass sheet of the overhead projector. 

When I switched the projector on, the ants moved rather slowly, but then as the 

glass heated up they went faster and faster. The audience was suitably impressed. 

(Fortunately, no one asked if it might not have been a photochemical effect with 

the light that was causing the increased activity.) I see from recent copies of the 

College Record that the President’s Seminars are still a feature of the academic 

calendar, and that interdisciplinary themes bridging the sciences and the humanities 

maintain Sir Isaiah’s vision for an intermingling of intellectual pursuits. 

A further highlight, albeit a small one, was the opportunity of heading towards No. 

60 after a day’s toil in the lab, for general winding down and social intercourse. 

More specifically, though, it was to play croquet. I don’t know if that still features 

as a Wolfson activity, but then it was a major pastime and sessions had to be 

booked well in advance. And in spite of the popular myth of it being viciously 

competitive, the games were tremendous fun and invigorating. 

The more important sporting activity that I participated in, however, was much 

more demanding. Shortly after arriving at Wolfson a graduate student, Mark 

Bisby, started going around at lunch times asking if any of the younger diners had 

experience of rowing. There were only a few positive replies, so the question 

changed to who would be interested to learn. And I thought, ‘Why not?’ Thus 

was formed the first Wolfson College boat. I don’t recall exactly how many of the 

eight had previously rowed. Mark had rowed for his undergraduate college, but at 

least half of us had limited or no experience. In spite of the unpromising start and 

Mark’s frustrations in having to deal with the ineptitude of some crew members, 

particularly one M L H, he was able to teach us to row with reasonable efficiency 

and in something resembling synchronisation, and thus to put the first Wolfson 

boat (borrowed from his undergraduate college, I think) onto the river. The 

momentous date was Wednesday 29 May, 1969. 

98 


It was our first competitive outing and we were, not unexpectedly, rather 

unprepared for the pressures of a pursuing boat. The medics of Osler II caught 

us. However, with a day’s experience, on Thursday we covered ourselves in glory 

by achieving the first Wolfson bump. Shout it from the house tops, break open 

the bubbly, Wolfson had arrived on the rowing scene. Whisper it though that we 

had not bumped one of the big boys, but a women’s boat from St Hilda’s. Still, we 

had started a tradition that has led to great successes over the years, not least in 

2021 with Wolfson W1 holding both Torpids and Eights Headships. And we even 

initiated the participation of women in the Boat Club with Maureen Parker in our 

1970 eight – the first-ever mixed crew on the Isis. 

As a reminder of the great event in 1969, I attach a photo of that pioneering 

first eight. 

Memories 

Photo: Gillman and Soame 


99

The caption with its M.A. HITCHMAN reminds me of Sir Isaiah’s story of his 

younger days when he worked for the British embassies in Washington and 

Moscow. In 1944 Winston Churchill asked his wife to arrange for Mr Berlin to 

come to lunch with them. This she did, and when he was sitting next to Churchill 

the PM asked him: ‘Mr Berlin, what do you think is the most important piece 

of work you have done for us lately?’ Mr Berlin seemed rather bemused by the 

question and after some hesitation replied: ‘I don’t know; it would be A White 

Christmas, I guess.’ Mrs Churchill had mixed up the two Berlins, Irving and Isaiah! 

Sir Isaiah would surely have smiled if he saw that, not unexpectedly, the two 

Michael Hitchmans have likewise been confused in the photo. 

Memories 

Life is like a book. It’s a series of chapters, some short, some longer, and like any 

good book, all fascinating and unputdownable. The Wolfson chapter was a short 

couple of years, but it turned out to be one of the most influential periods in my 

life. As I have tried to show, one aspect of College life was that it was a fellowship 

for all: ‘Open, Inclusive, Welcoming’. I had come from a rather sheltered, rural 

background, and 60 Banbury Road was instrumental in broadening my outlook 

and horizons. I went on to work in six countries worldwide and to have research 

collaborators of over thirty different nationalities. 

The second formative aspect of Wolfson I would emphasise is its eclecticism. My 

research time in Oxford was consumed with physical chemistry, but Wolfson 

showed me that there were other worlds to be explored. So, over the years I 

have ventured into other disciplines, such as materials science, semiconductor 

devices, chemical engineering, plasma physics, environmental and industrial process 

analysis, pharmaceutical analysis and instrumentation, gas sensors, virology. 

Recently I gave a presentation on the C P Snow cultural divide by looking at the 

parallelism between the thought processes associated with Schrödinger’s quantum 

mechanical cat, the cat that is simultaneously alive and dead, and the appreciation 

of Shakespearean sonnets. My first book was initiated whilst at Wolfson and six 

others followed, and I became the founding editor of an international journal. 

I have also developed commercial interests and set up three companies which 

achieved modest degrees of success. 

Yes, I was privileged to spend a short time at 60 Banbury Road and I owe so much 

to Wolfson. Thank you, for opening up new horizons to me, for enriching my 

intellectual and personal life, and for all the joy and fun that have resulted over the 

last fifty marvellous years. Thank you! 

100 


The living stone beneath your feet 

by Jim Kennedy (EF) 

The flooring blocks of the Leonard Wolfson Auditorium, café, Academic Wing and 

adjacent Stallworthy Quadrangle, are made of 340 million-year old Carboniferous 

Limestone from Threecastles Quarry at Kilkenny in Leinster Province, south-east 

Ireland. At the time these limestones accumulated, the British Isles formed part 

of the continent of Laurasia, made up of North America and Europe west of 

the Urals, and lay well to the south of its present position. There was no North 

Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America at that time. 

The limestone, commonly known as Irish Blue Limestone, is made up of grains of 

calcite – a form of calcium carbonate – derived from the skeletons of a range of 

marine organisms, and accumulated on a shallow sea floor in turbid waters. The 

colour of the limestone reflects the presence of land-derived clays. The blocks in 

the Stallworthy Grove and flooring the café come from a level in the sequence 

where stable sea floors supported a rich fauna, dominated by corals, brachiopods 

and crinoids, their calcite skeletons white against the blue-black limestone matrix. 

In contrast, the flooring blocks by the Lodge desk and outside the entrance come 

from a different part of the sequence, with few obvious fossils. They have a subtle 

mottled appearance, the result of the carbonate sediment that was ultimately 

transformed into limestone having been churned over by successive generations of 

soft-bodied organisms, whose only record is their burrows. 

The living stone 

To return to the fossils. The corals belong to two extinct groups, known as 

tabulate and rugose corals. Unlike modern reef-building corals, they probably 

lacked the symbiotic organisms (zooxanthellae) that limit present-day reef 

development to the photic zone (the zone of light penetration). Several types 

are present. Massive colonies, built of close-packed polygonal corallites belong 

to the genus Palaeosmilia. Each corallite was secreted by a single polyp, a sea 

anenome-like individual. A second rugose coral, Lithostrotion, is made up of 

cylindrical corallites, and appears as areas of circular sections around a centimetre 

in diameter, with radiating septa within. Areas of much smaller circular sections 

belong to a second species of Lithostrotion. Colonies of the tabulate coral 

Michelinia have polygonal corallites, but lack septa. 


101

Distinctive circular to elliptical structures consisting of one or two rings of white 

shell up to ten centimetres across, and single U-shaped structures, are sections 

through the shells of a group of brachiopods known as productids. Their shells 

consisted of two bowl-shaped valves, with a narrow cavity between (now filled 

with blue-black limestone) that housed their soft tissues. These animals lived with 

the convex lower valve resting on, or in, the sea floor, and filtered sea water for 

nutrient particles, as do extant bivalves such as mussels and oysters. They occur 

singly, concentrated into patches, or stacked, like saucers, as a result of being 

swept together by bottom currents. Diamond-shaped sections, filled by blueblack 

limestone, are less frequent. They are cross-sections of a second group of 

brachiopods known as spiriferids. A range of much smaller brachiopods with much 

thinner shells are also present. 

The living stone 

Much rarer are sections of cylindrical crinoid stem ossicles, around a centimetre 

in diameter. Crinoids – or sea lilies – are representative of the phylum 

Echinodermata, which includes sea urchins and starfish. But rather than being 

free-living, they were attached to the sea floor by a long stem of ossicles made of 

calcite, and held together by soft tissue in life. The most obvious examples are in 

the slabs outside the new Porters’ Lodge. 

Professor Kennedy talks about fossils at Wolfson to members of the Abingdon Area Archaeological 

and Historical Society in 2019 (Photo: Liz Baird) 

102 


Editor’s Note 

The College would like to hear from you, so please send by email, if possible, 

personal and professional news including books (but not articles) published to 

college.record@wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

The Record welcomes photographs which illustrate College life and reminiscences 

of your time here and experiences since. They should reach the College, by email 

if possible, to college.record@wolfson.ox.ac.uk by 30 June for publication that 

year. Please seek permission from the photographer beforehand and include the 

name of the photographer with your submission. 

Please let the Record know of any errors or omissions. You can contact 

the College: 

e-mail: 

website: 

post: 

college.record@wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

telephone: +44 1865 274100 

Wolfson College, Linton Rd, Oxford OX2 6UD 

Wolfson College Privacy policies are available at: https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/ 

data-protection 

Editor’s Note 

The Record keeps the College in touch with some 6,000 Wolfsonians throughout 

the world. This Record covers the academic year 2020 to 2021. 


103

Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD 

Telephone: +44 (0)1865 274 100 

lodge.reception@wolfson.ox.ac.uk 

www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk

Wolfson College Record 2021

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