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Welcome to the Summer issue of the e-newsletter
Summer has definitely arrived in College and the gardens are looking glorious in full bloom in the sunshine. The end of the academic year has been a hive of activity, with Graduation, the event to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Admission of Women to Christ’s, the Choir tour, senior academic promotions and the success of our students after a busy exam term. Now the Long Vacation has started, the Admissions Department is hard at work running outreach summer schools and taster days.
General Admission
The sunshine came out in force on 27 June, to mark Graduation Day for Christ’s students. Congratulations to all our 2019 graduates. You can see photos from the day on the Alumni website: https://alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk/photos
Exam Results
The whole College is proud of all our students in this term of examinations. Particular mention – especially fantastic in the year when we celebrate the anniversary of the admission of women to the College – goes to our female undergraduates who have had the strongest set of results ever achieved by women at Christ's. This includes the highest percentage of Firsts (41%) since 1979!
Open Days
College will host lots of open days and outreach events over the spring and summer. So far, we have hosted residential events for our link schools in Herefordshire and Worcestershire as part of the HE+ scheme, encouraging state schools to encourage their highest attaining students to apply to top universities, including Cambridge. There was also a very successful Women in Maths residential specifically for female students from state schools who wish to apply to read Mathematics. The beginning of July saw a University-wide open day, and our wonderful student volunteers were on hand to show prospective students around.
40th Anniversary of Admission of Women celebrations
We were delighted to be joined by alumnae and guests on Saturday 6 July, for a fantastic event culminating a year of celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to Christ’s. The day included: an art tour of modern and contemporary art by women on display at Murray Edwards College; a visit to the new exhibition in the Old Library entitled HERE BE DRAGONS!; a tour of the College gardens by a member of the gardening team; tea in the Buttery; a panel discussion on the topic ‘Christ’s women and the mark they make’; followed by a drinks reception and dinner in Hall.
Moderated by Jane Martinson (m. 1987), former Head of Media for Guardian News and Media, and the Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism at City University discussion at the panel session focused on the contribution of five Christ’s women to the world. The panel members were: Jasmine Birtles (m. 1981), founder of Money Magpie, comedian and TV presenter; Anne McHale (m. 1999), Master of Wine; Kate Watkins (m. 1987) Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Oxford; Fiona Bioletti (m. 1984), Executive and Team Coach; Yasmina El Chami (m. 2017), current MCR President.
Panel session speakers: Fiona,Yasmina, Kate, Jane, Jasmine and Anne
Choir Tour
The College Choir are currently in the middle of their tour of Singapore and New Zealand, and have enjoyed singing in a variety of venues. In Singapore, they have performed in settings as varied as Victoria Concert Hall and the Steinway Gallery, with the support of Christ’s alumni. Now in New Zealand, the Choir has started out on a twelve-day tour of churches across the North Island. Further details and tickets are available via our website: https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/concerts-and-tours
This year the choir also released As A Seed Bursts Forth, an album of choral music written by Christ’s alumna Annabel McLauchlan Rooney (m. 1991). It is the first album from Christ’s to be written completely by a female composer, and ties in with our ongoing celebrations of women at Christ’s. Annabel McLaughlan Rooney is interviewed in the latest edition of Pieces magazine, which you can read here: https://alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=443
Queen’s Birthday Honours
Three of our alumni were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours: Dr Adrian Crellin (m. 1973) was awarded a CBE for Services to Radiotherapy, Mr Julian Clyde-Smith (m. 1969) an OBE for Services to Charity and the Legal Profession, and Jackie Alway (m. 1984) an OBE for Services to Music.
Julian Clyde-Smith, Jackie Alway, and Adrian Crellin
Senior Academic Promotions
Many congratulations to our Fellows who have been promoted, with effect from 1 October 2019. Dr Carrie Vout and Dr Duncan Bell have been promoted to Professorships, with Dr Sophie Read and Dr Dominic de Cogan receiving promotions to Senior Lectureships. Our alumnus, Dr Sujit Sivasundaram (m. 1994), has also been promoted to a Professorship and former Fellow, Dr Jonathan Morgan, has been made a Reader.
Carrie Vout, Sujit Sivasundaram, Sophie Read, Dominic de Cogan, Jonathan Morgan, Duncan Bell
No Horizon – musical celebration of Christ’s alumnus
He may have died over 280 years ago, but Christ's’ legendary Lucasian Professor, Nicholas Saunderson has two pathways back to the recognition his genius merited. He earned a name for himself in the early 1700s as the 'Blind Professor'. After losing his sight and eyes as a one year old, he taught himself to read by running his fingers over the gravestones in the church of the tiny Yorkshire parish of Thurlstone where he was born. After arriving at Christ's as a personal tutor, Saunderson’s genius and brilliance in Mathematics saw students throng to his lectures. Within four years, Queen Anne had bestowed an honorary Master of Arts degree on him, in order that he could take up the Lucasian chair.
Saunderson's life was celebrated in a musical, No Horizon, which enjoyed a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016. On the back of this, the Arts Council has now awarded a grant of over £90,000 for a northern tour. Co-producer Max Reid hopes that a national tour may follow. Saunderson is also amongst the nominees to be celebrated on the new £50 note.
Any alumni keen to offer support to the tour can contact Andy Platt on andy@nohorizonthemusical.com
Eco-friendly Pieces Magazine
The Easter Term edition of Pieces was mailed out for the first time in a fully compostable, potato starch wrapper saving thousands of single-use plastic wrappers going to landfill. The magazine continues the celebration of the 40th anniversary of female students at College and includes interviews with the first trailblazing students of 1978 and 1979; features on current female staff and Fellows; and of course all the College news and events! Read the current edition and find past editions on our website here: https://alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=443
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