THE TERMLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR EXONIANS

HILARY TERM 2016

Welcome... to the latest edition of Exeter Matters, the electronic newsletter for Exonians.

RECTOR’S NEWS All terms at Exeter are diversely eventful, so the selection of a theme is arbitrary, but recognition seems apt for Hilary 2016. The New Year Honours included a knighthood for Exeter alumnus David Norgrove (1967, Modern History) for service to the low paid and the family justice system and OBEs for Richard Watson (1977, Literae Humaniores), for contributions to innovative energy provision, and Grace Jackson (2009, PPE), for services to the response to the Ebola crisis. It is also pleasing to note that, in late November, Nick Hurd MP Sir Rick Trainor (1981, Literae Humaniores) was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development. Another important accolade for Exeter, in the very different sphere of rowing, came through a successful Torpids week – another stage in the ‘renaissance’ of the Exeter College Boat Club. Exeter’s boats (two men’s and one women’s) in total secured eight bumps, rowed over three times and were bumped only twice. Thanks to donors, two new boats are on order – so watch this space! Similarly, Exeter’s men’s football first and reserve XI secured promotion to their respective top divisions. A prerequisite to a cohesive College is recognition of its diversity. The annual Burns Supper as ever warmed the hearts of ‘honorary’ Scots as well as Scots by descent. In an innovation, a similarly varied group celebrated Chinese New Year on 8 February Exeter’s women’s crew to recognise Exeter’s substantial East Asian community (some of whose more distant members I had visited in Hong Kong and Singapore in December). Meanwhile, not long after the end of Exeter’s flying of the rainbow flag during February (LGBT History Month) – an event marked in the same way in a number of Oxford colleges – Exeter’s LGBT community held its annual dinner in Hall. Diversity is an important theme at the University level, too, as marked spectacularly in the Sheldonian on 12 January when our first female Vice-Chancellor was admitted to office. Only a few weeks later Professor Richardson participated in her first Exeter event by opening, in conjunction with the Spanish Ambassador, an academically high-powered conference (organised by Exeter Fellow Professor Edwin Williamson) recognising the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Cervantes and Shakespeare. I closed the two-day conference – on my own, because the scheduled Spanish politician had to stay in Madrid

Professor Richardson to cope with a parliamentary crisis occasioned by an inconclusive general election!

| 2 HILARYMICHAELMAS TERM TERM2016 2010 As that conference suggests, Exeter is by any definition a highly cultured college. Thanks to donations on Hubbub (a crowdsourcing website), our admirable choir has recorded a CD of carols for release later this year. Also, as usual Exeter students played major parts in organising, and performing at, late February’s Turl Street Arts Festival – in part an antidote to the notorious ‘Turl Street Run’ of former days! This was a bumper term for seminars in College. The ‘subject family dinners’ for Social Sciences, and for Language and Literature having occurred in Michaelmas, Hilary

Turl Street Arts Festival featured similarly well-attended gatherings for fellows, lecturers, postgraduates and undergraduates in Medical and Biomedical Sciences (addressed by Professor Dominic Kwiatkowski [1971, Physics]) and in Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (addressed by Professor Dominic Tildesley [1973, Chemistry]). These are vibrant occasions, featuring papers by amazingly assured final-year undergraduates, postgraduates and early ‘postdocs’ as well as by established academics. Meanwhile, there were eight rector’s seminars, six of them by Exeter alumni. Each was highly stimulating, not least a magisterial review of fundamental European issues by Lord (Stephen) Green (1966, PPE) and an incisive survey of environmental questions by Stanley Johnson (1959, English) who recently won major awards from both the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Mark Lord Green Cheng (1993, PPE) talked about social entrepreneurship, Professor Sir Ivor Crewe (1963, PPE) about the current condition of the UK’s political parties, Professor Adam Smyth (1990, Modern History) about the early modern English book and Ed Harris (1991, PPE) about development prospects in Africa. Meanwhile, Professor Sheila Cavanagh (Emory University) analysed the current worldwide surge in Shakespeare studies and Visiting Professor Dennis Ahlburg probed the career consequences of that prevalent transatlantic institution, the gap year. Another person deserving recognition is Simon Mortimore, who has left the College after 11 years, latterly as Computing Systems Manager, to take over the electronic affairs of no fewer than three other Oxford colleges! We are recruiting his successor. Exepreneurs Drinks This is also an appropriate occasion to recognise Exeter’s new fellows this academic year: Dr Jason Carter (Philosophy), Professor Garret Cotter (Physics), Dr Gail Hayward (Medicine), Professor Conall Mac Niocaill (previously a Lecturer in the College, Earth Sciences), Dr Christopher Markiewicz (History) and Dr Adrien Vigier (Economics). Other College events deserving mention are the alumni gathering at York Minster in February (hosted by Robert Sharpe [1991, Music] and Polly Sharpe [1992, Music]) and the Exepreneurs evening in London later the same month. Other substantial Exeter communities were recognised this term through dinners for the Fortescue (Law) and PPE Societies – with talks by noted human rights barrister Sudhanshu Swaroop The Fortescue Dinner QC (1995, Jurisprudence) and David Natzler (Clerk of the House of Commons), respectively – and a very well attended Parents’ Dinner. Finally, there was also a well-subscribed graduation on 12 March, including (after the University event in the Sheldonian) the now customary College ceremony in the Chapel and refreshments in a marquee in the back quad. As term closes Marguerite and I are planning, in addition to academic conferences, attendance at the University’s North American Reunion in April, to be held this year in Washington, with a special Exeter gathering hosted by Cynthia Hostetler and Nicholas Ulanov (1979, Theology). We are hoping that the famous cherry blossoms will be more noticeable than the residue of this winter’s fractious primary elections! Parents’ Dinner Sir Rick Trainor, Rector

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COLLEGE NEWS Fundraising and Torpids success for boat club Hilary Term saw ECBC take on fundraising in an ECBC/ExVac ergathon, as students rowed 220km – equivalent to the distance from Exeter College to Exeter City – on two rowing machines in the JCR. So far over £5,000 has been raised for the boat club and ExVac, the Exeter student-run charity. You can support the charity ergathon here. Torpids 2016 was a watershed moment for the boat club, with all three racing crews bumping during the week, and no crews falling for the first time in many years. With returning blues, new coaching and two brand new racing eights arriving next term, optimism for Summer VIIIs is high. Promotion for men’s football teams The Exeter College men’s first and reserve football teams both secured promotion in Hilary term. The first team fought a tense and close-run battle with Pembroke to secure automatic promotion to the premier division while the second team was promoted comfortably, dropping just two points all season. Exeter College Chapel Choir to sing at Westminster Abbey Exeter College Chapel Choir will sing at two prestigious London venues later this year. The highly regarded choir, led by Senior Organ Scholar Tim Muggeridge (2013, Music), will perform at Mattins, Eucharist and Evensong at Westminster Abbey on 10 April; and they will sing Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral on 30 and 31 August. A small allocation of tickets is available for the services at Westminster Abbey through the choir. Dr Stephen Pax Leonard to take part in Arctic expedition Dr Stephen Pax Leonard, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Anthropology, is aiming to take part in an expedition to the High Arctic this summer. A team of five members of the University of Oxford intend to ski across the island of Spitsbergen, retracing the route of a ground-breaking Merton College expedition that pioneered exploration of this remote Arctic region 93 years earlier. Click here to read more. Dr Chris Fletcher appears on BBC Radio 4 documentary Dr Chris Fletcher, Exeter College Fellow by Special Election and Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library, has appeared on a BBC Radio 4 documentary about Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s book The Wind in the Willows. Dr Fletcher describes for listeners the genesis of the much-loved children’s book, its manuscript and a first edition, which are held in the Bodleian. He goes on to draw comparisons between The Wind in the Willows and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The programme also features readings from Alan Bennett (1954, Modern History).

Prof Christina de Bellaigue publishes Home Education in Historical Perspective Professor Christina de Bellaigue, Fellow in History, has edited a collection of case studies, Home Education in Historical Perspective: Domestic pedagogies in England and Wales, 1750-1900. The book is the first publication to devote serious attention to the history of home education from the late 18th to the early 20th century. It brings together work by historians, literary scholars and current practitioners who shed new light on the history of home- schooling in the UK both as a practice and as a philosophy.

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DEVELOPMENT OFFICE NEWS Spring telethon to start soon! From 2 to 17 April a team of students will be calling alumni to learn more about life after Exeter and to raise money to support current students. We hope that alumni will enjoy learning about Exeter today and be keen to share their own College experience and perhaps some careers advice too! Wolfson Foundation makes £100,000 grant to Cohen Quad Exeter was delighted to receive a grant of £100,000 from the Wolfson Foundation towards the development of Cohen Quad. The Foundation, whose reputation for support of higher education is globally recognised, made the grant in February and a wing of student bedrooms at Cohen Quad will be named in recognition of the generosity. Fundraising for the Maddicott Teaching Room completed It is with great excitement that we can announce completion of the fundraising for the John Maddicott Teaching Room at Cohen Quad. Between them, just under 30 alumni have made gifts that total slightly over £100,000 – the target set to fund and name the room in honour of Dr Maddicott, Emeritus Fellow in History. North America Travel Scholar announced This year the NATS scholarship has been awarded to Xanthia Hargreaves (2013, Jurisprudence). Xanthia intends to visit key cities and landmarks of LGBTQ history and culture to examine how the LGBTQ liberation movement, today and historically, differs between North America and Europe. Her draft itinerary includes Toronto, New York, Little Rock, Chicago, Vancouver, San Francisco and LA. If you might be able to help Xanthia get the most from her trip please email [email protected].

UNIVERSITY NEWS New Oxford Vice-Chancellor calls for ‘agile’ University at the forefront of global change Oxford University’s new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson, has called for a fast-moving university with the capability to transform lives globally. Speaking as she was installed as the 272nd Vice-Chancellor in Oxford’s history, Professor Richardson called on the University to show ‘agility’ in an era of globalisation and technological change. She also urged colleagues to maintain a long-term perspective in addressing the challenges of the future. Click here to read more. Fermat’s Last Theorem proof secures mathematics’ top prize for Sir Andrew Wiles The solution to a 300-year-old mystery has landed Oxford University Professor Sir Andrew Wiles the top international prize for mathematics. Sir Andrew has been awarded the 2016 Abel Prize, regarded as mathematics’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize, ‘for his stunning proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem by way of the modularity conjecture for semistable elliptic curves, opening a new era in number theory’. Click here to read more. Image credit: John Cairns.

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Oxford announces honorary degrees for 2016 Ten eminent figures from the fields of theology, law, economics, architecture, film, science, engineering and music will be awarded honorary degrees from Oxford University this summer, subject to approval by Congregation. They include director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar, Chief Design Officer of Apple Inc Sir Jonathan Ive, and operatic soprano and recitalist Jessye Norman. Cecil the lion donors give more than £750,000 ($1.1m) to wildlife research Oxford University scientists have thanked members of the public who have given more than £750,000 (around US$1.1m) towards vital conservation research following the killing of Cecil the lion. The latest figures show that 13,225 individuals and organisations have generously donated a total of £784,329 towards the ongoing work of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), whose members were studying and tracking Cecil as part of their lion conservation research in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Image credit: WildCRU / Andrew Loveridge.

ALUMNI NEWS Exeter alumni receive New Year’s honours Exeter alumni David Norgrove (1967, Modern History), Richard Watson (1977, Literae Humaniores), and Grace Jackson (2009, PPE) have been honoured in the New Year’s Honours list. David Norgrove has been knighted for services to the low paid and the family justice system, Richard Watson has been made an OBE for services to the community in Sussex, and Grace Jackson (2009, PPE) has been awarded an OBE for services to the Ebola crisis response in West Africa. Ms Jackson is the youngest person from the Department for International Development to be appointed OBE, at 24 years of age. We would like to congratulate them all. Stanley Johnson receives awards for protecting wildlife and nature Exeter alumnus Stanley Johnson (1959, English) received two awards for his work to protect wildlife and nature in 2015. In October 2015 he was awarded the RSPB Medal by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for his role in the creation of one of the cornerstones of Europe’s nature conservation policy – the Habitats Directive (1992). The medal is the charity’s most prestigious award. In December 2015 he was recognised as a “Leader for a Living Planet” by the World Wide Fund for Nature, again for his work on the Habitats Directive. Click here to read more.

David Bellos named on Man Booker International Prize judging panel David Bellos (1963, Modern Languages) has been named as part of the Man Booker International Prize judging panel for 2016. The panel will be chaired by Boyd Tonkin, Senior Writer at The Independent, and also consists of Professor Bellos, who is currently Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University; anthropologist and novelist Tahmima Anam; editor and academic Daniel Medin, who holds a comparative literature professorship at the American University of Paris; and prize-winning British poet and author Ruth Padel.

| 6 HILARYMICHAELMAS TERM TERM2016 2010 Dr Peter Collins publishes The Royal Society and the Promotion of Science since 1960 Dr Peter Collins (1970, Chemistry) has published The Royal Society and the Promotion of Science since 1960 with Cambridge University Press. The book provides the first detailed account of how the Royal Society developed from the second half of the 20th century onwards; examines how the Royal Society adapted to the explosion of government and public interest in science, and found new ways to take forward its mission to promote science; and looks at how a small independent organisation can play an influential role in shaping an activity dominated by large and mostly publicly funded bodies.

Andrew Reekes publishes Speeches that Changed Britain Andrew Reekes (1970, Modern History) has published Speeches that Changed Britain: Oratory in Birmingham. The book looks at 10 speeches made in Birmingham that challenged the rest of England and the UK to embrace change and reform and reflects on the importance of oratory in making a political argument.

Clare Fisher (2006, History) to publish debut novel The debut novel by Exeter alumna Clare Fisher (2006, History), Beth’s List, will be published by Viking, Penguin in May 2017. Beth is in prison and she’s writing a list of good things to her child. As she tells the story of her rollercoaster life so far, she is surprised by how much good she uncovers, yet finds it harder and harder to avoid the very bad thing which is the reason she’s locked up… The paperback publication of the novel will coincide with the publication of Miss Fisher’s first collection of short stories, How the Light Gets In (Influx Press).

EVENTS Exeter Wine Tasting Evening, 9 April, Georgetown, Washington, DC To coincide with Oxford’s 2016 Alumni Weekend in North America, Exeter College is hosting a wine tasting evening in Washington, DC. The event is kindly hosted by Nicholas Ulanov (1979, Theology) and Cynthia Hostetler at their home in Georgetown and is a chance for alumni based in North America to meet Rector Trainor. Amelia Jackson (Legacy) Society Luncheon, 7 May, Exeter College Members of the Amelia Jackson Society are warmly invited to our annual Luncheon. The programme for the day includes a geophysics lecture, ‘Tracking down how the earth’s core loses its heat’ by Professor Karin Sigloch, Fellow in Earth Sciences, a walking tour of Oxford, and an organ recital. Click here to see the full programme. Families in the Fellows’ Garden, 14 May, Exeter College Current students, alumni and their families are invited to enjoy an afternoon of family fun in the Fellows’ Garden. Exeter’s student-led charity, ExVac, will be on hand to organise activities for children such as games and crafts. | 7 HILARY TERM 2016 ExVac 2016 AGM Dinner, 14 May, Exeter College Current and former members of ExVac, the student-run charity, are invited to the ExVac AGM Dinner. Lessons in Leadership, 19 May, Exeter College The third lecture in Exeter College’s ‘Lessons in Leadership’ series will take place on Thursday 19 May. The lecture series has been funded through a generous gift from Richard Mahoney, Honorary Fellow of Exeter College. Edinburgh Drinks Reception, 20 May, Edinburgh We are delighted to invite alumni and friends of the College to a drinks reception and private art collection viewing in the heart of Edinburgh. Alumni are welcome to bring a guest. Rector’s Garden Party, 28 May, Exeter College All current members of the 1314 Society and alumni living in Oxfordshire are invited to join the Rector for his annual Garden Party in the Rector’s Lodgings. A buffet lunch will be provided. Young Alumni Boathouse Drinks, 28 May, Exeter College Boathouse All alumni who matriculated after 2005 are invited to our annual event for young alumni at the Exeter College Boathouse where they can cheer on Exeter College Boat Club on the final day of SummerVIIIs. Boat Club Dinner, 28 May, Exeter College Alumni and friends of Exeter College Boat Club are warmly invited to the annual ECBC Association Summer VIIIs Dinner. The evening will open with a drinks reception, followed by dinner in Hall. Summer City Drinks, 2 June, London We are delighted to invite alumni to our City Drinks event this summer. The event is for all alumni working in Law, Finance or Business, plus those living in and around the City of London. It provides alumni with the opportunity to meet other Exonians in their own or similar fields at different stages of their careers. Commemoration of Benefactors, 12 June, Exeter College Chapel The preacher for this special service in Exeter College Chapel has now been confirmed. Professor Sarah Foot, the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford and Canon of Christ Church, will deliver what is sure to be a very stimulating sermon. All alumni are welcome to attend. Leavers’ Parents’ Lunch, 19 June, Exeter College Parents and guardians of students taking their finals this summer are warmly invited for lunch in Hall. 1975–1979 Grand Gaudy, 25 June, Exeter College The Rector and Fellows warmly invite all alumni who matriculated in the years 1975–1979 back to Exeter for their Grand Gaudy. A full programme for the day will be available later this month. The Lyell Society Dinner, 15 October, Exeter College This year’s Lyell Society Dinner coincides with Matriculation Day to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Sir Charles Lyell coming up to Exeter College. Alumni who read Earth Sciences or Geology are invited to attend the dinner along with current students. Further details will be available soon.