The President, Professor Chris Howe, and Head Porter Simon Harding ready to greet guests for the annual Queenborough Feast.

We are already halfway through the academic year, and as President I’ve taken great pleasure in seeing dining events in College resuming over the last few weeks. We welcomed back thirty alumni to the Lewis Society of Medicine Dinner on 12^th February, and marked the halfway point of many students’ undergraduate careers at the Marlowe Dinner in Hall on 18^th February (read more below). On the 26^th February we welcomed civic leaders and other guests at the Queenborough Feast. It’s been a busy time, and we are now looking forward to celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Nicholas Bacon Law Society on 12^th March, the Fellows’ & Old Members’ Guest Night on 19^th March, and the 1994-98 reunion at the Beldam Dinner, with more events planned for the summer term.

JCR President Jamie Charles with fellow student Archie Morter at the Marlowe Dinner

Having only just held a postponed 2021 Marlowe Dinner in November, it was time for a new round of students to celebrate at the annual feast that marks halfway through their time at Corpus. JCR President Jamie Charles has written a report on how the m2020 cohort enjoyed this special occasion.

Professor Richard Haynes awarded an MBE

We would like to congratulate Professor Richard Haynes FRCP (m1994) for being awarded an MBE in the 2022 NY Honours. Professor Haynes is the Professor of Renal Medicine and Clinical Trials, University of Oxford.

Alumna Gytha Lodge (m2002) has released the third book in her DCI Jonah Sheens series of crime novels. Lie Beside Me follows the Sunday Times bestseller She Lies in Wait and Watching from the Dark. She talks to us about her transition from the theatre to thrillers, the business of selling books, and being a voice for victims.

Fierce Appetites is a new book by alumna Dr Elizabeth Boyle (m2002). A medieval historian who read ASNC at Corpus, Elizabeth is now at the Department of Early Irish at Maynooth University. This collection of essays blends ancient stories with contemporary and personal accounts of family, love, loss and the pandemic.

Corpus alumni can get a free copy of Gytha's book Lie Beside Me in hardback or paperback - or a £10 discount on the three-book hardback set. Use discount code 'ALUM' on Gytha's website to claim. The offer includes free postage to anywhere in the UK. For international postage, International Standard postage will be charged.

Launch of the EDI team

 The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Team with its Lead (Matt Bullimore), LGBTQ+ Champion (Ewan St John Smith), Race and Equality Champion (Shruti Kapila) and Disability Champion (Jo Willmott) – will work with students, staff and fellows to broaden the range of cultures, religions and traditions at Corpus. 

Constitutions and Crises Conference

Corpus Christi College will be hosting a conference exploring the topic of Constitutions and Crises in historical perspective, to be held in person and online at Leckhampton, Cambridge, on 10-11 March 2022. Keynote speakers will include Linda Colley, Ornit Shani, Alvin Jackson and Christopher Clark, and there will be papers by Corpus Fellows including Charles Read, Shruti Kapila, Amar Sohal and Sam Zeitlin.

All are welcome to attend and there is no conference fee, but to attend online you must reserve a ticket in advance. 

Please address any questions to Dr Charles Read. 

Congratulations to Lee for 20 years at Corpus!

Many congratulations to Porter Lee Peters, who celebrated his 20-year service anniversary at Corpus. Over the last 20 years many of you will have got to know Lee, who has seen the coming-and-going of hundreds of new matriculands and parting graduates, visiting scholars, Fellows, Masters and countless curious tourists - not to mention his fellow staff members who came out to cheer him on.

Development Report
2019-21

Once a year the Development and Alumni Relations Office produce a Development Report, which is posted out to all our Alumni and Donors. The report is now available to read online. 

Please note that all donor and benefactor lists have been removed from the electronic version of the Development Report for data protection reasons. 

Read the 2019-21 Development Report online.

Student recognised in Outreach Awards

Peter Pedersen, a PhD student in astrophysics, is part of a team that has been recognised for their contributions to education. Peter and colleagues from the open-seneca initiative were highly commended in the Access & Outreach category in the Centre for Learning's Outstanding Student Contribution to Education Awards. The project has developed low-cost air pollution sensors for use in developing countries.

New Widening Participation initiatives

Corpus is excited to announce the launch of a series of new online initiatives for Y12 students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These programmes have been designed to facilitate super-curricular engagement, to improve discussion skills, to build confidence in handling academic texts, and to encourage a holistic approach to their subjects. The Admissions Office is also running its popular Junior Research Competition for the second year.

Varsity Victory

Botanical University Challenge

PhD candidate Will Lowe is a Master of Wine (and owner of the Cambridge Gin Distillery). He coached the CU Blind Wine Tasting Society to Varsity victory in London last month. 

Will is based in the Department of chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, researching the chemistry of wine. Follow @williamlowemw on Instagram to find out more about Molecular Mixology!

This year's Botanical University Challenge took place on 16 and 23 February 2022. University student teams were challenged on their botanical knowledge, with Corpus PhD student George Garnett competing on the University of Cambridge team. Well done to the team who made it to the finals and finished in 5th place.

Follow @BUC2022 on Twitter for links to competition videos.

Reminder: Alumni to perform in College on 19th March

We are looking forward to the performance of alumnus Alastair Watson (m1974) and David Nunn (m2015) at the Fellows' Guest Night on 19 March. The duo will present a short recital in Chapel of music for clarinet and piano. The programme will include Finzi’s magnificent Five Bagatelles alongside a world premiere of Nunn’s Capel Suite.

David says, "My music seeks to foreground a sense of place as an integral part of a musical experience. Gerald Finzi (1901-56) was a British composer who also felt strongly that music should connect to the place where it was written, and so his beautiful and pastoral Five Bagatelles (written in 1945) will be a fitting counterpart to Capel Suite."

The Fellows Guest Night dinner is fully booked, however alumni are still welcome to attend the concert in Chapel.

"Alastair and I are very much looking forward to performing in our alma mater, and hope that you will join us for the concert."
- David Nunn

1352 Foundation Society Day

We will be holding our annual 1352 Foundation Society Day on Saturday 11 June 2022. We hope members of the society (those who have generously committed to leave a gift to the College in their will) can join us on this special occasion.

A full programme and formal invitation will be sent out to all members of the society in due course.

Garden Party - Save the date

We look forward to welcoming our community to our 2022 Garden Party! This will be held on Sunday 19 June. Please keep an eye out for an electronic invitation. 

The event will be a family friendly picnic in the beautiful Leckhampton grounds. 

Send us your news!

We are gathering news for the next edition of The Record and we want to hear what you've been up to. Got a new academic position, professional promotion, new job, project or publication? Share the news with your fellow Corpuscles by submitting it to our online form.

Don't forget, you can also read back issues of The Record on our website. 

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