GAZETTEin many British and international scholarlyenterprises, and was a founding editor ofthe geographical journal Ecumene.Cosgrove received the Royal GeographicalSociety's Back Award for contributions tohuman geography in 1988, gave theprestigious Heidelberg Hettner Lecturesin 2005, was awarded an honorary doctorateby the University of Tallinn in February 2008,and would have been Getty DistinguishedScholar at the Getty Research Institute nextacademic year.Like Renaissancehumanists, he saw thefulfilled life as a balancebetween the vita activa andthe vita contemplativa ...was inseparable from goodness and truth.In common with <strong>St</strong>oics and Jesuits, hetold an interviewer, he valued education as"something that feeds the soul and the mindand the body together, posing questions like'Who are we in relation to the world? Howshould we live our lives in a way that isfulfilling and morally proper?' "In that quest, he was eminently successful. Hiswarmth, humour, kindness, delight in children,theirs in him, and intellectual challenge,charmed and dazzled all who knew him.Prizing geography's traditional mélangeof nature and culture, Cosgrove had littleaffinity with either the abstract positivismof spatial science or the radical activism ofpost-colonial social critique. Happy in 16thcenturyItaly, he recalled that at homeand at his Jesuit school, Rome had alwaysbeen more important than London.Like Renaissance humanists, he saw thefulfilled life as a balance between the vitaactiva and the vita contemplativa; for himselfhe chose contemplation, self-reflection,thoughtful critical converse. His vocationwas less about changing the world thanchanging oneself. Whereas policy-drivensocial science was blind to the liberating andconsoling power of beauty, dismissing it asveneer and distraction, Cosgrove's aestheticconcern reflected his conviction that beautyDenis Cosgrove, geographer: bornLiverpool 3 May 1948; Lecturer inGeography, Oxford Polytechnic 1972-75,Senior Lecturer 1975-79, PrincipalLecturer 1979-80; Lecturer in Geography,Loughborough University 1980-83, SeniorLecturer 1983-88, Reader 1988-94;Professor of Human Geography, RoyalHolloway, University of London 1994-99,Dean of the Graduate School 1998-99;Alexander von Humboldt Professor ofGeography, University of California, LosAngeles 2000-08; twice married (one son,two daughters); died Los Angeles 21March 2008.David LowenthalReprinted by kind permission of TheIndependent, Obituaries, 8 April 200864/ DENIS COSGROVE
GAZETTERobin McCleery(1976, Physiological Sciences)After completing his first degree inPhysiological Sciences at <strong>St</strong> Catherine’s,Robin McCleery embarked upon a graduatediploma in the History of Philosophy andScience. He then moved into zoologicalresearch, and submitted a doctoral thesison animal behaviour before being appointedas a research assistant at the EdwardGrey Institute of Field Ornithology. He laterbecame a Research Fellow at the Instituteand also Fellow and Tutor at Wadham<strong>College</strong>. A leading zoologist andornithologist, his premature death hasbeen mourned across the world byacademics working in his field, withmemorial services held in Sri Lanka andthe Pacific Islands, as well as closer tohome in the United Kingdom.Much of Robin’s research concentrated onlong-term surveys of the birds of WythamWood, to the west of Oxford, and he focusedparticularly on populations of the great tit,parus major. He developed, refined andmaintained the database for this species(and others) and, thanks to his efforts,the great tit database, which has beenmaintained for over sixty years, is amongthe most complete and useful of anycomparable animal population record in theworld. His work involved not only enteringand analysing the data, but collecting it too;ringing the chicks, measuring and countingthem and recording their growth, matings,progeny and life-span. Characteristically forRobin, the database was always kept up todate scrupulously.A generous and selfeffacingman, his door wasalways open to students ...As a member of the Zoology Department,Robin was always in demand for adviceon data-handling and, latterly, he ranthe undergraduate statistics and datahandlingcourses as well as overseeingthe departmental IT network. A generousand self-effacing man, his door was alwaysopen to students in his department and, morerecently, during his time as Dean, at Wadham.Robin McCleery was a founder member ofthe Oxfordshire Governors’ Association, andcampaigned vigorously for high standards instate education. Together with his wifeJill, he also spent twenty years helping toorganise and run a South Oxford adventureplayground for those children with little tooccupy, interest and excite them during thelong summer holidays. Passionate aboutmusic, he played the saxophone in the ceilidhband Jack’s Maggot for thirty-five years, andwas also a member of the Oxford HarmonicSociety choir.Fittingly, for a man who believed sopassionately in the importance of theprovision of excellence in state education,his memorial is part of Wadham’s outreachprogramme, which aims to encourage thosestudying at local comprehensive schools toapply to Oxford. Robin McCleery, who died on16 January 2008, is survived by his wife, Jill,and his two daughters, Anne and Sally.ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE 2008/65
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The Year2008St Catherine’s Colleg
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CONTENTSContentsMaster’s Report 2
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MESSAGESThe public profile of Colle
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COLLEGE LIFEDeanthings. Students do
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COLLEGE LIFESpaceywatching his exam
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