College Record 2019

INTRODUCTION
Voltaire’s works. The Oxford Trauma Cluster
has held eight events at the College this year,
most recently in June a session which drew
together translational science researchers
and clinicians who have an interest in
modulating the ways that fractured bones
heal. The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing
organises events week by week; I remember
in particular a set of sparkling performances
in St Clement Danes, the Strand, last term
– which led in part to a significant gift
to the Centre. The South Asia Research
Cluster hosted nuclear physicist and public
intellectual Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy to
talk about the new Imran Khan government
and its prospects. The Tibetan and Himalayan
Studies Cluster has organised events ranging
from Tibetan history and the worship of
mountain deities to the role of magic rituals
in Tibetan Buddhism.
Alumni and Funders
The life of the College also depends on
the quality of our alumni networks and
financial supporters. About a quarter of the
cost of what we offer to our students at
College comes from philanthropy; without
it we could not function at anywhere near
the level we currently can. I have enjoyed
meeting colleagues in Hong Kong, mainland
China, India, Pakistan, and Japan, and following
up leads they have offered. We enjoyed an
excellent alumni event at Lancaster House in
London in December – I was able to show
some of our students and alumni the rooms
in which Malaysia and Zimbabwe had won
independence. And this spring Tarje Nissen-
Meyer gave the Wolfson London Lecture at
Lincoln’s Inn on seismology, elephants, and
why the BBC keeps inaccurately describing
him as a predictor of earthquakes when
that’s the one thing seismologists can’t and
don’t do.
I should also mention our campaign to
house an at-risk academic and his or her
family at Wolfson for six years – our first
family arrived in June, led by Professor Alev
Ozkazanc from Turkey, who studies the
rise in sexual violence in Turkey. We also
host the Global Young Science Leadership
Programme for young academics at risk
for a parallel six years, the first in summer
2019. We raised more than £300,000 and
encouraged many alumni to give to Wolfson
for the first time.
May I also say how important the events
we run at cost here are to our reputation
as well as to our books. The annual e-Bikes
Summit which happens here; the recording
of the BBC ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ programme;
the annual Harry Potter Society weekend,
broomsticks and all; as well as the weddings,
conferences, and innumerable other special
occasions.
Sport, Art and Music
I’ve also been keen that we keep the
cultural life of the College vibrant. Many
of you will have seen the contemporary
African artwork, from Ghana, Benin and
Ethiopia, generously shared with us by
Chris and Florence Levitt. Our long-term
partners AMREF, who work on health
issues across Africa, have given us the two
remarkable Dean Bradshaw photographs of
Kenyan women you may have seen in our
corridors and in the renovated Buttery. The
Ashmolean have also agreed to lend us one
of their outstanding Ganesha statues, which
is both a beautiful work of art and will also
pay tribute to our internationalism here in
Wolfson.
Our musical offering at the College remains
strong, supported by a vigorous partnership
with the Fournier Trio and the Oxford
Lieder; a highlight of the musical year for me
was the Anglo-German Friendship Concert
performed by the visiting Berlin Youth
Chamber Orchestra in May.
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COLLEGE RECORD 2019