The College Record 2022

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE
OLD MEMBERS’ ASSOCIATION
Paul Newton
President of
The Queen’s College
Association
I am writing this report somewhat solemnly following the
news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Like many Old
Members I can only remember the Queen’s head on
stamps and bank notes, and singing God save the Queen
as part of our national anthem. That is not the case for the
College’s older Old Members which set me thinking about
Old Member events over time, specifically the Old
Members’ Dinner – more on that later.
This year has seen an admirable catch up for a number of
events following the disruption caused by COVID-19 and its
derivatives. For example, the 50 th Anniversary Matriculation
Lunch in October was able to combine the 1970 and 1971
matriculation years. One way or another, however, COVID-19 continues to disrupt.
The Ten Years Later Lunch in November, the Boar’s Head Gaudy in December as
well as the Needle & Thread Gaudy in January had to be postponed. There were
two events that Old Members would have gladly seen postponed in the sense of
not being needed. These were the Memorial Services for Dr Morrin Acheson in April
and Dr Peter Neumann in June. Both occasions were followed by a subject reunion
dinner for Chemistry and Mathematic students, respectively. With the deaths of
Professor Allen Hill and Dr Martin Edwards in 2021, the College has, in the space of
less than two years, lost four of its most long serving and loyal Fellows. Each one
dedicated more than 50 years of their lives to the College teaching and mentoring
countless Queen’s men and women over this period. This is also a great loss to the
Old Member community, but happy and cherished memories will no doubt prevail.
Chemists will remember Allen’s dry sense of humour and Morrin, who at his 90th
birthday in Basel reminded attendees “...when the time comes I hope that I will remain
in your memories for a short while like Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland’s Cheshire
Cat. The Cat disappeared but the grin remained”.
Old Members’ Activities
Online events continued as a staple of Old Members’ activities with the launch
of the College’s new access and outreach programme in the northwest with The
Access Project, a meeting of the Queen’s Women’s Network – focusing on Women
in Finance – in November and the second annual Provost’s Lecture delivered by new
Honorary Fellow Dr Venki Ramakrishnan in November. Not quite in the same travel
league of international meetings in pre-COVID-19 times, physical gatherings occurred
in Manchester and Edinburgh over two days in early April. The Provost was joined
by members of the Old Members’ Office and, in Manchester, by the Tutor for Access
and Outreach, Dr Lindsay Turnbull, to meet with Old Members and provide an update
on Queen’s . This year’s Taberdars’ Society lunch in May included an afternoon tour
College Record 2022 | The Queen’s College 73