Plans & Prospects 2023
Plans & Prospects is the annual magazine for alumni and friends of Wolfson College at the University of Oxford. We hope that you enjoy reading about life here at Wolfson, and welcome your feedback or article suggestions for next year's issue. Plans & Prospects is the annual magazine for alumni and friends of Wolfson College at the University of Oxford. We hope that you enjoy reading about life here at Wolfson, and welcome your feedback or article suggestions for next year's issue.
A year in Development and Alumni Relations Development Director Huw David reflects on a year of both continuity and change, in which Wolfsonians continued to invest in the relationships, research and resources at the heart of our community, whether at Linton Road or further afield. As we begin the long vacation, it’s satisfying to reflect back on what the President referred to in his recent Foundation Dinner speech as “a normal, extraordinary year” at Wolfson. Normal in the full resumption, for the first time in three years, of the regular patterns of lectures, seminars, lunches and dinners that are the hallmark of Wolfson life; extraordinary for the accomplishments of our students and fellows, the generosity of our alumni and friends, and the progress of our decarbonization and other building projects around College. Once again, Wolfson benefitted from remarkable philanthropic support. For the Zero Carbon project, the Wolfson Foundation’s grant of £500,000 enabled us to complete the replacement of the remaining single-glazed windows in our original Powell & Moya buildings. From September, Wolfson will have Oxford’s first electric minibus thanks to a donation of £86,000 from an anonymous alumnus, eliminating many tonnes of diesel emissions as it shuttles back and forth to Broad Street. With Wolfson’s crest emblazoned on the side, it will also be a powerful embodiment of the College’s commitment to clean energy and, we hope, a catalyst for other institutions to electrify their fleet. While the Zero Carbon project has specialised in transforming Wolfson’s hidden infrastructure – the heating, plumbing and electrics that make the College run – other building projects have a much more visible impact. Over the winter, the Private Dining Room and Coffee Room were amalgamated and comprehensively redecorated to create a bright modern space overlooking Harbour Quad. The Levett Room, as it is now named in gratitude for the generosity of Honorary Fellow Christian Levett, has become an outstanding space for events, art exhibitions, and entertaining. Two other projects in the 26 coming months will similarly transform much used but tired spaces, both thanks to exceptional gifts: the Music Practice Rooms underneath the Marble Hall and the Lower Common Room. Across the Cherwell, in Wolfson’s floodplain meadows, the generosity of the Aspen Foundation in memory of the late Sir Martin Wood is restoring and enhancing the biodiversity of these SSSI grasslands. Wolfson’s vibrant research clusters have also attracted some tremendous gifts. For the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, we are hugely grateful for two donations of £100,000, one from the Dorset Foundation and one from an anonymous benefactor, and for the support of OCLW’s many friends in sustaining its outreach work with disadvantaged communities and neurodivergent young people. The new Law in Societies cluster revived Wolfson’s longstanding expertise in sociolegal studies thanks to significant philanthropic support. We were once again indebted to Honorary Fellows Lorne Thyssen for enabling so much outstanding research under the Ancient World Research Cluster’s aegis and Simon Harrison for his remarkable support for the Boat Club, towards our planned new Sports and Wellbeing Centre, and for scholarships in Physics and Quantum Computing. In January we established the Baruch Spinoza Scholarship in solar physics, named in honour of the Enlightenment philosopher and inspiration to Isaiah Berlin, thanks to a kind gift from alumnus Matthew Levy. Physics – of the quantum kind – was at the heart of this year’s London Lecture given by Vlatko Vedral, of which more can be seen across the centre pages of this magazine. Attended by a rapt capacity audience at the House of Lords, it was one of several memorable alumni events throughout the year. September’s alumni reception in College Credit: Femke Gow was for the first time preceded by a talk, livestreamed for Wolfsonians across the world, on ‘The Unfolding Story of the Hittite Empire and its Collapse’ by Christoph Bachhuber. Our Christmas reception at the Oxford & Cambridge Club in London as ever brought together alumni of many eras. And following three years of Covid confinement to British shores, the President and I were delighted to travel to the US in March to meet alumni and friends in Chicago, Washington, New York and Boston, where a drinks reception brought Wolfsonians from across New England together at Tufts University thanks to the kindness of Tufts’ President Tony Monaco and his wife Zoia Larin Monaco, an alumna. With a full programme scheduled for 2023-24 we look forward to meeting you on our travels or to welcoming you back to College soon. Thank you again to everyone whose generosity, at all levels, helps to make Wolfson the special place it is. Would you consider supporting Wolfson’s students by establishing a bursary or scholarship? Please contact Dr Huw David, Fellow and Development Director, to discuss how your support can help Wolfson’s students and postdocs thrive. E: huw.david@wolfson.ox.ac.uk
Development Above: The President Sir Tim Hitchens and the former Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Louise Richardson celebrate Wolfson’s Zero Carbon Project. / Credit: John Cairns Wolfson 1966 Fund Supporting expertise, today and tomorrow From climate change to global pandemics, never has the world needed expertise more than now. Since Wolfson’s foundation in 1966, our students and post-doctoral fellows have made ground-breaking discoveries and brought fresh light to bear on some of the world’s most intractable challenges. As Oxford’s most international and family-friendly college, Wolfson is a special place in which to study, learn and live. But we want to do more to help our students and post-doctoral fellows thrive – and your support will be essential in doing this. That’s why the Wolfson 1966 Fund is dedicated to providing direct support for our students and post-docs through scholarships, research and travel awards, hardship bursaries, and better library, sports and nursery facilities. If you would like to support today’s students and postdocs through the Wolfson 1966 Fund or to find out more, please visit: www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/wolfson- 1966-fund Arrivals and departures Syme Society Newsletter In July 2022 we welcomed Alex Fels as Development Officer. In May we bade farewell to Jessica Dunham, who joined the central university after two years as Senior Development Officer. In the Communications Team, Femke Gow left Wolfson to move to Nairobi, Kenya, and we welcomed George Mather as her successor as Communications Officer. The Syme Society commemorates one of Wolfson’s most distinguished fellows and benefactors, Sir Ronald Syme. Those who pledge a bequest to Wolfson in their will and notify the College are invited to join the society, and to a summer lunch at Wolfson. For further information, please see wolfson.ox.ac.uk/ leave-legacy. Wolfson’s termly e-newsletter, The Wolfsonian, offers alumni and friends regular updates on College news and events. If you’re not yet on the mailing list but would like to be, please contact the Alumni & Development Office at alumni.office@wolfson.ox.ac.uk. We’ll be happy to forward you the latest edition and sign you up so you don’t miss the next one. 27
- Page 1 and 2: PLANS & PROSPECTS 2023 WORLD-CHANGI
- Page 3 and 4: Credit: John Cairns Welcome Sir Tim
- Page 5 and 6: College News Wolfson alumnus receiv
- Page 7 and 8: College News Dame Hermione Lee rece
- Page 9 and 10: College News Stallworthy Poetry Pri
- Page 11 and 12: 2 , 1 Windows - the old windows, wh
- Page 13 and 14: The healing power of movement Stude
- Page 15 and 16: Student profile “As an entreprene
- Page 17 and 18: Alumni lecture 17 Credit: Freepik
- Page 19 and 20: Alumni lecture Above: Dr Vlatko Ved
- Page 21 and 22: Alumni profile Above: Kateryna work
- Page 23 and 24: 50 or 100 years. The things we’re
- Page 25: Student Support Wolfson 1966 Fund T
- Page 29 and 30: Financial report “This has been a
- Page 31 and 32: Make a gift Scan the QR code with y
Development<br />
Above: The President Sir Tim Hitchens and the former Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Louise Richardson<br />
celebrate Wolfson’s Zero Carbon Project. / Credit: John Cairns<br />
Wolfson 1966 Fund<br />
Supporting expertise, today and tomorrow<br />
From climate change to global<br />
pandemics, never has the world needed<br />
expertise more than now. Since<br />
Wolfson’s foundation in 1966, our<br />
students and post-doctoral fellows have<br />
made ground-breaking discoveries and<br />
brought fresh light to bear on some of<br />
the world’s most intractable challenges.<br />
As Oxford’s most international and<br />
family-friendly college, Wolfson is a<br />
special place in which to study, learn<br />
and live. But we want to do more to<br />
help our students and post-doctoral<br />
fellows thrive – and your support will<br />
be essential in doing this. That’s why<br />
the Wolfson 1966 Fund is dedicated<br />
to providing direct support for our<br />
students and post-docs through<br />
scholarships, research and travel awards,<br />
hardship bursaries, and better library,<br />
sports and nursery facilities.<br />
If you would like to support today’s<br />
students and postdocs through the<br />
Wolfson 1966 Fund or to find out<br />
more, please visit:<br />
www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/wolfson-<br />
1966-fund<br />
Arrivals and departures Syme Society Newsletter<br />
In July 2022 we welcomed Alex<br />
Fels as Development Officer. In<br />
May we bade farewell to Jessica<br />
Dunham, who joined the central<br />
university after two years as Senior<br />
Development Officer. In the<br />
Communications Team, Femke Gow<br />
left Wolfson to move to Nairobi,<br />
Kenya, and we welcomed George<br />
Mather as her successor<br />
as Communications Officer.<br />
The Syme Society commemorates<br />
one of Wolfson’s most<br />
distinguished fellows and<br />
benefactors, Sir Ronald Syme.<br />
Those who pledge a bequest to<br />
Wolfson in their will and notify<br />
the College are invited to join the<br />
society, and to a summer lunch at<br />
Wolfson. For further information,<br />
please see wolfson.ox.ac.uk/<br />
leave-legacy.<br />
Wolfson’s termly e-newsletter,<br />
The Wolfsonian, offers alumni and<br />
friends regular updates on College<br />
news and events. If you’re not yet<br />
on the mailing list but would like<br />
to be, please contact the Alumni &<br />
Development Office at<br />
alumni.office@wolfson.ox.ac.uk.<br />
We’ll be happy to forward you the<br />
latest edition and sign you up so<br />
you don’t miss the next one.<br />
27
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