The Queen's College Record 2023

FROM THE PROVOST
From the Provost
Credit: Tom Weller
The year 2022/3 needs celebrating for many reasons, but
one is simply that the College completed its first full
academic year unaffected by pandemic restrictions, for
four years. It was a good year for Queen’s.
The start of the year saw the beginning of the new
outreach initiative to support disadvantaged young people
in the North West of England. Work began in schools in
Dr Claire Craig, Provost Whitehaven and Darwen. This project, as well as being
an important initiative in its own right, re-invigorates the
College’s historic links to the homeland of its Founder, Robert de Eglesfield, and is
entirely due to the generosity of Old Members. Old Members do not contribute only
through donations of money, however, but also through their time, as 18 also took
part as mentors and tutors, alongside current students and staff.
A College like Queen’s, rooted in history, often finds itself taking the long view,
both backwards and forwards. We own copies of all four of Shakespeare’s folios
and we took part in the country-wide celebrations to mark 400 years since the
publication of the First Folio in 1623. In its special carry-box and accompanied by
its own bodyguards, it travelled to the London Old Members reception as part of
an evening of meeting friends and hearing from an expert panel that included Old
Member Alfred Enoch (Modern Languages, 2007), who recently played Orlando in
As You Like It at Soho Place.
Continuing the historic themes, the College celebrated 100 years of the Harmsworth
Visiting Professorship in American History, which was set up by Lord and Lady
Rothermere in memory of their son Vyvyan, who died in the First World War. It
welcomed a number of former Harmsworth Professors, who contribute so vibrantly
to the quality of College life.
Looking forwards, we elected our very first Visiting Professor in a wholly new
scheme, again established by generous Old Members, to mark the centenary of the
introduction of the iconic Oxford PPE degree. The first holder based at Queen’s will
be Professor Christina Davis, who will be joining us from Harvard in 2024. Meanwhile,
the College has continued its investment in the tutorial system, which is the heart
of what we do here, strengthening our presence in Law from one to two Tutorial
Fellows with the appointment of Prof Emily Hudson.
The College continued to become more porous, strengthening its connections
with other places of learning and leading figures outside academia. We welcomed
the first arrivals under a new Distinguished Visitor scheme, in James Unwin,
6 The Queen’s College | College Record 2023